Holidays — Page 11

The Importance of Family Photos at the Holidays…

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.” – Cesare Pavese

This quote is so true for me – and looking at my favorite family photo’s can make those great moments totally fresh in my mind. Photos become especially important to me at the holidays – to remember people who are no longer with us, to reminisce over pictures of Christmas when I was a kid, and to cherish the memories that I’m now making with my own little family. A picture can totally capture those moments worth remembering – so I wanted to put together a whole series of posts over the next week that will focus on holiday photos!

“She glances at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes.” – Frank Deford

Yesterday we took Abby to the annual Holiday Lighted Parade downtown. Last year she was just a baby, only 5 months old, and I’m not sure that she shared my holiday enthusiasm from her bundled up spot in her car seat. But this year she loved it. She loved having Daddy boost her up high so she could see the lighted trucks and tractors, the horses pulling carriages, and especially the parade of dogs in lighted vests. {She’s a HUGE fan of doggies. A seriously huge fan.} I forgot to bring my camera, so thank goodness for my iPhone. The pictures weren’t great, since I had no flash – but I’m so glad to have captured the evening in photos.

“Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories.” – From the movie An Affair to Remember

So, over the course of the next week, watch for tons of great photo related posts! The amazingly talented Amber Miller will be sharing some great photo tips. I’m going to search out some great deals and discount codes that you can use to print favorite family photos, create memorable holiday cards, or make other fun photo-themed gifts. I have a few reviews and giveaways I’m pretty excited about too! So watch for more “Holiday Photo Week” posts from now until the 12th.

A few of my favorite holiday posts:

Holiday Card Freebies: Use this resource to get up to 50 different holiday cards for free. I posted this last week – so I can’t guarantee that all of the offers and codes are still available!
Family Photo Day: This is a super fun new idea from Shutterfly that I think is so cool. Check it out, learn how to get some discounts, and set up your own “Family Photo Day” event!
Elf Yourself Video: Use your favorite family photos to create a totally free – and totally funny! – video.
10 Tips to Get Ready for the Holidays: Yep, that’s exactly what this post is about. I share 10 holiday-prep tips – Because it’s only 20 days until Christmas!!
DIY Holiday Gift Ideas: 8 cool ideas for DIY Christmas gifts to make this year, that people will actually want to receive!
Holiday Baking Deals: Some of my very favorite holiday baking items, at big discounts!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on December 5, 2011 Filed Under: Holidays | 4 Comments

{Holiday Resource} How to Get FREE Christmas Cards

Personalized holiday cards are so much more meaningful – but they can get expensive really quickly. Use these deals to get tons of beautiful cards to customize, and fill with your favorite holiday memories! For some great holiday photo ideas, check out my very favorite photographer on her Facebook page – Amber Miller Photography!

MyPublisher: Get 10 of their amazingly gorgeous holiday photo cards for FREE! The quality of the products from MyPublisher are really impressive – thick paper, beautiful color. Set up an account before you get started, then at check out use code HAPPY10FREE to get them FREE, no shipping, no other purchase required!
The Gallery Collection: Build your own FREE card sample pack! Choose the pre-made all occasion set, pre-paid holiday edition pack, or choose your own very favorite 6 cards from anywhere on their site! Free Shipping, super easy to order!
InkGarden: Choose from 10 Stationary Cards or 20 Photo Cards for only a $1.00!! Use code HOLIDAYCARDS at checkout, which gives you a $10.99 credit. This will give you either one of the card packages for just a buck, plus shipping. This is an amazing way to stock up on personalized photo cards at a deep discount! You’ll only pay a few bucks for shipping, so you get beautiful photo cards cheaper than a box of discount cards at Walmart. Love it.
FREE Photo Holiday Cards: Choose from 10 flat or folded holiday cards with Free Envelopes. Order today, and save 50% off higher quantities. Products are free, add your own photos and text shipping starts at $4.60.
Click Here to create yours now!

That’s a total of 50 photo cards you can get – and even if you order all of the sets, and pay a bit of shipping, you’ll be getting 50 of your own customized cards for less than $10 bucks! You can barely buy a basic box of cards at Hallmark for that price – and photo cards are so much more fun! Add another $10 bucks, and you can add 10o fun holiday postcards, a customized address or business stamp, and cute holiday labels too! Check out the bonus deals….

BONUS:

100 FREE Holiday Postcards: Get your message across this holiday season with customizable postcards! Use them as holiday cards, invitations or announcements for home and business use. Mailing services available. Matching envelopes available at checkout. Create today and receive in as few as 3 days. Printing is free, shipping starts at $7. Click Here.
140 FREE Holiday Labels: Spread the cheer with every letter you send! Stick your labels on festive holiday letters, cards and packages. Choose from thousands of designs, upload photos or create caricature return address labels. Create up to 7 caricatures of your family, friends and pets! Use labels as To-From stickers, gift tags & more! Printing is free, shipping & processing starts at $3.07. Click Here.
FREE Holiday Stamp: Choose from over a dozen designs and make holiday labeling a tad easier this year. Choose from red, black or blue ink. Printing is free, shipping & processing starts at $5.67. Click Here.

Posted by Meagan Paullin on November 24, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies, Holidays | No Comments

Totally Cool DIY Holiday Creations – with DIY Dish!

Absolutely LOVE both of these ideas – the second one is one of the most unique and creative ideas that I’ve seen in forever – plus, it’s so simple and inexpensive to put together! This is from an episode on The DIY Dish – one of my favorite crafty sites. {Can’t see the video? Click here to watch it on YouTube.}

Are you a crafty DIY’er too?

If so, check out a few more things I’m in love with right now… From gifts, to freebies, to fun tips and idea, these are a few of my favorites from around the web….

Design Your Own Cookie Cutter Gift Set – on Amazon, would be a super cute hostess gift!
8 DIY Gift Ideas they Actually Want – This is from the Guerrilla Gift Guide, super fun ideas.
Free Thanksgiving Printable Party Package – This is the biggest FREE printable collection I’ve seen!
Elf Yourself – Have you created one of these fun, free, family video’s yet? So funny.

Share your favorites too!

If you have any great posts on your own blog, or a favorite that you’ve found, please share it in the comments here! I love to find great new DIY ideas. And I’d love to connect with you on Pinterest… You’ll find my link up at the top of the page!

Happy Holidays….

Posted by Meagan Paullin on November 21, 2011 Filed Under: Holidays | 2 Comments

Spread “Picture Perfect” Holiday Cheer this Year!

Tiny Prints = Huge Smiles!

Ohmyheck – I could not be more in love with the amazing selection of Holiday Card designs from Tiny Prints this year. I thought I loved ’em last year…. But, unbelievably, this year is even better! I love that there is such a wide range of choices… From classic styles to modern designs, retro color combos to bright pops of cheerful color. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, can find the perfect card to celebrate their family’s personality!

Let me share a few of my favorites….

How fun are these round ornament style Christmas Cards? This one is called Booming Blossoms – and I am so excited to order these! What a great idea – this makes it much easier for the recipient to display the card you send, and totally sets it apart from all of the others that they’ll be getting. These start as low as $1.59 each – Considering even a cheap card at Hallmark is a couple bucks, this is an amazing value, right? Add your favorite family photo for a sweet card that everyone will love!

This design is so classic and pretty… Love it! It’s called Banner of Dreams. And here is another cool feature to check out when searching for your perfect card – when you click on a card, like this one, you get several options of styles to choose from. So, if you love this design, but like the round style above – you can have both! This card can print in the circle, 5×7 flat, 5×7 folded, and more. So you can totally customize a card to be exactly what you want it to be, which is totally amazing.

Another super fun card – This Neon Noel is so creative, and I love the image of the cat in the middle of the text!! Very bright and cheerful, this would brighten up anyone’s dreary winter day, right? Another feature to check out when shopping for Holiday Cards on Tiny Prints is the side bar on the left – choose how many photos you want to use, the style of card you like best, the theme you prefer – and it’ll narrow down the super expansive selection to the picks it knows will be your favorites.

Which one is YOUR favorite?

Shop the Holiday Card assortment at Tiny Prints today, and find the perfect card to share your favorite family photo this Holiday season! You’ll have so much fun putting it all together with the easy peasy online card creating process on their site – and your friends and family will have so much fun opening them!

More Holiday Fun:

SUPER cute Thanksgiving Printables from Dimple Prints – over 30 pieces! So in love with this. If you create something with these, please come share on myFacebook page!
See me sing and dance in my Elf Yourself video, and make one for yourself!
Santa’s Coming! 10 Tips to Get Ready for the Holidays!
Find some sweet savings in Holiday Baking Deals and Freebies!
Guerrilla Guide to the Holidays: 8 DIY Gifts that Don’t Suck!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on November 13, 2011 Filed Under: Holidays | No Comments

Guerrilla Guide to the Holidays: 8 DIY Gifts that they Actually Want!

Frugal Holiday Gifts from LearnVest

LearnVest, as you know if you read my posts often, is one of my favorite sites. I love that they make financial news relevant to my life, and easy to understand. I love that they share some of the most helpful, totally do-able, frugal tips and tricks each week. And my favorite is the “fun” posts – with great information like how to save when building a wardrobe, which beauty products are worth a splurge, and today’s article – how to make DIY Christmas Gifts this year that as they say, “Don’t Suck.” Lol. This is part of their on-going series, Guerrilla Guide to the Holidays – which has been packed full of fun & frugal tips. Love it.

Get Daily Tips for Frugal Living! Packed with money-saving tips and financial how-tos to enrich your life. Click Here to join me in getting super cool weekly updates!

8 DIY Gifts:

I’ll give you an idea of what you’ll find over there – and you can head on over to get the instructions for each gift if you’re interested. Sign up for their email updates – I promise you’ll love ’em!

Biscotti: These delicious twice-baked cookies (biscotto is derived from the Latin for twice baked) keep for long periods of time, making them a sweet gift that will last past the season. Pack them in an airtight container, and wrap it with a bow. {Get recipes on LearnVest!}
Photobooks: If you’ve got a smartphone with the Instagram app and have taken some downright pretty photos, you can create a beautiful and very personalized gift. Using Printstagr.am—a site that prints and binds your Instagram photos—you can make a minibook of trip photos for a vacation buddy, or a “Tinybook” of oldie but goodie family photos for relatives. This teeny booklet even has a magnet, so it will stick to the fridge.
Infused Vodka: It’s colorful, festive and utterly customizable, so you can choose the perfect flavor for friends. Besides, infused vodka is one of the simplest flavored liquors you can DIY: It literally takes ten minutes to make, but you’ll have to start early since the flavors need a week or two to infuse. {Get the recipes on LearnVest!}
Handmade Bath Salts: Homemade bath salts are a simple luxury that anyone who likes at-home spa treatments will enjoy. And you can handpick an aroma you know your recipient will love. Also, the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you want to make a large batch. {Find instructions on how to make homemade Bath Salts on their site!}
Granola: This simple, not-too-sweet granola is delicious and keeps for months. People especially appreciate it because as long as it lasts, they always have a healthy breakfast on hand for those mornings that are too harried for cooking. Just be warned: It will also inspire them to request refills when their supply runs out! {Find the homemade Granola recipe on the site!}

There are more too!

Check out the LearnVest article, Guerrilla Guide to the Holidays: 8 DIY Holiday Gifts that Don’t Suck to read the rest of the ideas. Plus, if you sign up at their site, you get access to all of the forums, tools {like financial bootcamp!}, and more – so you can log-in to the Holiday Tips section, read the ideas other readers have submitted, and add your own too! If you’re not a member yet, join up. I get SO many great tips from them!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on November 10, 2011 Filed Under: Holidays | No Comments

Shutterfly Family Photo Days – Fun Tips & Free Holiday Cards!

Getting Perfect Family Photos…

Everyone has that one perfect family photo. The one where everyone is smiling, the lighting is perfect, no one has a weird lamp growing out of their head…. You know, perfect. And you try again every year to get it right again, with no luck. At the holidays, you’re often sending out cards to people you seldom see during the year, so you want to show your family in the best possible way – it’s a lot of pressure, right?

The holidays are getting closer every minute…

As you can see from my new little gadget in the sidebar, there are only 47 days, 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 22 seconds until Christmas! That might seem like a lot of time, but it’ll be here before you know it. And the very best tip to have a relaxing, peaceful, and enjoyable holiday season it to get things done early. One of the big reasons I hear from people for putting off creating amazing personalized holiday cards is that they don’t have a great photo to use. Well – I’m here, armed with some great tools from Shutterfly, to save the day!

Holiday {or any day!} Photo Tips:

Coordinate: You don’t have to dress everyone in matching holiday sweaters! But choose a theme, or color story, so everyone’s outfits work well together. Solid colors work better than a lot of pattern, layers work better than short sleeves, and a couple cute accessories can really pull things together! Choose one color that everyone pulls into their outfit somewhere – Example: If you chose red, then mom would wear a red top, dad might have a red shirt layered under a sweater, baby could have a red bow in her hair – you get the idea.
Shake it up: Don’t take stuffy, boring photos on the family couch. Get outside! Jump in fall leaves, play in the snow, run in the grass. Find an interesting landmark in your city to take photos with. The more unexpected the better!
Props: Some fun props can make a world of difference! I love, love, LOVE bringing big wooden letters into photos – have the kids hold letters that spell a word, like JOY or LOVE. Or have each kid hold a sign with a different word – spelling a phrase like Joy to the World. Have everyone wear hats and scarves – or big winter boots in the snow! Eat snowcones, shovel snow, throw the kids in the air, kick a soccer ball – trust me, when you’re having fun, it’ll show in your photos!

Have a Family Photo Day:

Shutterfly wants to help families across the country have an easier time capturing those perfect family moments to share in their Holiday Cards and Photo Books by helping you host Family Photo Days! What’s a Family Photo Day? Well, it’s a super smart idea, a total Busy Mom Solution – get a bunch of your friends together, set up some fun props to share, brainstorm fun ideas and silly settings, grab your cameras, and prepare to be delighted by some amazing holiday photos!

It’s not about the professional photographer or the dull photo shoot in front of the mantle. It’s something anyone can do. Get together with friends and brainstorm! Think about creative ways to show off your families’ personalities.

Online Tool Kit:

Check out Shutterfly Family Photo Day online for some super cool tools and features:

Learn more about Family Photo Day, and watch a really great video that will seriously give you some awesome ideas. So easy, and so fun!
Download the digital toolkit for a HUGE list of photo tips – including indoor shots, outdoor ideas, setting and prop ideas, wardrobe tips, and so much more. You’ll feel like a pro in no time!
Get FREE Holiday Cards! Enter your favorite family photo – and get 5 totally free cards just for entering! And the winner will get a full YEAR worth of free cards! Awesomesauce, I know.

Secret Trick for Holiday Photos:

If all else fails, and you just cannot get one picture where everyone looks good, use my secret trick – use an easy and free editing program like Picnik.com to crop your photos – take the best parts of a few of your favorites, make sure you’ve got everyone in at least one pic, and put them all together in a fun multiple-photo Christmas Card! No one will ever know that you had to crop out the brother pulling sisters hair. We’ve done this for many of our cards, and they turn out perfect.

More Holiday Fun:

Check out a few of my other Holiday Prep posts too! Learn my super easy peasy secret for amazing Bake Pop desserts, read my Top 10 Tips for Holiday Planning, learn how to get a great 25% off coupon for Melissa & Doug Toys, and get your business ready for the holidays too!

What do you think?

Did you watch the video? Does it make you more excited for great holiday photo shoots now too? What do you think of the idea to pull your family and friends together for a fun Family Photo Day? Share your thoughts, along with your best holiday photo tips, in the comments!

{Disclaimer: I received a complimentary set of holiday cards for sharing this amazingly cool promotion with you – but I would’ve shared it anyway, because I know you’ll love it. Fun tips and advice, creative inspiration, and free photo cards? That’s what I call super-cool.}