a free treat!

The Christmas card I sent out last year was a little cheeky, and I was worried that certain people (think Grandma) on my list wouldn't quite understand it. If only I'd known then about Treat, Shutterfly's new custom greeting card site, I could have whipped up something personal and special. 

Treat is perfect this Christmas if you don't have the budget to bulk order a ton of photo cards, but still want to send your nearest and dearest a greeting. Or, if you want be sensitive to certain friends on your card list, a Treat card would be special alternative. Maybe your friend who is in the middle of a divorce shouldn't get your card with your wedding photo displayed. Instead, create something personal and festive just for her. 

Not just for holidays, Treat will come in especially handy when you're searching for a birthday card or a  note of congratulations for friends and family that require a little something more than a grocery store greeting card. As a super card nerd, I'm pretty excited about this new site where you can make and send one-a-kind cards without even having to lick a stamp!

To celebrate the launch of Treat, I Do Declare readers will receive a FREE card today (11.19) and tomorrow (11.20). Create and send a greeting to someone you're thankful for this week...just because you can. (enter the code TREATBLOGR at checkout)

Who will get the Treat card you make today? 

a blue Christmas card + a $50 tiny prints give-away

I don't send out a Christmas newletter, but if I did this year's would be short and sweet:  2012 Sucked. 

I do, however,  send out Christmas Cards Christmas cards

.   In fact, I am kind of a super nerd about creating my own greeting.  With December looming in on what's been kind of a crap 2012, I'm already thinking What kind of card will I send THIS year?  That's why (yes - in mid-October) I've been clicking through cards at Tiny Prints to see if I can make some of the very cute, clever design options work in my favor. Greeting card writers may not pen a message that says, Let's call this year a wash and start fresh in 2013...but thanks to the ability to customize at Tiny Prints, I can.....

If you're feeling a little blue during the holidays, I think it's fine if your card reflects that.  Not every year brings memories you want to commemorate with an ornament, and that's fine. That's just life.

Years ago, I was talking to my minister because I was just sad. I couldn't explain why I felt so down and generally lonely because, aside from the mysterious gloom I was hosting, my life was good.  I couldn't  pinpoint what was even causing this heavy cloud over my seemingly happy world, and being able to recognize my good fortune only created guilt.  The guilt for feeling bad made me feel even worse. In short, I was depressed PLUS depressed about being depressed.

     "What's the worst kind of pain?" my minister asked me.

Without really thinking, I answered with a question.  

      

     "Losing a child?"

    "You're wrong," she told me, "the worst kind of pain is your own."

While I know fate has been even more unkind to others this year, it's been our crummy year, our pain. And...it's our Christmas card, so I am giving myself permission to take on a bahhumbug theme if come December I still feel this way.

I do have some good news, though....and it does make me very jolly.

TINY PRINTS IS GIVING AWAY $50 TO ONE I DO DECLARE READER!

Here's how can you win:  Fill in the blank of this sentence in the comment section below...

 I would be most excited to receive a holiday card from ___________. 

I'll tell you, for me, it's probably the Witherspoon-Toths. I'm curious about a lot of things. Like, is that baby really going to be called Tennessee; do Ava + Deacon get to dress hipster even in the Christmas card; are Reese + Jim in it, or just the children; formal photo or candid; auto sig or personalized in red ink? I feel like the card would reveal SO much.  

I'll name a winner on October 29th - good luck! Oh, and if you don't win, you can still take advantage of some great Tiny Prints discounts and promotions - click here! 

Tiny Prints sponsored this post and promotion. 

Paperless Post - Valentines + Give-away

My favorite online stationer, Paperless Post, has some of the most cute and clever Valentines cards available if you are a last-minute card shopper....which I am!

For less than than what you'd pay for one paper greeting card, you can send a card to your Valentine, your friends, your family - pretty much everyone you love, with enough left over to design a girls' night invitation around a movie! And, to prove that love don't cost a thing, Paperless Post is introducing a line of FREE designs, too! 

What I love about Paperless Post, as opposed to other sites that offer e-greetings, is that the designs are as original and elegant as paper products you'd find in a boutique stationery store.  

To Carrie. Love, Big

The designer gets to really put her special touch on an invitation, birthday or holiday card. I sent this one, from the new free line, to Dan (or as I usually call him, Z) who's been out of town with work while I've been home going to boot camp. Cute, no?

There are even options for photo cards (think grandparents if you have kiddos!).  I used this engagement pap shot of Dan and me to for a magazine cover card....

with this funny message...because I've been known, on occassion, to read the tabloids.

If you want playful or pretty, you'll find all styles of cards at Paperless Post! I love that Paperless Post cards arrive in the recipients inbox in a cute envelope that opens up to reveal a pretty liner, which the designer can select. Because it really isn't like JUST sending an email, your intended will surely feel special (not like you just forgot...and sent a quick message!).

I'm SO excited that Paperless Post is offering one I Do Declare reader a chance to win 50 Coins for creating and sending clever cards and invitations - for a birthday, for a party....OR, just in time for Valentines Day!

To enter, be a follower of I Do Declare and then leave a comment telling me how you'd use the Paperless Post coins! Will you create invites for an upcoming St Patricks Day party? Will you play Cupid sending Valentines to everyone you know? Are you like me, who likes to just send Paperless Post when setting up dinner plans because designing one  is so, so fun??

I'll announce a winner on Monday, February 13!

I was compensated only with a reader give-away for this post. I am a longtime customer of Paperless Post and feature often the designs I create on my blog.  

The Serious Business of Creating a Christmas Card

Before there was Facebook, all people had for camoflauging vanity in the name of "keeping in touch" was the holiday photo card.  This Facebook world, though, it only ups the ante of the Christmas card picture - the real pros have to keep something in their pocket for December, true?

The camera loves us - and we love you!

From the purest place in my heart, I love receiving photos of family and friends, but also, I like to see what, year after year, people do to showcase their life, their family and their greeting. For some, the art of giving and receiving the photo Christmas card is full-on sport, and I admit, somewhat shamelessy, that I am among its players. Some women keep future baby names on lock down, but for me, my secrets are Christmas card ideas, vaulted in my brain for the children I may never have, for the places I may never travel.   I mean really - if you don't want to make sure your card stays atop everyone's pile, why not just pick a pretty boxed set?

Sorry you couldn't make it to your wedding in Paris!

It may sound like I've already hit the egg nog, but  I KNOW I'm not the only card sender who thinks this way. I have friends who sit for professional photographers,  get custom address labels and will shop post office after post office in search of seasonal stamps because, God Bless America, the simple 44-cent flag just will.not.do at Christmas time.  All this, it's what makes the holidays so special: we are reminded to think of others, and to think also of what others will be thinking of us! NO to the EL.

All that time I spend on sites like Tiny Prints searching through card options both traditional and modern, I'm not doing that for me; I am doing it to impress for the people on my Christmas Card List!!

The people at Tiny Prints recognize the selfless efforts of card creators like you and me, making the editing process so easy that Mrs. Claus could style a masterpiece, even without her glasses. And with cards that start at less than $1 each, you'll actually be able to afford {holiday-themed!} postage, too!

This card is only 69-cents!

I love that the clever Tiny Prints desingers have created pretty templates, but they still give customers the liberty to personalize cards to feature the sender's personality. Tiny Prints also has several options that would work for singles or childless couples, because...

...not everyone has the advantage given to those who procreate. You lucky parents. Does it get any easier than masking humility in the face of a child?

In years past for our Christmas card I've used vacation photos and a wedding picture, so I recognize that yet another glamour shot of Dan and me might be a bit tired. Also (and especially because) we're just not as hot as these people...

This year, our card will take on a more humorous tone. Maybe because I know how much thought goes into Christmas cards, I recognize that it's probably time, at least for a card with my name on it, to be a tad self-deprecating.   Not, of course, that there is anything funny about the serious business of creating a Christmas card.

All photos: Credit Tiny Prints

*Disclaimer: I've long been a paying Tiny Prints customer, but for this post I particpated in a blogger promotion and Tiny Prints will compensate me with 50 free cards.

Momtinis & Manicures - A Spa Day Baby Shower

Despite one uninvited guest, the Momtinis + Manicures baby shower celebrating my mom-to-be friend Megan went on as planned this weekend...

Not pictured: Hurricane Irene.

Megan didn't want lots of baby brew-haha, just a relaxing day with friends (half of whom are expecting or have just had a baby themselves!)...

The guest-of-honor sipping on a Pink Grapefruit Mock-a-rita

So, we opted to give a party that was more about mom....

than baby.

Margaret at GoodInvites was asked to model the invitiation off an OPI bottle, only using Megan's initials instead of "OPI", and she came up with the cute invitation above, and some other signage to match, like this card for the monogrammed cookie favors...

and these cupcake toppers, that were hot-glued to an emery board - theme devotion at all turns, people!

Because we knew our guests would be busy with the primpage...

...instead of a big food table...

the hosts passed bite-sized snacks to the ladies...

as they got their pedicures...

and manciures.

In between all the food and the Raspberry Momtinis...

Kathleen - bartender + gamer

we managed to play two really fun games. No melted chocolate in diapers for this crew...

We're more of the Hollywood A-list kind.

The prize for the winners? A bottle of nail polish, of course.

Irene did cut short our post-party plans for dinner, as afterwards everyone rushed home to hunker down...

 When there isn't a hurricane, the spa keeps its TVs on E!

but it was still a great day. What, afterall all, is a shower...without a little rain?!

Tomorrow, I'll share drink recipes! They were DELISH!

Cutest Correspondence Ever!!

Years ago, like five, after my friends Bert + Heather became parents, I gave them notecards with their new daughter's name.

Stationery, personalized with a new baby's name, is one of my favorite gifts to give new new moms + dads. Besides, you've got to start young feeding a preoccupation with pretty papers...especially for little girls. Hee.

I think baby notecards are perfect for writing notes to say thanks for gifts for the new baby, meals cooked because of the new baby...it's also especially adorable when you get a note written in the baby's voice. What is cuter than that, really?

Um, THIS!

Last week, I got a note in the mail written by Miss Melana (who when not corresponding formally, goes by Molly) on the notecards I'd given to her parents - and to her - when she was a newborn.

That sweet note just made my day!

Mapping Out Plans for a Perfect Party

Today is Columbus Day, and because I love America so much that I'm actually at my government job on a federal holiday, we're going to pay homage to the man who discovered our great land....and I am going to give you a gift.

Keep reading - I promise it's worth your while....

I like to think that I have a lot in common with Mr. C.

• He had blonde hair

• I have blonde hair

• His surname was Columbus

• I live and work in towns named Columbia

• He was a great navigator of the wide, mysterious world

• I am a great navagator of the mysterious world wide web

Upon my interweb voyages, I often discover the cutest ideas from the most clever party planners, and most recently I pointed my ship mouse toward a new party planning website called Punchbowl. 

First, let me raise my flag and declare that Punchbowl is about the cutest name ever for any party-related business.

Second, let me tell you that because Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, and because you discovered this blog today that...

YOU GET A 25-PERCENT DISCOUNT TO JOIN Punchbowl!

Let's do it one time like Oprah...

You get a discount! YOU get a discount! YOU GET A DISCOUNT!

That was fun.

With Punchbowl, you won't have to search the world over (ala Columbus) for all the things you need to host a perfect party.

Punchbowl provides free {and adorable!} on-line party invites, and will link you to vendors in your town that can help with any and all of your planning needs.

While Punchbowl is a free website for your start to finish event planning, exclusive memberships are available for the super, savy, not-to-be-outdown-by-anyone, Martha-wannabe hostess.

Membership to spike the Punchbowl gives you access to special features and some fancy-pants online invites with more bells + whistles to really bait your guests into RSVPing yes.

Punchbowl is helping (ala Columbus) I Do Declare readers map out every detail for parties big and small by offering you a 25-percent discount towards your Punchball membership between now and October 25! At checkout, just enter the promotion code IDODECLARE25.

Before you know it, there will be a national holiday named in YOUR honor because you throw the best parties.

Happy Columbus Day....and Happy Party Planning!