Things weren’t as cool then as they are now, in my opinion. The Internet was AOL, and I had a bag phone. I definitely wasn’t as cool then as I am now, but that is my own opinion – not that of any of my current friends and family. The above pic of me might look like otherwise. What a hippie. (That’s me on the left, my little sister Rachel on the right.) I do remember, however, that I had seriously long hair, way too many shirts from The Limited, and LOVED to wear my band letter jacket. You be the judge.

Another thing that makes me jealous of these 2012 graduates is the crazy selection of photo graduation invitations online. A graduating senior can now personalize his or her own graduation announcement or invitation and purchase thank you notes to match, with almost endless choices. It seems like we were forced in 1997 to buy announcement and thank you cards from the one company that came to the high school. Not anymore. I love to see what graduates (or their moms) choose each year. Our customers (or their kids) always look fabulous.

Senior pictures have definitely changed as well, for the better. We won’t get into that. And I can’t show you mine because it was pre-digital photography. Leave me alone. My mommy has them.

So, take a look at Photo Card Cafe’s selection of new 2012 photo graduation cards and see whatcha like. And smile! You’ll look back at these for the rest of your life. No pressure.

The holidays are over (*sigh*) and what a release to have some much-needed time with family and friends. As always, I’m a little relieved that Christmas is at an end because of the undue shopping/cleaning/packing/unpacking stress it causes. But, I will miss the music, food and awesome amounts of holiday card mail.

As part of a card company, we truly enjoy receiving all of our personal holiday cards in the mail. I love to see what people choose to represent their family for the year in the way of photography and design. (Didn’t think of it so seriously before now, huh?) I’m of the school that a holiday card tells your friends and family what you consider beautiful and important, which typically translates into your family (and possibly your dogs) and a fun card template. We’ve seen some fabulous photography come through Photo Card Cafe’ in 2011, and we love to see it continue through 2012 with birth announcements, wedding save the dates and graduation announcements during the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, (and sometimes causing much laughter) as part of our jobs we get to see some really, REALLY interesting photos come through our system. Most of the time, these specific customers are wanting this laughter to occur when they send out their cards, which is hilarious. But sometimes, it’s just not their fault. Bottom line: Really good photography MAKES or BREAKS a photo card. You can choose any one of our awesome designs, but if the photos you choose don’t complement your choice, the message is confusing to the end user. In less technical terms, take a worthwhile photo! Here are some helpful resources and hints.

Kodak has a fun little page on the Top Ten Tips for Great Pictures (click through on the link and you’ll get a Flash pop-up). I love this tutorial. Memorize it and you’ll notice a change in your photos. It just takes a tiny bit of effort with a little thought to have professional-looking photos.

Also, I talked to a couple of the BEST photographers I know, and they gave me their most important tips for taking a good photo. Tanya Warpula of Cozy Impressions Photography in Austin (and extraordinary mom of FIVE kids) says this: “Only shoot in good light – about 30 minutes after sunrise, or one hour before sunset. If you’re stuck in a jam, then shoot in all shade to prevent spotty light, squinting subjects and dark shadows.” Amen sista. Tanya did three sessions for my family in 2010, and the light was fabulous. Everything was fabulous.

Arden Prucha of Arden Prucha Photography in Fort Worth takes some out-of-this-world photos in any occasion. My cousin and his wife just adopted their seven year-old son, and her courthouse photos of our family (and my gorgeous, new second cousin) are unbelievable. She suggests to shoot from above when your taking pics of your kids. “Don’t feel like you have to be level with them. This can also help if there is a distracting background that you don’t want to capture,” she says.

Arden also has no problem with making crazy sounds when she’s trying to make people smile during her shoots. “Feel free to do silly things while trying to take pictures. I often times make tooting noises or start dancing and kicking my legs, (similar to Ashley Simpson’s ‘busted for lip-syncing’ dance on SNL), to get them to look my way. Laughing photos are the best – they aren’t so posed, and they look beautiful.”

Finally, I’ve discovered Fro Knows Photo recently, and he’s amazing. TONS of videos and tutorials for taking new and innovative pictures, and great advice on how to edit. He definitely sports the fro. Visit his blog for sure. SO much to look at.

There you have it. Hope everyone has a wonderful 2012. Next up: Valentine’s Day ideas for the best of us busy people.

Since the prettiest holiday cards are starting to roll in to your mailbox, you’d think (as we are a card company) we’d have some interesting ideas on our blog about displaying your holiday cards.You’d think. Well, today’s the day. I found a few interesting and simple solutions for showing off all of your friends and family without making a big pile on the coffee table (guilty) and making someone go through them. That’s not pretty. I like pretty. But, I like things to be easy, so I only picked the few that I felt could be done in an hour or so. I mean, who has time to build a custom shelf that they only use at Christmas time? Maybe you do, but I certainly to not. Remember: people are ordering holiday cards from us in droves. My time is limited, people!

This one is my fave because it’s the easiest and cutest at the same time. (From The Anderson Crew)

This is unique, from Better Homes & Gardens. You hang jingle bells on a lightweight chain and just slide the cards into the crevice of the bell. Love it!

This one I found on Shorely Chic. It’s an idea that’s everywhere, but I really like this one. Get an old frame of any kind, and tack thread or rope around it in any way you like. Maybe add some holly. Cute.

Enjoy getting those cards!

My air conditioner does not come on at all, and my heater only a few times at night. I’m pulling soups out of the freezer for supper and making homemade cornbread. I don’t want to leave Starbucks. What does this mean besides too much coffee and some awesome gas and electric bills this month? The holidays are upon us, I want to hibernate and drink way too much espresso.

Even better lately are the little random memories and traditions that pop into my head and make me smile. You know what I mean, and you’re smiling right now. The holiday traditions you’ve grown up with combined with the ones you’ve started with your own family. There are so many I find myself writing them down so I won’t forget. Because, what would happen if we forgot one? Well in my case, Home Depot would have an extra Frasier Fir on its fence outside. Be jealous.

The Home Depot tree trip is something my husband and I started when we were first married, living in Austin. After we purchased our first home, we felt it needed a tree to take up the entire entryway of the little house. Since we were always out of town when his family went tree shopping, we’d just stop and buy one on the way back from my family’s Thanksgiving festivities. It’s always been a Frasier Fir. It’s always been a fun trip, even with the kids and freezing weather. It’s always been a yelling fight trying to get the tree strapped to the top of the Suburban. It’s always a funny memory in hindsight.

We do other normal holiday things, too. I’m not as lame at Christmas.

- I’m the homemade cherry pie-maker and the pumpkin bread-maker.
- We wake up at our own house on Christmas morning, no matter what.
- My mom makes the best party mix in the world. I cannot stop eating it.
- My parents still do stockings for everyone.
- We eat out Mexican food every Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve-Eve with my husband’s family. Yum.
- We run the Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving.
- Cyber Monday

I could go on. What are your family traditions? I’ve heard some great ones in the past. Share! Maybe you’ll find one you want to start this year.

The Home Depot Tree, 2008

I know it’s Fall when I look on Facebook and people are posting about all of the stuff they’re making for dinner. (Not by looking outside, the changing weather, or Halloween, but Facebook. Ah, how times have changed.) And they aren’t posts about grilled chicken skewers or cantaloupe and watermelon salad. It’s chili. Ribs. Post roast. Soup. Animals they’ve killed. I love this time of year when people actually enjoy cooking and have an excuse to stay home and huddle up.

As a nod to that, I now have in my oven a giant slab of pork butt. I know, the thought of eating anything with the word “butt” in it might turn a few off. You must not judge the meat by it’s name. After about 10 hours in the oven, you’ll think differently. I got my current pork recipe from a blog called Kevin and Amanda, which I love. They have some fabulous recipes that I love to use all of the time. The current recipe they have up for Halloween French Macaroons looks amazing. Anyway, we intend to eat this tonight with some corn, a spinach salad, and macaroni and cheese. I will personally run and hide from the mac and cheese since it is my evil nemesis. I cannot stop once I’ve started.

You can eat leftovers from this forever. I like to eat it as a taco, sandwich, by itself, or on a rubber tire. It’s that good. Happy cooking, and happy Fall! –Sara H.

A pic from KevinandAmanda.com. Mine looks just like this, right now.

If you’re thinking of buying photo Christmas cards this year, NOW is the time to do so (or at least before Monday when it ends). Get 35% off ALL photo holiday cards with code EARLY at checkout. We think that this is one of the best deals online for some pretty stinkin’ cute Christmas cards, so take a look at all of our new stuff for 2011. There’s no way you won’t find something you love here, and at an awesome price.

Take those family pictures. Do it now. You don’t wanna be doing it in the freezing weather, way too late in December. We love to see your fabulous faces!

Presh!

I say this, because I cannot decorate. That part of my brain just doesn’t exist. I do have a creative mind for other things, but home decoration is something I just, well, copy from other people. And even when I find a good idea, I don’t always completely follow through. I need something uber simple.

This is why I love Hill Country Homebody’s blog. A TON of fabulous ideas with the busy mom and tight budget in mind. I’m envious of all that she does with her house, especially her bedroom. Her party ideas (like her awesomely-creative super hero party) are fabulous as well. Something I aspire to be when it comes to parties. (At this moment, I have to clean and decorate a cake for my six year-old’s birthday party tomorrow. Can you say, procrastinate?)

For now, I’ll stick to photo cards, and copy Hill Country Homebody.

Relaxing ...

See, time's ticking away.

Don’t have any time whatsoever, but you want some cute cards? Now, you can just email us your info and we’ll create the card for you, for FREE! Just send us the card you like, your pics and text, and viola. We want it to be as easy as possible to connect with those you love, and make them smile. And cry. Or smile through tears.

Halloween starts NOW, so order those photo Halloween cards or party invitations asap. Christmas is coming up too (scary), so don’t forget to order your photo Christmas cards early!

Not really. I just thought it was cute. Since I’m writing about gutters, and … you get it.

Everyone wants lots of shelving and storage in their houses, but at what price? Hundreds of dollars? Thousands? A kidney? No thanks. Now, I’ve seen with my own eyes a more affordable book-shelving solution at Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats’ blog (the write also links to Home Stories A to Z for a wall border option) . What a great idea to help get all of the kids’ books off of the floor and use them as decoration! Seems pretty easy, too. I like easy. Read how they did it, and let me know if anyone you know has experienced installing this. I know my experience with installing anything at all is nothing short of a nuclear war, so if this is easy, I’m in. – Sara H.

Great Library!

Sara W. and I were just discussing this blog entry, talking about our little kindergarten sons and what they eat for lunch. Usually it’s healthy, plentiful and may or may not include a note written on their napkins in black Sharpie. We thought we were cool … Nobody show this to our kids.

Oh no. We’re not cool when it comes to lunch. THESE moms are cool, however, and have inspired me to use at least one of their little creative antics once a week (or so, here and there). Check out this Halloween lunch by Thereses Verden (via Simply Modern Mom). I love the cheese cut-outs and the carrot sticks as tall grass. I might mess with Cooper’s cheese next week. Watch out. – Sara H.

What a spooky lunch!