How To Choose Designer Holiday Cards From Minted

Shine Bright this Holiday Season with Unique and Indie Designed Minted Holiday Cards

minted sample

I’m pleased to be working with Minted for another holiday season. As my Christmas card list shrinks because so many people have switched to e-cards (so I send them e-cards in return) I still love the process of selecting a design and tweaking it to create a combo of images of my family and a message that communicates our holiday greetings with our unique personality.

The only problem is that there are so many designs to choose from! As my friend texted me, “I’ve fallen down the Minted rabbit hole.”

Indeed. When I first started poking around in this season’s designs, I was just going to take a cursory look, but a half hour later I was still browsing through, imagining my own family’s photo in one of the designs. You can skip that part and just upload your photo right away, then load it into each design you like to preview how it will look. Minted works with indie designers to present a variety of different looks. If you like one design, you can look at others by the same artist.

But if you’re like me and you fall down the rabbit hole, you might get stuck on a design that strikes your fancy. I loved the idea of a “year in review,” and so then I fell down another hole, which is all the photos I’ve loaded onto my computer since January 2015. I wound up picking 70 favorites. That’s too many. So I loaded about 20 into Minted’s photo library, and played around with them, and came up with this goofy combo:card frontThen, because I couldn’t resist, I chose to add one large photo to the back of the card with a holiday message. (This adds $23.95 to the price, but don’t you think it’s worth it?)

card back

And since this option is free, I loaded in my address book for all the people I am sending cards to. Minted prints their addresses on the envelopes so they look classy, and it saves my hand from cramping! All I have to do is stuff envelopes and stamp them. For an additional fee you can even have your return address printed on the envelope.

IMG_2617

I really love the quality of Minted’s cards for the holidays. There are many beautiful design options, thick and luxurious paper, classy printed envelopes, and the prices are reasonable for the quality you get. I ordered them on Monday and received them on Friday! They look and feel great. Done and done!

I received complimentary cards from Minted as part of my work with Savvy Sassy Scouts program.

Winter Wonderland Getaway at Four Seasons Westlake Village

IMG_7610Let It Snow 2013

This year the Four Seasons has taken its holiday special features up a few notches. In addition to the Let It Snow event outside at the Look Out, with snow, hot chocolate, holiday characters, even ice skating, the hotel is a stop for the Holiday Village Trolley operated by the city. It takes you to many different shopping destinations and it’s free to the community.

The Let It Snow event itself is available to the lucky folks who scored tickets through a special Conejo Deals sale, and to guests of the Four Seasons. A special Winter Wonderland package is available December 4 and 5, 11 and 12, and 18 and 19, and includes the luxury accommodations and service that the Four Seasons is famous for, plus one VIP pass for Let It Snow and the morning character breakfast and access to tickets for the rest of your guests. Elf tuck-ins are available, too!

The Let It Snow event will feature a live snowfall, a synthetic ice rink, photos with Santa, train rides, cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus, s’mores, apple cider, cocoa, and more!

You don’t have to drive to the mountains to take your kids to the snow. Book a luxurious room at the Four Seasons and enjoy snow in opulence. What a great idea for a holiday themed staycation! Stay tuned for photos and tales about the experience after we return next week to experience what’s new!

Father’s, Fathers, and Fathers’

Has the word lost all meaning? Maybe if you write it right (sorry), it will make more sense. See how well you do on this Father’s Day quiz from Grammarly:

Happy F Day to all the dads out there.