Our 2017 Family Holiday Cards

While I do share some pieces of my family's life here when it is relevant to stories I'm sharing and/or when I feel like it would be helpful to other people, I keep the more personal details and intimate moments (especially when they involve my kids) offline. Sharing our family holiday cards here is an exception for me. Our cards do (at least in my opinion) represent a more personal part of our lives since they are sent to our closest friends and family members, but it's a part I am willing (and eager!) to share. I genuinely feel that exchanging cards is one of the most endearing, special parts of the holiday season, and giving a glimpse into our experience with it is something I'm happy to do. I've actually really come to love doing this post, which is now in its third year.

A few years ago, I made the decision that after only sending cards from the Bubby and Bean Art shop that I designed myself, I wanted to start ordering them from somewhere that wasn't part of my job. I mean, I'd admittedly sent out pretty much every design from my shop already, so there was a practical aspect. But the main reason was that it was Essley's first Christmas, and I really wanted to include a photo of her on our card. I was also at the end of my pregnancy with Emmett, and that in addition to the fact that it was my busiest time of year with work and Robbie was about to leave the country for his job made the task of stuffing, sealing, addressing, stamping, and sending holiday cards seem unreasonably difficult. I had been doing some research into different card companies that offered personalization, and I stumbled upon one that not only had the hippest, most stylish cards I'd ever seen, they also offered a service that would do all of the sending work for me. I was sold. And I loved it so much that I used it again last year, and this year too. Smitten, guys. Smitten.

The name of the company (just in case you don't remember me gushing about them thet past two years) is Postable. In addition to the other epically awesome things I mentioned above, they also have a huge selection of designs to personalize. (This year I had so much trouble choosing just one that I ended up ordering three to send to myself so I could choose one in person. You can check out all three of them in the image directly below this paragraph.) What sets them apart, however, is the fact that they print, stuff, stamp, address, and mail all of your cards directly to everyone in your address book - which, in their words, saves you thousands of hours of agony and a life of carpel tunnel. True story. I'm also a big fan of the fact that they use 100% post-consumer recycled or tree-free 100% cotton in all their cards and envelopes. And the quality is stellar. I mean, the cards are incredibly beautiful in person.

The process of personalizing the cards with our photos, greetings, and names (we chose to print on both the front and backs) on Postable took less than five minutes. And everything is customizable. You even have a choice for the writing on the envelopes. I went with one of their "smart fonts" that actually looks exactly like Robbie's handwriting, which kind of makes me feel like I'm being sneaky because I can guarantee the recipients will think we hand wrote them all. (Insert evil laughter.) Then you choose which addresses you'll use from the address book (which is super easy to fill; when I first started using Postable I uploaded a spreadsheet and voila), check out, and you're done. In just a couple of days, your cards are on their way to all of your people.

As for the design we chose this year, it just seemed appropriate to go with one that featured "Peace on Earth." (I'm not going to get political in a holiday card post, but I think spreading peace is pretty freaking important right now, just sayin'.) The photo of Essley and Emmett we used for the front was admittedly like the 27th take, but I'm stoked with how it turned out. Essley is laughing, and Emmett is, well, not diving off the chair or destroying something. We couldn't ask for more than that. For the back, we went with a grainy cell phone shot of our family outside of Robbie's tour bus when we joined him for a night in Indianapolis last summer. It was spontaneous and real and very us. The card is perfect, and I'm so excited to get them sent out to our family and friends. (Without any work aside from a couple of minutes online. Wooooot!)

Honestly, I can't imagine a time that I won't use Postable for our holiday cards. And no, they did not pay me to say any of this. Really, they didn't. While I do partner with them for these projects, they are not paid sponsorships. This is all my honest opinion, free of monetization y'all. They seem to be really nice people who make dope cards and have a very innovative service. Oh, and they're also offering all Bubby and Bean readers 15% off their entire order. See what I mean about their level of awesomeness? Just use code BUBBYANDBEAN.


Please tell me I'm not the only one who experiences a genuine emotional response during the process of sending out holiday cards each year. I mean, it's a sentimental experience right? Either way, thank you for letting me share. (I'd love to see yours as well!)

This post is in collaboration with Postable.

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