Mama in the City

A blog about raising my family in downtown Vancouver

Celebrating Traditions With Minted!

I am not going to lie, I've already given some thought to my annual tradition of sending out Christmas cards. While it still feels like the holidays are a long ways off, I have given a bit of thought about what I'd like our 2013 family card to look like. Last year we did our first photo card and had a terrific shot of us in Hawaii plastered on the front. I really enjoy the whole process of picking out the right card, writing messages and addressing envelopes. I might get a sense of gratification when I put all those cards in the mail box too. I guess I'm a total sucker for traditions and sending out Christmas cards ranks high on my lists of traditions to keep up.

For me, traditions help to symbolize family and that familiarity of special events makes me feel good. I love collecting our mail during December and pulling out the envelopes that look like cards. Each year I send off a good chunk of special cards to friends and family spanning across North America through to the UK. While, social media helps us keep up to date with day to day events much more than it did years ago, receiving a Christmas card just helps solidify connections and ultimately spread some holiday cheer.

It seemed completely perfect when indie card company Minted asked me to check out their goods. Minted offers so many choices for the consumer and allows you to play around with your selection before purchasing it. I love Minted's interactive on line card options and also that it is so easy to use. Just upload your favourite photo of your cat, your cute baby, your family, your scenic holiday shot and GO!



In the olden days, and even very occasionally now, people would sit down and write out a letter telling all about the things they had been up to over the year. Remember those? I still get a couple of letters each Christmas but for the most part it just doesn't happen anymore. When I saw this card I thought it was so suitable as a modern take on the annual newsletter. So perfect for a family who has had a few exciting things happen over the year or for someone who has traveled around.



Back when I was a single lady in the city I still sent out Christmas cards each year, the volume was less but the sentiment was the same. Once we had Ben I felt this excitement about including him in some of the traditions we grew up with and also creating our own family traditions. I think a new baby is a perfect feature for a family Christmas card and a baby jazzed up to look a little festive is pretty sweet in my opinion.



I am definitely a pre planner and I plan to have my Christmas cards in hand by mid November. Say what?? I know some of you are thinking that is way too early but a pre planner has a plan. Once I select my card and have everything ready to go, I do a bunch of cards each night that I have some down time. I'm usually watching a silly Christmas movie and burning a scented candle while I write little messages inside each card. I always like to have them ready to mail out by the first week of December, just to make sure that each card can get where it needs to go in the world.

Are you going to be sending out Christmas cards this year? Can I have a 'oh yeah!' for all the Christmas card pre planners like me. Check out Minted at their site minted.com or on their blog for fun creative DIY ideas.

I was compensated by Minted for this post, but my love of their cards is my own opinion.

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