Our Holiday Card - 2017

I look forward to creating our holiday card every year. I do a lot of design work for clients throughout the year, but I don't do much for my little family. We don't have elaborate birthday parties for our boys, so our annual holiday card is the one thing I get to work on that's entirely personal. 

A few years ago, a friend introduced me to a local photography company called FotoFly. They do unique Santa photos every year where one of the parents wears the Santa suit, hopefully ensuring that the kids are calm and happy for photos. The results produce some really beautiful and unique holiday photos. 

My boys and Santa have been the feature image on all of our holiday cards since the very first card I created in 2013. You can see other years here: 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Here is the card I created for 2017:

I used the fun knitted sweater texture that I created last year. My oldest requested a dark green background. And since our cards hardly ever include my husband and me, I added a little snippet at the bottom, "Bill & Alex send their love too."

I had my cards printed with OvernightPrints for the first time this year. I've always used VistaPrint, but this year, both companies' pricing was comparable and a close friend of mine raved about the quality of her business cards that were printed with OvernightPrints. So I gave them a go. They didn't charge me extra to print my cards two-sided, which I love, so above is what I put on the back. Plus, only $1 to add rounded corners. Score!

When I shared my photos on my Instagram account, I was notified shortly after Christmas that I won their Art & Design contest! Woot!

Part of my prize was being featured on their blog. Click on the image below to read the blog post:

Thank you so much OvernightPrints for not only beautifully printed holiday cards, but for the feature! Pretty sure you've created a very loyal customer. 

Hanukkah Cootie Catcher

I have been thinking about more holiday-themed cootie catchers that I can create, and this year I added a Hanukkah one to my shop. I chatted with a couple of Jewish ladies in a group I'm in and they helped me choose the right cartoons and Hanukkah-related terms. That ways it's not glaringly obvious that this Gentile had no idea what she was doing when she made this. 

The file is set up to be printed on 8.5x11 paper and the downloadable file includes a page of folding instructions; in case it's been a while since you've folded one. You can purchase it from my Etsy shop. If you live somewhere where A4 paper is the norm, shoot me an email and I will happily send you the file at that size.

My 8yo just started teaching my 3yo how to work a cootie catcher, so he's still a little awkward on how to hold it. My favorite part was when my 8yo thought he had to show ME how a cootie catcher worked. 

Happy Hanukkah!!

What holidays should I do next?? 
Christmas DONE
Thanksgiving DONE
Halloween DONE
Independence Day??
Valentine's Day??

Halloween Cootie Catcher

Last year I created this Halloween-themed cootie catcher and I put it up on Mama Say What?! as a free download. It's also for sale in my Etsy shop for a few bucks, but if you're a follower of Mama Say What?!, then you know where you can get it for free. 

I wanted to go a little more colorful than the standard black and orange usually associated with Halloween, and I love to find excuses to use purple where I can. 

My seven-year-old was happy to play with it so I could snap a few photos. He's asked if I can create one for his birthday that showcases all of his favorite things. I might just have to do that!

Happy Halloween!!

Our Holiday Card - 2016

We were back at FotoFly this past fall to take some fun photos with Santa. I donned the Santa suit this year as we brainstormed with our photographer some new poses that would work for our two boys. My oldest asked he we could take a selfie with Santa and it ended up being the best photo.

For some reason, we were busier than usual this year and failed to get matching PJs figured out in time for the photo shoot. I asked my boys what they wanted to wear and Hawaiian shirts won. I only wish I had thought to throw a "hang loose" sign with my right hand when we shot this.  

The back was kept simple with my boys showing off their goofball selves.

This holiday card design is available in my Etsy shop in the fall where I use your family photos. You can see the listing here. Merry Christmas!

Our Holiday Card - 2015

This was the second year we attempted to take Santa photos with both of my boys. Last year's card was such a hit (at least for me), that we dared do it again. This time, my mother-in-law was in town when we scheduled the photo session, so my oldest asked if she could be the one to wear the Santa suit. She was happy to oblige. 

Despite both my husband and me making silly noises and faces behind the photographer, our toddle simply would not smile! Meh, we tried. Thank you FotoFly for hiring photographers who are great with kids and take some pretty rad photos.

He cracked a tiny smile when he got to eat a cookie though. He inherited my sweet tooth. 

We printed our cards with VistaPrint and I was thrilled to get them mailed well before Christmas. I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand how many times that has happened. 

This holiday card design is available in my Etsy shop in the fall. You can view the listing here. Merry Christmas!