Spoiling yourself with professional Christmas cards

I pretty much fail at all the customary duties of a grown-up.  For instance, it took me a lot longer than it should have to crank out my thank-you cards after my husband and I were married.  I don’t always think about bringing a hostess gift when attending parties (luckily, my husband does).  And I almost NEVER get Christmas cards sent out.  Partly because I don’t think of it (as with everything else) and partly because my inner-slacker gets the better of me and I’m just far too lazy to go to the store, pick out a box or two of generic holiday cards, write a pithy letter to accompany them, address them and take them to the post office.  The holidays are all about stress, after all, and Christmas cards are just yet another layer of stress.

So you might find it odd that when the Parent Bloggers Network contacted me about doing a review of Minted’s new Christmas card collection that I literally JUMPED at the opportunity.   Professional Christmas cards that would include super-cute pictures of my family?  it would be like a dream come true!

There are literally dozens of cards to choose from and different cards have then even more options for customization.  So in essence?  The possibilities are endless with these cards.  If you can dream it, the folks at Minted can make it happen.  If you want to print your standard Christmas letter right there on the card in a fancy font (that you can select!), you can.  Want to take advantage of the “year-line” feature that lets you insert photos and “blurbs” about the big events your family has experience in the last year?  Go for it!  Do you want a simple card with a simple greeting and nothing else?  Well, you can have that too.

That’s what I loved most about the ordering process.  There were so many opportunities for customization, that I really felt at the end of the “design process”, that this card was mine and unique.  For the record, this was the card I started with:

(of course, my family does not look that put-together)

It took me the better part of the morning, but I figured out how I wanted my card to look and what I wanted it to say and placed my order.  I was assured that my photos and design would be taken care of by an actual human being designer and everything would come out looking just as it should.  I felt that I could really relax about what the final product would look like.  And the cards arrived super-quick.  I can’t speak for the holiday rush that is inevitable as my cards were ordered last month, but I was impressed by the timliness of the delivery.

And they came all wrapped up with a sweet little bow and a note with the name of the designer who oversaw my order.  Very professional and very classy.  The cardstock is heavy and thick with quality.  The card itself turned out even better than I hoped.  The colors are bright and cheerful and vivid.  The photos I selected (I used a photo collage that I created myself) came out looking sharp, even though my camera isn’t the spiffiest one out there.  All in all, these are cards that I am going to be very proud to send out to my friends and family.  And, I promise you, I will be sending these out this year.  I can’t wait to put the stamps on them, in fact!

The biggest drawback is the price.  They’re a little spendy for your average Christmas card, but if you’re looking for something upscale, these will definitely fit the bill.  And Minted doesn’t only offer holiday cards.  They are a wonderful source for birth announcements and wedding invitations as well.  Also, sometimes you need to spoil yourself and splurge on quality.  These cards are exactly that.