Where are you getting yours this year? Have you found any really good deals?
In the past I've gotten photo cards from Shutterfly, Tiny Prints, Snapfish, Costco, and CVS. Exploring my options this year and trying to keep them budget-friendly. Ideally I'd like the nice cardstock cards rather than the ones that basically look like large photo prints, but I haven't got a big budget this year so I'll do the photo print cards if I can't get a low price on cardstock.
Looking at the Costco site ... I can get 50 basic photo cards for $14, or 50 "premium stationery" cards for $35. Anyone know what the premium quality is like? It says it's printed on 120 lb cardstock, but if it's not much better than the regular photo cards then I'll just do the cheaper option.
I quickly tried out some options with coupon codes and got $53/60 cards (premium cardstock) on Snapfish. I was happy with the cards I ordered from them for DD's birthday thank yous, so if they're better than the Costco premium cards I'll probably go with Snapfish. If they're the same then I'll do Costco. Any idea?
I bought the Groupon for Photo Affections. 100 cards for around $35, I don't remember the exact price. I've done this every year for the last several and I am always happy with the quality. They went in the mail yesterday.
Post by icedcoffee on Nov 28, 2018 10:18:28 GMT -5
I just did Vistaprint this year. $24.88 for 40 cards and 140 return address labels.
I've done nicer ones from Zazzle and Tiny Prints, but I didn't want to spend a lot this year. Our family pictures are only so so anyway. They haven't arrived yet, but we've never really had issues. Once Vistaprint sent me something that looked like shit so they reprinted it quickly for me. Good customer service.
I always just order from Walgreens because I can pick them up in store quickly. I don't usually have time to wait for shipping. I don't ever worry too much about cardstock quality, as they will most definitely be in the trash after a week or two at the most.
I bought the Groupon for Photo Affections. 100 cards for around $35, I don't remember the exact price. I've done this every year for the last several and I am always happy with the quality. They went in the mail yesterday.
This, exactly. I paid $32 on Monday, but that might have been a special Cyber Monday price.
Am I supposed to do these now that we have a kid? Lol. I mean, I kinda want to but also kind of dont want to take it on.
Only if you want to.
Hanging out online with a bunch of (mostly white UMC) moms will convince you that you are SUPPOSED to do all manner of things. Like 90 percent of it is unnecessary.
We are doing them this year 'cause I feel like it. We didn't do them last year. Who knows if we'll do them next year.
OP, we are going with Costco. We used the "premium stationary" for post-birth thank you notes and are going to use them for holiday cards, too. They are a decent cardstock. I feel like they're maybe not AS nice and thick as some of the more expensive brands, but they are better than the cheap ones that are on the photo paper (we've done those before). I think they're a great option if you need to be budget conscious.
Am I supposed to do these now that we have a kid? Lol. I mean, I kinda want to but also kind of dont want to take it on.
We ordered C's birth announcement through Costco and I feel pretty confident I didnt upgrade quality and I was pleased with how they turned out.
I mostly send them because I want to receive them in return. I get great joy out of opening cards in the mail at Christmas. Before sending them I got only 1 or 2. Now I send about 40 and generally get at least 20 back. It makes me happy.
If I reach a point where it no longer makes me happy then I will stop.
ETA: 2 years ago I combined it with DS' birth announcement and sent like 80. That did not bring me great joy and now I limit it to 40.
Am I supposed to do these now that we have a kid? Lol. I mean, I kinda want to but also kind of dont want to take it on.
We ordered C's birth announcement through Costco and I feel pretty confident I didnt upgrade quality and I was pleased with how they turned out.
I mostly send them because I want to receive them in return. I get great joy out of opening cards in the mail at Christmas. Before sending them I got only 1 or 2. Now I send about 40 and generally get at least 20 back. It makes me happy.
If I reach a point where it no longer makes me happy then I will stop.
I am returning our Costco ones (printed on photo paper) because the picture quality is so terrible. Like their skin looks grey, very off from the original photo I uploaded.
I ended up buying the Groupon for photo affections on Monday and those are on the way (10% cashback on ebates) and then I splurged a little and am having our return address printed on the envelopes. Usually i buy envelope seals with our address on them to avoid licking 100 envelopes, lol. I got snoopy stickers for it instead this year
I didn’t do any Christmas cards last year, and i don’t think anyone even noticed.
This year I ordered from Shutterfly, since I’ve always used them before. I found the designs to be uninspiring and the prices to be MUCH higher than I’ve ever paid before, but I went with it because I want to get them in the mail soon and didn’t want to wait any longer while looking at other options. This is probably the last time I’ll order from them...
Costco with the card stock. I’ve been getting them for years, and think the quality of the card stock is decent. I just ordered 125 for $91(?). I wish you could mess with the layout a little more, but I make it work. Sure, they’re not as fancy as the pressed foil, super pricey ones, but you know what? I’m not that fancy either. 😛
icedcoffee - “Retailatory” cards are my favorite, too, haha. I love getting them back.
Etsy has a lot of nice options, then I have them printed on cardstock at Fedex or UPS, whoever is running a better promo code at the time. I do this for a lot of our party invitations.
Am I supposed to do these now that we have a kid? Lol. I mean, I kinda want to but also kind of dont want to take it on.
We ordered C's birth announcement through Costco and I feel pretty confident I didnt upgrade quality and I was pleased with how they turned out.
I'm too lazy and cheap for Christmas cards, so they are always a no for me. I am also someone with two kids who took family pictures this year. The pics will be given to family as Christmas presents and will also be framed in our home. That's it.
I paid way too much for Shutterfly this year after not loving Costco's last year. It is DS2's first Christmas and I splurged on Christmas cards for DS1's first Christmas, so I decided to do the same this year. Next year I'll probably focus more on value.
I've gotten mine from Cardstore.com for the last few years and been happy with the quality. They have really nice designs like Shutterfly, but at a much lower cost and they always have coupon codes. I'm with you in that I prefer the cardstock type of cards over the photo print ones.
You can also upload your addresses and have them address and mail them directly to the recipients for you if you're time starved and/or lazy like me! This only costs as much as the stamp, so there isn't any additional cost to have them print your return address or the recipients address which I've noticed that some other companies will charge for.
It is DS2's first Christmas and I splurged on Christmas cards for DS1's first Christmas, so I decided to do the same this year. Next year I'll probably focus more on value.
I wound up getting four different cards last year for DD's first Christmas because I used different coupon codes and deals, lol. Same total amount, just different designs to take advantage of the deals. People were asking me which card they got, like they were baseball cards or something.
Post by redpenmama on Nov 28, 2018 11:46:06 GMT -5
I just picked up our Costco photo cards yesterday. I'm pleased for the price -- images are true to color, etc., and I found a nice design that suited the number of photos I wanted to include. Christmas cards are something I just don't want to spend a lot of money on ... it's very low priority for me, so I'm looking for a deal and convenience. The quality is better than photo cards at Walgreens, etc., IMO. The premium cards are printed on card stock, not photo paper, at Costco.
I am returning our Costco ones (printed on photo paper) because the picture quality is so terrible. Like their skin looks grey, very off from the original photo I uploaded.
I ended up buying the Groupon for photo affections on Monday and those are on the way (10% cashback on ebates) and then I splurged a little and am having our return address printed on the envelopes. Usually i buy envelope seals with our address on them to avoid licking 100 envelopes, lol. I got snoopy stickers for it instead this year
To answer the original question we got ours from minted.com and they were not MM at all. But they print your addresses on them for free so I don't have to mail merge to labels and that is worth a lot to me. I love love love sending and receiving holiday cards and sent them last week to arrive the day after Thanksgiving because I am crazy and it gives me great joy:)
I used Shutterfly this year; they had the card I liked best with the photo I wanted to use. It wasn't cheap but I don't think it was completely terrible. I paid $150 for 100 gold-foil imprinted cards with coordinating envelopes that are pre-addressed (recipient and return addresses) and then got 10% back on ebates.
I keep all of the cards we receive each year. I hole punch them and put them on a binder ring then put them in a container in the living room at Christmas. I love looking at the old cards and people always pick them up and go through them.
To answer the original question we got ours from minted.com and they were not MM at all. But they print your addresses on them for free so I don't have to mail merge to labels and that is worth a lot to me. I love love love sending and receiving holiday cards and sent them last week to arrive the day after Thanksgiving because I am crazy and it gives me great joy:)
We did Paper Culture this year for a similar reason--the print the "To" address on them for you for free. I also got 50% off and they are a 100% green company. Each order plants a tree in your honor and all cards are 100% recycled. A little pricier for us--with the discounts we got 65 cards for $65, but I really like the company.
I went with Tiny Prints again since I had already done the leg work last year and uploaded addresses there so they would be pre-printed on the envelope. Lazy, party of me!
That said, I did order BB's birth announcements from Costco and I don't recall it being on their card stock. The paper was think and the quality was great. It's been hanging on our fridge since I got them and they haven't faded or look aged. I'm impressed.
I used Shutterfly this year; they had the card I liked best with the photo I wanted to use. It wasn't cheap but I don't think it was completely terrible. I paid $150 for 100 gold-foil imprinted cards with coordinating envelopes that are pre-addressed (recipient and return addresses) and then got 10% back on ebates.
I keep all of the cards we receive each year. I hole punch them and put them on a binder ring then put them in a container in the living room at Christmas. I love looking at the old cards and people always pick them up and go through them.
This is a great idea! I keep cards we receive and have them in a box but have been stuck on what to do with them. This is super easy!
We also used Minted. I love their free recipient and return addressing, so all I have to do is stuff them, stick a stamp on them and put them in the mail. I had a 20% off and free shipping code. It was still pricey, but I love their designs.
I've used Simply to Impress in the past. They are good quality and they also do the recipient and return addressing. A coworker uses Photo Affections and her cards are always cute.
Am I supposed to do these now that we have a kid? Lol. I mean, I kinda want to but also kind of dont want to take it on.
I did a photo card once when DD was 1. I plan to do another this year since now we have DS. DD will be 5. I ordered the digital copies of their school photos specifically for this but I haven't gotten the files yet. I can't get it together however to have a super coordinated holiday shoot. That probably won't happen until all members of the family can dress themselves without tantrums so we still have at least 3 years to go.