I was going to post about something else today, but I had such a fabulous experience, I'll just have to share this one!
On Sunday, after planning to do it on Thursday (oh, but the cooking and the eating got in the way), then Friday (but the leftovers! and the sleeping in because we don't do Black Friday!), then Saturday (oops, it's raining), yes, just this past weekend, we took our kids to an undisclosed location to do a photo shoot for our family Christmas cards.
Normally we go to Sears Portrait Studio, get a whole mess of portraits done and have tons extra left over, spend a lot of money, and then have to tuck a photo in store-bought cards each year. This year, I wanted something different.
I pored over the photo card options at Snapfish.com, Shutterfly.com, Kodakgallery.com, tinyprints.com and so on. I decided that would be our option this year: I would take the pictures, saving us loads of money, and then the actual photo would be the card itself, saving me lots of time! But which site to use?
In the end, Snapfish won out, not only for its 20% off code (use bestsellers2008 or winter08, I believe), but because I could get even more kickback from shopping through MyPoints.com. Regular readers should know that I frequently get Panera gift cards from MyPoints, all for clicking on their emails and doing a little shopping through their site when I need to shop anyway! Plus, I actually appreciated that they had far more limited choices as compared to the other sites, which meant I didn't actually blow my mind thinking of all the possibilities and comparing them to how well they'd look with the picture we selected.
You know? You follow?
Anyway, so Sunday, we took the pictures. Monday, I ordered the cards. And Tuesday - yes, yesterday - they arrived in the mail!! For less than $40, I received 80 cute, glossy photo holiday cards which I then addressed and put right out in the mail before ever receiving a card from anyone else. What can I say? I like to be first. And Snapfish.com helped me do it!
So, Snapfish. Check 'em out.
Fin.
so, Melanie...what am I looking for?
Posted by: Peter | 03 December 2008 at 03:06
Great idea ... even though I get the kids' photos cheap at JCPenney, I always wonder if I could do something more creative and just as nice myself. Next Christmas, you've inspired me to try. Thanks!
Posted by: Susan | 03 December 2008 at 06:54
Melanie, I absolutely LOVE snapfish. I have ordered my christmas cards from them for the past two years and I will do it again this year...If I ever take my kids pics!
I'm gonna make note of the code to see if I can get a discount!
Posted by: Gloria Castaño | 03 December 2008 at 16:09
Next year check out Vistaprint.com. They are aeven cheaper. Just be sure to google a coupon code. Couponcabin just had 70% off or something like that.
Posted by: Stacey Kasparek | 03 December 2008 at 16:42
Hmm, too many options huh? It took me awhile to decide myself, only getting my order in on Sunday. Don't see the number diminishing any time soon unfortunately.
Given that our cards are hand typeset on cardstock, we won't win any awards for being cheapest but I do really appreciate that you checked us out.
Happy Holidays from everyone at TinyPrints.com
Posted by: Rick from TinyPrints.com | 03 December 2008 at 18:59
Yes, ma'am, I did that photo option for quite a few years. I liked it a lot and found it easy as pie. I love getting everybody's pictures anyway, so I think it's a great idea.
Posted by: Nicole P. | 03 December 2008 at 21:53