It is that time again: Christmas Cards & a Surprise!

Today I placed an order for work that had an 8-10 week lead time.

10 weeks puts us at January 2nd.  

I'll just let that sink in for a second.

My order isn't going to arrive until after the holidays.

This is about the time every year where I realize how close the holidays are and how the end of the year is sneaking up on me.

Halloween is next week. 

Thanksgiving about 4 weeks.  

Christmas less than 9 weeks.

I may not have Halloween candy for the trick or treaters or have my Black Friday game plan mapped out yet, but let me tell you, in between wedding planning, I certainly have started prepping for Christmas!

I've started a skeleton list of people to buy for, amounts allotted to each person, and started drafting ideas.

Some presents have already been bought.

And Christmas cards? 

Y'all, I have been looking at the different options for a month now.

I love sending out Christmas cards to my family, friends, and bloggy friends!

Last year, we ordered our Christmas Photo Cards through Tiny Prints.

And honestly, we could not have been happier with our cards.

They offer so many different and awesome designs and shapes of cards to choose from.

The quality of the finished card was flawless.

And the customer service has been great.
Fast responses, helpful, and always nice.
The way customer service should be!

I will be upfront with the problem we had with our Christmas cards.

There was just too many to choose from.  

Just look at some of these gems I found that I'm already in love with.

How cute is this ornament shaped card?

I adore this font.

I am loving the trifold design!

It was a long and intense process picking just the right card that we both loved.

But it was worth every moment and we are willing to subject ourselves to it again.  

I suggest you head over to Tiny Prints and check out the many different designs.  

I am certain you will find a whole bunch you will love too.

(I won't even tell you how many I already have favorited...)

While you are there, make sure to check out all the special offers they have going on right now.

Besides their website, you can find them all over social media!

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Instagram: Tiny Prints

Google +

Blog

Now, the REALLY exciting part!

Because Tiny Prints is so awesome, they are letting me host my very first giveaway!

One of you lovely followers will win $50.00 off your order.
(does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos)

All you have to do is comment on this post and include two things:

tell me your favorite Christmas card design
and please include your email address.

Easy peasy!
The last day to enter the giveaway is November 1st.
***Giveaway is closed!***

This post is sponsored by Tiny Prints but all the opinions stated above are 100% my own.

Favorite Christmas Traditions

Hey ladies!

I hope y'all had an amazing Thanksgiving full of lots of yummy food!

I know mine was.

We're still eating leftovers. 8)

To get into the Christmas spirit, I'm linking up to a Holiday Blog Challenge!

It's day two and the topic:

Favorite Holiday Tradition, Old or New

Christmas Eve Present

Growing, my sister and I weren't told about Santa.

We knew all along that our presents came from our parents.

So every year on Christmas Eve, we were allowed to pick one present from under the tree (excluding the big ones!) to open.

This helped with the anxiousness of wanting those presents now!

Christmas Cards

Growing up, as a family, my mom would send them out.

Then she stopped sending them but I picked back up in middle school.

Handing them out to everyone I know, with two mini candy canes to make a heart attached to the back.

Even now, Vito & I send out photo cards (which we started last year!).

I get excited every year sending and receiving them!!

P.S. I ordered ours this past weekend. If you want one, let me know in the comments & I'll add you to the list!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Every year, my mom puts together the tree and puts the lights on it.

Putting on the ornaments is the "kid's job".

So my mom sits back and we all decorate.

Even though my sister has her own family and has moved out, they still come over to decorate the tree still.

Growing up, we were better at this but we use to get a new ornament each year.

We've been slacking lately but we still do this occasionally.

The Pickle

The most fun of holiday traditions at our house.

Since I was probably 10, my mom would get up early on Christmas Eve and hide a pickle ornament in the tree.

Every year, my sister and I (now Princess, Vito, and my brother in law too) search for the pickle in the tree.

Whoever finds the pickle receives an extra present.

It gets ugly and competitive in our house & I love it!

(even though I'm pretty much the worst one at finding it...)

Christmas Eve Night

Since Vito has been around, we started our own tradition for Christmas Eve night.

Once it gets dark, we go and drive around looking at the Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music.

At 10:30, we head to Christmas Eve service.

The candle light part is my favorite.

We then head home and it is usually 11:45.

We turn on Christmas music from the radio and dance to the light of the Christmas Tree until after midnight.

It has become one of my most favorite parts.

What traditions do you have?

Or head over here and link up your own post!

The Cutest Christmas Cards

First, I am so, so, SO glad that so many of you are on my side for giving Thanksgiving some lovin' before it diving into Christmas.

I just love you all.

For serious.

Now that being said, even though I do not approve of decorating of listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, I do believe it early preparation.

Only when it comes to shopping.

I love starting to shop early for presents.

Makes shopping during the actual holiday season a bit less stressful.

This also includes getting my Christmas cards ordered.

I don't know about y'all but Christmas cards can be veeeeery expensive in my opinion.

I use to pick up a few boxes the day after Christmas and store them with the wrapping paper.

Still money spent.

Well, not this year.

The savior?

Tiny Prints.

They are graciously giving away 50 free Christmas cards to us bloggers.

All you have to do?

Write a blog post.

That. Is. It.

Does it get much simpler than that?

Negative.

The hard part?

Choosing which Christmas card to use.

Because let me tell you, I have over 30 cards a few marked as favorites on their site right now.

Let's just look at some of these, shall we?

Classy Plaque.

How pretty right?

Loving the ability to put in different pictures. & you can change the color if you don't like the red, they have 2 additional options.

& who doesn't like options?

Merry Making

One of my favorite things about Tiny Print's card collection?

The back is decorated. Not just plan white.

Adorably decorated to match the front!

Merry Intent

And if they didn't win you over yet, some cards even offer different layout options.

Like this adorable circle card that comes with ribbon.

I'm sure you can see now what kind of decision I'm up against.

So if you are interested in blogging for Tiny Print's Christmas promotion for the cards, head over here and fill out the form.

Do it soon as the offer is only for a limited amount of time!

And really, how can you say no to free ADORABLE cards?

Do you send out picture Christmas cards?

Also, let me know if you would like a Christmas card in the comments!

"Christmas Time Is (almost) Here!"

Now that I've successfully celebrated Thanksgiving , I can officially move on to the next holiday on the list.

Christmas!

I cannot believe Christmas is going to be here in less than 4 weeks! Thank God for my engagiversary twin Brit for introducing me to Shutterfly and their Christmas cards!! I have been sending Christmas cards out for years now, getting out the green and red pens to write lovely messages to my loved ones. Vito and I have been on the fence about buying picture cards instead of the generic ones in the store. We seem to get a few every year and I "ooh"and "Aww" at every single one!

After seeing that they were offering a promotion for us bloggers, I was immediately sold. This year would be our first year picture Christmas card! By just blogging about Shutterfly, they are graciously giving us 50 free picture cards! Free! Head on over here to check out this amazing deal for yourself!

After that, you need to head on over and check out to multitude of different designs they have to offer for Christmas cards and Holiday cards. My biggest problem is trying to pick a favorite one, there are SO many cute ones!

I'm in love with the flower tree. So cute!

How could one not fall for these stockings!?

I just adore the candy cane letters! So festive!

Pretty snow flakes!

As you can see, there are many, many, many choices!

Also make sure you check out their Christmas party invitations. Makes me want to have a party just so I can buy the adorable invites!

I now look forward to picking a design and a picture(s) for our first photo card!

I can't wait to see how they turn out! Thanks Shutterfly!

If you would like one of these little pretties from me, either leave your email in the comment section below and I'll contact you or you can email me with your address at caramelphotos@gmail.com