Shutterfly Holiday Card Giveaway

Shutterfly has their holiday cards up already.  That's crazy, right?  Well, maybe not so much.

Last week, the wee ones and I had a playdate at the park with a friend when there was no school on Columbus Day.  While there, I ran into a friend who went to the park purely to take photos of her kids for her Christmas pictures.  Apparently it isn't too early to start thinking about it.

Me?  I have a bad habit of not getting my cards out until just before Christmas even though I have the best of intentions of doing them the week after Thanksgiving.  Life just gets insanely busy then, so maybe this is the solution instead.

I have yet to figure out what photos I want on my card this year - although I know this one of Little Miss in her holiday dress will go on it, as I promised back in July.

I love the options that Shutterfly provides simply because there are so many options out there.  Whether you want a flat holiday card or a folded religious Christmas card, there is something perfect.  I've used Shutterfly for the past several years, and the cards are always a nice heavy card stock with great printing quality.

While I prefer folded cards, there are plenty of options that are flat cards on photo paper, as well.  Those cards start at $0.40 apiece for quantities over 225, while a 5x7 photo card might be $0.85 apiece for 50 cards.

My favorite "new" feature is that many of the cards offer either a "what we did this year" type list on the front of the card or a text area inside the card where you can input a (short) holiday letter instead of printing and sending another note with the card.  My favorite has to be Our Top Ten, but there are several others that allow you to quickly share what you've been up to.

Because I can never decide on just one photo - and it's rare that both the wee ones are behaving in the same photo - I tend to go for cards with multiple photo options.  If you remember last year's holiday card, I gave up on the behaving part in the end and went with a goofy photo, but it worked.  Framed Wishes (shown below) is really close to the card I chose last year.  I still love it, but I probably need to get a little more creative.

My brain always seems to be spinning with one activity or child or another, so I seem to be drawn to the holiday cards that have different sizes and layouts of photos, with everything not in a neat little line.  Very Merry Moments fits that perfectly, although because I have so many Jewish friends, I typically choose a card that doesn't blatantly mention Christmas.

Instead, I think I've narrowed my selection down to Peace Cheer Monogram holiday card.  I'm not usually a big plaid person, but I love it in this case.  And I think the colors will go beautifully with Little Miss's red dress - which she's since outgrown by the way.  Now I just have to figure out what other photos to put in there.  One down, five to go, right?

Have I inspired you to start thinking about your holiday cards yet?  Go check out the Shutterfly special offers to see what discounts you can get.  Better yet - if you're ready, I have a code to give away for $50 off your Shutterfly order (excluding shipping, can not combine with any other promotions).  First of all, let me stress that you must follow all the rules. If you do not follow the rules, your entry will not count!

This contest is open until Monday October 29 at 7pm CST. I must have a valid way to reach you, so leave me your email address in your comment or be sure your profile has your email address visible. No duplicate comments will count. This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 and older. Winners will be selected via random.org and must respond within 24 hours of being notified by me or I will select a new winner.

Mandatory Entry: Tell me - when do you start your holiday cards?  Or do you not do holiday cards?

Bonus Entries (leave a comment for each entry - if you put it all in one comment, I'll count it as one entry):
1) Earn one additional entry for following me on Twitter, then tweeting this contest with the following tweet: "It's only October, but @Shutterfly has holiday cards read.  Win $50 off your order via @honestandtruly. http://bit.ly/WqrJIk" (leave a link to your tweet as your comment and make sure you do all the steps!)
2) Earn one additional entry by following this review blog publicly via Google Friend Connect.
3) Earn one additional entry by following my “regular” blog Honest & Truly! publicly via Google Friend Connect.
4) Earn one additional entry by liking Honest & Truly! on Facebook. (Yay, it's legal again, so long as you know you have to leave a comment here to enter and that simply liking me isn't the entry, along with acknowledging the fact that Facebook has nothing to do with this giveaway whatsoever.
5) Earn an additional entry by putting me in your Google Plus circle. Am I already in your G+ circle? No problem - just leave a comment letting me know that you've added me or already have me there.

Good luck!

In the interest of full disclosure, I will receive a discount for my holiday cards as part of this campaign for Shutterfly.  As always, all opinions expressed remain my own.