From Back-to-School to Christmas with Minted.com

Early last December I wrote a little post in which I bragged about being done with my Christmas cards.  In it begged you not to hate me for my efficiency.

This year?  Well, this year I scoff in the face of that efficiency.

Want to know why?

(You probably don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway.)

That's right.  I just finished designing my Christmas cards.  And it's not even September.

I knew it.  You hate  me.  You hate me even more than you hated Target for advertising back-to-school clothing on July 5th.  I get it.  I really do.  (And I officially give up my right to insult retail establishments for putting out their decorations too early.)

But in my defense, the only reason I'm finished is because I knew that I wanted to use a picture from the photo shoot we did with Alyssa Brule Photography back in April.  From there it was just a matter of designing the card, and for that I went with Minted.com where I found the perfect design to complement my image.

I so, so, so want to show it to you now but that would kind of defeat the purpose of getting it printed on pretty paper and mailing it out to everyone, now wouldn't it?

So instead of showing you my card, I thought I would show you some other cool stuff that I found on the Minted website—stuff I didn't realize they carry.  (Stuff that might soon become mine.)

After finishing the card I clicked over to look at their Art Marketplace.  Seriously, have you seen this?    I'd recommend it for anyone contemplating doing a gallery wall.  Here are just a few prints that I liked:

With back-to-school looming, this "Apple for the Teacher" print also caught my eye.  As a (retired) room mom, I'm always looking for good teacher gifts and I think this one would be great:

Apple for the Teacher

Also appropriate for back-to-school are these business cards for moms.  Initially I brushed them off as a cute idea (but one that wasn't for me).  However, the more I thought about it, the more I saw the appeal.  It would have been especially nice when the kids were little—in preschool or kindergarten—to have these at the ready when meeting other moms.  

hello new friend business cards

pretty playdate business cards

And although I myself am not in the market for a mommy calling card, I do really need to make a business card for my blog.  I'd been fretting about designing my own but now Minted has solved that problem.  I've narrowed it down to the following and would love some input as to which one you think I should choose:

21st century girl business cards

drop me a line business cards

wildflower business cards

bittersweet business cards

I'm leaning towards #1 or #2...

To conclude this post I'm going to take us back to where we started:  Christmas.  Did you know that Minted carries wrapping paper that you can personalize?  Here are just a few that I am crushing on:

BE MERRY BRANCHES PERSONALIZED WRAPPING PAPER

ON THE GRID PERSONALIZED WRAPPING PAPER

KITCHEN TOOLS PERSONALIZED WRAPPING PAPER

They actually have other wrapping paper too—for birthdays, weddings, or any other occasion you can imagine.

(But you know me....  I like to get an early start on the holidays.  ;)

This post has been sponsored by Minted.com.  While I have been given product compensation, all of the ideas expressed are my own.