The Looney Bin Reviews

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

2007

2008

2009

Every year, we take a family Christmas picture. Some years we take it as early as October and some years its December.

But every year (well, for the last 3) we've had my parents help us take a bunch of pictures for Christmas cards.

We haven't had this year's picture taken yet, but I've already started thinking about the Christmas cards.

Mostly because the blog-o-sphere has been all abuzz with posts about Shutterfly's generous 50 free cards for bloggers who post about Shutterfly's Christmas offer.

I am SO jumping on that bandwagon.

I've used Shutterfly in the past to design and print our Christmas cards. Their service is easy and fast and relatively inexpensive. AND I get great looking photo cards while my buns are still happily parked on the couch. What could be better?

So this year, while I'm not quite ready to make my official final choice, I do have some ideas of what I think I want. And I had a ball looking through Shutterfly's extensive selection of creative and nice-looking cards. There are so many options! I could do this all day!

I kind of like the idea of these folded cards. They would give me space to write a personal message to the recipients on the inside and still also be able to include the year and our identities - I try to write who we are on the back of the cards somewhere.

I also aim more for the Christian themed cards than for the Make Merry types or other more secular greetings. Without getting all Christian and goopy on you, Christ really is the reason we're doing all this. I would probably have whatever picture on the card be in color. Since I'm overly traditional like that.

Again with the traditional family card. But I like the toile print on this one. It's ... different, if one can be different when ordering cards from a major retailer like Shutterfly. AND! There's a spot for the year on the front of the card! Saving me valuable writing time!

I've seen at least 3 other bloggers feature this card. And I loved it. Because it gives the opportunity to do a form of the traditional Christmas letter without being all "And Susy continued in her 5 year all A streak at school!" that we all hate so much. A draw back to this one? I haven't the slightest idea what I would write in 9 of the 10 spots. I know I'd come up with something eventually and fill it all in and it would be fine. But then I will inevitably spend the remainder of the time slapping myself in the head for forgetting to mention this or that interesting thing that happened to us. And that's just crazy-making.

I still like the traditional ones. It hasn't changed in the last 5 minutes. Just thought you should know that. (Also? As I was sitting down to do this post, the power went out. Because someone drove their car into a utility pole down the street. We were power (and internet!)-less for 4 hours. I think that might have upset the delicate inner workings of my brain some. Making peanut butter and fluff sandwiches by candle light is not as romantic as it might sound.)

I like the cards with multiple spaces for pictures. Because then I can do one of Mike and I and one of the girls together and one of the four of us. Or some combination thereof. Last year we some how managed not to get a picture of Mike and I by ourselves. But we have two of the girls together.

I really like this card. It's not traditional, yet it is all at the same time. I think it's the black.

And if Christmas cards aren't your bag, you could always do Hanukkah cards.

Another popular Shutterfly product in our house is the photo books. I did an alphabet photo book for each of the girls, featuring pictures of them and their family for each letter of the alphabet. They came out super cute and were really easy to do. One year I made photo calendars for the great-grandparents, featuring monthly pictures of the World's Most Adorable Children (TM).

So there you have it - a brief (or not so) run down of my thoughts on the genre of photo Christmas cards.

Do you want in on the 50 free card action? You can get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, too! http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Toys And Games Online

2009-11-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Recently, I was contacted with an opportunity to do a review of ToysAndGamesOnline.com.

I went out to pick my toy and was amazed at the selection. There were hundreds of great toys to choose from!

I decided I wanted to get something the girls will play with for a long time, as well as something that wasn't too princess-y, since we're suffering from a bit of princess overload right now.

Ultimately, I decided on Tinker Toys. I had a set of Tinker Toys when I was young and I loved them. I had so much fun building all kinds of different things with them and I am super excited to share that with my girls.

I really enjoyed browsing through the site. They have a great search function where you can narrow your choices by the age range you are shopping for, the price range, the type of toy (building toy, outdoor toy, creative toy) as well as by brand or any combination of the above. The site was nicely responsive, so I didn't feel like I was waiting for hours on end to get the search results I was looking for.

After my order was placed, I received a bunch of emails from ToysAndGamesOnline.com. They confirmed my order and sent me a tracking number and then a few days later, the UPS truck was in my driveway with the package!

In all, the experience was great. The girls are loving their Tinker Toys and I plan to hit ToysAndGamesOnline.com again when I need to stock up on more non-princess-y toys.

Forte Promotional Products

2009-04-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was given an opportunity to review some promotional products created by Forte Promotions.

When the box I arrived, I dug in excitedly and was thrilled with the stuff I pulled out. My hands-down favorite was the promotional diaper/tote bag. I received the yellow one and decided to put it to use for our upcoming trip to see Sesame Street Live. I typically carry a combination diaper bag & purse and this bag handled all of that, plus snacks and a camera with no problem. It comes with an easy-clean changing pad, too. There are a bunch of handy pockets on the inside and the top zips shut (which was nice, since I wasn't sure we were allowed to bring snacks in to the theatre with us).

I also received a Baby's First Year calendar, an ID and Records kit, some nifty paper clips and an imprintable spray hand sanitizer.

All of these products are great. I've been very happy with them.

I'd like to share the love. Leave a comment on this post by April 30 and I will draw one name to send the whole shebang to. Good luck!

Let The Games Begin!

2008-12-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

My family loves to play games.

We typically play some sort of game when everyone is here for Christmas and I was lucky that I married into a family that also likes to play games. (Their favorite game is Euchre. I straight up don't get it. And have officially declared myself Not Smart Enough To Play Euchre.)

I mentioned previously that Mike and I used to play Uno a lot, when we were at the laundromat waiting for our clothes to be dry. We also have played and enjoyed Uno Attack. That is especially fun when members of your playing group have had several glasses of wine.

One of my favorite memories of game playing involves my brother-in-law, Mike. He's incredibly smart, possess a wicked and DRY sense of humor and is a very by-the-rules kind of guy and if he kicks your ass in Monopoly, well that's great for him, but sucks for you.

We played Monopoly one night while they were here (he and my sister live in San Francisco) and he got me so upset I had to leave the table to cry in the bathroom. We haven't played Monopoly as a family since. I'm pretty sure my sister also told him to back off because when I came back to the table he was (slightly) more nice.

This year is the first Christmas since we got Wiis and I am sure that Mike and Holly's Christmas visit will involve much drunken Wii-ing. And Emily trying (and failing MISERABLY) to play bowling.

This post was written for the Parent Bloggers Network and Electronic Arts, who recently released an array of fun, family-focused video games just in time for those family holiday gatherings - including Littlest Pet Shop, Boogie SuperStar, Boom Blox, and Hasbro Family Game Night (a collection of six classic board games), just to name a few!

I'm hoping that my Blog Blast luck changes and I actually win this one! Fingers crossed!