When it comes to holiday decorating, I'm generally not an early bird. When I first moved out on my own I'd literally set my tree up a week before Christmas. When Paul and I first got married 4 years ago, it was just a couple short months before we spent our first holiday season together. Having someone else to share in the festivities with me now, I can't wait to get my tree up a week after Thanksgiving. Being that I'm from Canada originally and Thanksgiving is in October, I don't think I'll ever be able to embrace having a tree up on Thanksgiving, but I see a lot of my neighbors do it. Somehow it's extra weird for me now, living in FL in the fall and winter, when it's still in the 80's at that time!
When it comes to Christmas Cards, I generally buy or make them the first week of December and mail them within a week's time so that everyone receives them before Christmas. This year however, I found myself perusing the holiday cards on the Pear Tree Greetings website a little earlier. This probably doesn't come as much of a surprise considering they recently sent me a sample of their Christmas Thank You cards, so it was only natural that I'd want to comb the whole site for this year's card. Even before they became my sponsor, I really loved their modern yet elegant designs which also happen to be much more affordable than other websites. I get excited to use my return address labels every time I send a card or package, they are just so pretty!
Paul and I are doing something completely different this year, we won't be hosting a Christmas Eve dinner like we did last year, however, for those of you that are entertaining this Christmas, you might be interested in Pear Tree's Christmas Party Invitations. The great thing is that they are a heavy 100lb matte card stock which really holds up in the mail and has such a professional appearance, as with all of their cards. The Eco-enthusiast side of me loves that they are also 100% post-consumer recycled too.
They have tons of new designs for 2010. I'm actually having a hard time deciding which one to order. Every year I try to do a photo card or include a photo of us or personalized letter about our year since many of our family and friends live outside of the states and country for that matter! I was thinking, maybe you could share with me which of the following is your favorite. Below you'll get a sneak peek of my shopping progress and thoughts on each card.
Here are the five I have it narrowed down to:
1. This card called Christmas Tales was included in a Christmas card sampler I received and I instantly likd it because it tells a story. While we don't have kids yet, I thought some fun couple photos of us from various events and travels would be a fun story to tell without having to write a letter this year. The front of the card allows for a large photo and a tag that could read {THE DAVIS'}
2. I love the image in this card called delivering dove and that it reads: 'Blessed Christmas Season'. For spiritual reasons, I'd love my card of choice to contain a short message about the reason for the season or at least say Merry Christmas. By personalizing it, I should be able to just add some text inside or on the outside of the other cards or just pen it in myself with my personal message. However, no photo opp here so I'd have to slip a pic inside.
3. Because we live in a tropical climate and we also like to travel to them too, I thought this Tropical Visions card would be a neat way to showcase some photos of us here in Florida and still tell a story of our year.
4. Since I loved this birch tree image so much from my thank you card sample, I thought this wooded silent night card would be elegant yet simple. It reminds me a bit of my hometown and the snowy Christmas' I once got to enjoy, so there's a bit of nostalgia there.
5. I also loved this pincone and evergreen image from my thank you card sample post too, so Evergreen Treasures is another consideration. Plus, it tells a story with three large photo areas which is awesome. Because it's folded accordian style, the pictures on the inside and outside are always on display which is neat.
6. I like a Christmas collage if it's done right as this one is. Every year to date we've sent out a card with just a single photo, which is why I'm trying to switch it up this year and thought a collage might be an option. The color palette is pretty, the square shape is modern and the color is less typical than red and green but I do need to bear in mind that there is extra postage for square cards.
Decisions, decisions. I think it's safe to say at this point that I like soft blue. LOL. It's a bit unexpected but pairs nicely with so many other festive colors.
There were SO many others that I considered, some much more colorful but at the end of the day each card I send is usually a bit traditional with a bit of a modern twist and the designs are elegant vs. silly/funny/colorful. Hmm. maybe I'll have to do something silly next year and switch it up again. Some friends of ours had the cutest card last year-She was water skiing on the lake behind their house and he was wakeboarding beside her and they wore santa hats! I know I'll never send out a card which involves me in my swimsuit but theirs really suited their personalities and was quite unexpected.
Which one above is your favorite? What unique things have you done with your photos, letters or cards for Christmas?
BTW, If you haven't entered the Pear Tree Giveaway for a set of ANY thank you cards that they offer, you have a couple more days, it ends tomorrow night! Enter HERE.
