Shutterfly - Holiday Cards!

Shutterfly has some great ideas for holiday cards and gifts. It is so simple to upload pictures and create something personalized and special.

My experience with how easy it is to use Shutterfly makes me want to use them for any of my pictures. I wanted to make a photo book for my mother-in-law for her birthday, but procrastinated making it. I tried to make it with a local printer so I could pick it up and mail it the week of her birthday. It took me 2 hours to upload the pictures and try and create a book. I was so frustrated that it wasn't working. My friend suggested I make the photo book on Shutterfly using their simple path - and pay a little extra to have it expedited. Great suggestion! It took me 15 minutes total to upload pictures, create a book, and pay for the book - including expedited shipping. I felt so relieved when the book arrived - knowing that the quality would be awesome.

Each year for the holidays I have made my mother -in - law a calendar from Shutterfly. It is really easy to make - you can have each month have just one photo - for a total of 12 in the calendar - or you can create a college for each month, so multiple photos can be used. I have always used multiple photos so she could see the kids in action each month. The other great feature is adding personalized dates to the calendar like birthdays and anniversaries. Last year I made one for my grandmother too. I was able to make one calendar and then make a few edits to personalize it for another person.

In the past I haven't been so great about getting holiday cards out before the end of December. I decided that if I order Happy New Years cards - then I'm not late - I'm right on time! Shutterfly has a great assortment of cards to choose from - religious and non-religious. It is easy to include more than on photo - so friends and family can see multiple pictures of the family. I have a friend who sends out Valentine's cards in February instead of holiday cards in December. You can also create greeting cards through Shutterfly - and have them shipped to the recipient. It costs the same amount as buying one at a local card store - and it is personalized!

You can relax with the holidays when you know your pictures are going to come out great using Shutterfly.

· holiday cards

· photo holiday cards

· Calendars

· new years cards

· personalized Christmas cards

Shutterfly

I love Shutterfly - I have used them for several years now.
It would be interesting to see just when I signed up for an account.

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Today I got an email from a friend that Shutterfly was offering 50 free holiday cards to people with blogs. I really like their cards. I have made thank you notes with my kids pictures - WAY CUTE! I have made simple stationery with the kid's names at the top.

I have made a bunch of Shutterfly picture books - I actually have 2 Free ones to make - and one to make that I bought through Groupon. I am going to make one for my son's birthday (and his activities throughout the last year). I'm going to make a family book of our family activities over the last year - and I think I'm going to make one called iPhone pictures - and include a bunch of pictures I have taken with my iPhone. I need to get moving! They expire November 22.

Crockpot Roast

I've got this recipe going in the crock pot right now.
Hopefully the guys will like it.

(I don't eat red meat)

It is a nice fall day to have the crock pot cooking. This was really easy to make.
I bought the packets when I read the post with this recipe - and decided that today was the day.

http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2010/09/4-packet-roast

***ETA - the guys really enjoyed it! I will be trying this again!

I won! I won!

I'm not sure how I found her blog, I'm sure it was one of those.... I was reading a blog who linked to another blog, who then linked to another blog - so that is how I got to Julie and her beautiful blog. I've enjoyed reading about her family and crafting ideas!

She had a giveaway to a cute store :belkaidesigns

And I won! yeah! Now I have to decide what to get!

Lisa Whelchel wrote some books....

Did you know that Blaire from The Facts of Life has written some books?
NO CLUE.

I was reading a blog about her August book list and noticed the title of one of the books. When I looked for it on Amazon - I realized that Lisa Whelchel wrote them (She played Blaire).

So I logged into my favorite public library computer system to request the book. No such luck in our system. Off to Interlibrary Loan (ILL) - oh how I love this system. I can get almost any book I want through the ILL system. Some books may not come because the book is to new, or all libraries have the book checked out.

I'm on the wait list - who knows when the book will get to me.

***9/25 ETA: I got the book on Saturday - Yeah ILL! - The Me in Mommy made me think that I need to take some time for ME - and not worry so much that the world around me will fall apart because I didn't make a home cooked meal. ****

Posters for the little boy

I found this website today - Sprik Space
I uploaded the light blue one to both Sam's and Costco -
not sure where I'll order them from - depends on my next trip to either of the stores.

His bare white walls need a little fun and color. I thought these would be perfect!
He is into finding letters and saying "ABCs"

Laundry Detergent

My quest for a new laundry detergent started again recently. I want to try and spend the next few months cloth diapering my 2 year old. I know he is sometimes aware of when he has gone to the bathroom. We have a new Baby Bjorn potty seat which works for peeing. No success with pooping. He does recognize that his "tummy hurts" and the dirty diaper after wards. Now let's connect the two please!

I was introduced to the Rocking Green Soap when I went to a session on cloth diapers a month ago. They handed out a bunch of samples. There are 3 formulas: Hard Rock , Classic Rock and Soft Rock. And all you need to wash cloth diapers or a load of laundry is 2 tablespoons full. While the formulas have scents, I didn't smell anything after the wash.

And tonight's adventure was about making my own. I've read my share of blogs and many many of them have different recipes. For the most part, they are the same - or at least the same concept. I liked this one because it was simple and and explained it well. I made a double batch tonight. (will post pictures later) The few loads I've washed tonight came out clean. There weren't bubbles in the machine when I checked.