Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas...Card

This year is Sparky and my first Christmas that we really get to celebrate. Since we got married last December 21st, we spent Christmas on our honeymoon. I don't know about you, but sitting on the beach and eating sea food is not my idea of a traditional Christmas.
This was us watching the sunset on Christmas day last year:

Also, being married for only 4 days did not leave me enough time to send out Christmas cards. I considered sending "Happy New Year" cards, but I still didn't have any wedding pictures until June...

So this year I am determined to use my wedding photos for something other than filling all of the empty picture frames in my house. Even though the pictures are from nearly a year ago, we haven't reached the anniversary date yet so they are technically not too old (I am really stretching my logic here).

Sparky really wants to use this picture for our Christmas card this year:

I don't think this image screams "Jesus' birth" but it makes Sparky really happy. He gets a child-like excitement when he sees this photo used in a card preview. It is ridiculous. But then again, it shows our personalities fairly well. I enjoy a good laugh and Sparky does not do anything "by the book."
Perhaps this photo could scream "Jesus rocks!" What we do to keep our men happy... Let me tell you, this whole compromising thing is not fun. I picked much prettier pictures and card layouts. Sparky only likes cards with big, bold, bright fonts. He is difficult. Fortunately, Shutterfly has over 800 Christmas cards to choose from!
I am using Shutterfly this year for my MIL's Christmas present. I am taking all of the wedding pictures and putting them together in a photo book for her. I made myself a similar photo book using all of our wedding pictures and I used a photo book at the wedding for a guest book using all of our engagement photos. It tured out great!
This year I am getting a Story Christmas Card. It has a photo on the front but then when you open it up there are a few more photos and a time-line where we can update people on the happenings in our life over the past year. It combines the best elements of photo cards with family letters. Here is the compromise card we have created. I don't know if the link will let you see the final card. But try.

I am also going to order a canvas with one of our wedding pictures printed on it. I have always loved the look of photos printed on canvas. I figured a wedding photo would be one that I wouldn't get tired of easily. And there is nothing better than a personalized calendar for school. The students are always wanting to see what my husband and puppies look like, what better way to bring them into the classroom?!



Shutterfly is currently hosting a blog promotion. If you also have a personal or professional blog, and write about their photo cards, you could possibly get 50 free cards! Click Here for the promotion link.