For the past 10 years or so I’ve been making my own Christmas cards. It’s not exactly because it’s cheaper. (It’s not.) And it definitely doesn’t save me time, particularly back in the day when I was rubber stamping, glittering, cutting out and embossing 50 plus cards. As if the holidays weren’t stressful enough, this business of making my own cards turned me into a combination of Martha Stewart and Joan Crawford–the “Mommie Dearest” Joan Crawford.

But thanks to Apple, I’ve been making my own cards using iPhoto’s cards feature and have been doing that since around 2008 when I made thank-you cards for my wedding. It’s still not cheaper but it does save me time and I get to maintain that personalized touch because somehow I’m thinking there’s some sort of Pulitzer Prize-equivalent for making homemade Christmas cards.

In a typical year my husband and I have a plethora of photos from which to choose from our many adventures during the year. However, this year was pretty quiet because I was limping around most of the year. We just didn’t travel a whole lot in 2011. (sigh)

So, one night while wasting away an entire evening on Pinterest, I found this photo. I thought, Okay, I’m totally stealing that idea.

All it took was bribing my husband with a meal and getting my photographer friend, Jolie, to snap the photo for me and we got this!

Front of Christmas card

Inside of Christmas card

I couldn’t find the “Merry Christmas” garland that I wanted, so I ended up making it myself. So, I guess this Christmas card is actually a hybrid of the way I used to make cards (totally arts and crafts) and using modern technology (Apple’s iPhoto).

In the end, it turned out way cuter than I could imagine. Can’t wait to get them back from Apple!