Today’s post is about thinking outside the box. I’m featuring customers that took one of our standard designs and changed it to suit their needs. I’m not just talking about picking your favorite colors and fonts – that’s fairly standard and expected. These people took it to the next level…

Ella’s mom Liz started with a birth announcement and ended up with an adorable first birthday party magnet:

These wild and crazy folks (okay, it’s my brother) took a wedding photo card and imagined it into a fabulous family photo Christmas card!

You’ve read about Melinda before, as she prepared her daughter for a new arrival. She creatively turned this baptism invitation into a birth announcement for baby Kaylin. Then for big sister Zaylee’s second birthday, a birth announcement became a party invitation. I love how the monogram was switched to a number “2″.

So if you see a product you love, but it’s not quite right for your announcement or invitation, fear not! MagnetStreet Baby is all about customization, wherever your imagination takes you.

Do a little browsing through the birth announcements, party invitations, baptism invitations and holiday cards. Remember, it’s okay to be out of the box!

Are you hosting a baby shower anytime soon? Baby shower games seem to fall into the love/hate category, so be sure to check with the guest of honor on her preference. Personally, I’m a fan of games, but for those who aren’t, I’ll point out that games help get all the guests involved. That’s especially important if they don’t know each other, having only the mom-to-be in common.

A recent post at Extra(Hour)dinary Parenting got me thinking about some alternate methods of bringing the guests together. Amanda’s friend hosted a children’s book baby shower, for which each guest brought a book as a gift, and read it out loud. (Read her entire post for details, including a fun idea to keep the reading from getting long or boring.)

Some of my former co-workers each gave me their favorite childhood book when Tate was born. I loved that gift, and it would be so fun to have that be the theme of the entire shower.

This “ABC” baby shower invitation would be a perfect fit for a book shower. It also comes in a flat card version. Click here to view other shower invites.

Have you hosted or attended any unique baby showers? Any fun activities beyond the traditional games? Please tell us about them!

Photo Courtesy:
clevercupcakes

I’ve mentioned before that decorating Tate’s nursery is an ongoing process…adding bits and pieces here and there.

One of my favorite pieces is a custom print that I ordered from Penny People Designs. I saw them on the Spilt Milk Moms blog last summer and just had to have one.

They happen to be running a buy-one-get-one sale right now on the 13×19 prints, so hop on over to their etsy shop!

As you can see below, I chose the greens-and-blues style, and decided to use both his first and middle names, since just “Tate” is short.

The wooden “T” block is from another cool company – Craft-E-Family. As the name implies, they’re a family business, and have excellent craftsmanship and great prices. An entire alphabet set is less than $20 – what a great baby gift that would be! They also make custom blocks featuring the baby’s name, birth stats, parents, etc.

We purchased the wooden duck on our “babymoon” trip to Maine. Sorry I can’t link to the store, but if you’re ever in Bar Harbor, be on the lookout! My friend Tonya made the adorable frame - she actually does the crafty things that I aspire to do.

Speaking of aspirations, my next nursery project is to frame the “T” pages from the Dr. Seuss ABC book: “Ten tired turtles in a tuttle-tuttle tree”. I love that there’s a sleeping theme, and the colors on that page just happen to match Tate’s room.

Growing up with a fairly uncommon name, it was always SO exciting to find something with “Kara” on it. Maybe that’s why I love the current availability of custom-imprinted items, to make my son’s nursery really unique.

What custom touches have you used to decorate your nursery? Anything from your own room growing up, or other family heirlooms? Have you incorporated your child’s name or initials anywhere?

Are you expecting a baby girl in the next couple of weeks? Look at these beautiful Valentine’s theme birth announcements!

Not that you can’t welcome your baby boy with a Valentine, but you should probably switch the pinks for red. He’ll thank you later!

The other great possibility would be sending out a personal or family Valentine. It could be just for fun, or in lieu of traditional holiday cards if you never got around to sending them out. 

Simply replace the birth details with a personal greeting or a list of your kids’ names and ages. How cute, as either a magnet or a card! View more options online.

Do you usually send Valentines to family and friends? I bet you like to receive them – think about it.

Okay, now that most of my New Year’s cards have made it through the mail, I can show this to you. (Since I assume that everyone is like me and likes the surprise of pulling a never-before-seen card out of an envelope!) Sorry to make you squint at my terrible photography!

And here are the stacks of envelopes, all ready for the post office…

Please notice that the addresses are written in aqua fine-tip Sharpie that matches the return address labels. I love a coordinated envelope!

Disclosure of ridiculousness: I paid $17.99 for a 12-pack of fine-tip Sharpies at Michael’s because they didn’t have any single aqua pens, and I didn’t have time to go to another store. Ugh!

But the real point of this post is to shamelessly plug the fun online design studio options! The card that I chose was originally a fairly Christmasy design:

And although these shades of red and green are my among my favorites, the Christmasy look was too “early” for my put-off-until-the-last-minute card. It also didn’t match the aqua slide from which Tate is emerging in his photo. Presto-chango, make the green and red into 2 shades of turquoise, and we were ready to go!

You can either select colors from a palette of popular choices, or create your own custom shades. This is perfect if you’re trying to match something in your photo, or just have some favorite colors that you want to use. You’ll be able to see the colors right away, along with your uploaded photos and any text changes (like me changing Merry Christmas to Happy New Year!).

If you prefer to leave all of this up to the pros, on the other hand, our talented team of designers can set up your card or announcement and send you a proof for approval.

These design features are available not only for holiday cards but everything from shower invitations to birth announcements to birthday party invitations.

So, are you a do-it-yourselfer or would you rather let someone else pick what looks best?

Last year was possibly the first one in which my Christmas cards were actually mailed before Christmas. It helped that I had a new job blogging about Christmas cards for my former full-time employer. Yes, at this moment you’re still reading that very same blog, but my old procrastinating ways have settled in again…

I did get my cards ordered last week, so they could get out before the end of the year. But it will definitely be before February begins!

Are any of the rest of you holiday card procrastinators? Don’t worry, there’s still time! Here are some classic designs that could really be sent at any time of the year – just change the Christmas greeting on the front and pick your favorite color combination.

Wouldn’t this one look great in turquoise? After all, Heidi (quoting Pantone) says that’s THE color for 2010!

In addition to folded cards, there are flat cards on linen paper or on magnets. Just find your favorite photo(s) from the past year and you’ll be ready to go!

You may have heard of Timothy Botts, the talented calligrapher. His artwork can be seen in prints, books, devotionals and even an illustrated Bible. 

MagnetStreet is pleased to present a new series of Christmas cards that feature this amazing artwork. What a unique way to send holiday greetings to your family and friends this year.

Add your favorite family photo from the past year, and you’re ready to go. No more stressing over your holiday greeting cards!

View the entire line of Timothy Botts Christmas cards online.

Thanksgiving is almost here! What are you thankful for this year?

If your list includes a brand-new baby, consider this adorable announcement. I love the rich autumn colors!

Or look at this one with a simple fall theme.

View all of the Thanksgiving birth announcements online. Even if you don’t have a “thanksgiving” baby, keep in mind that the text and colors can be changed on any of our announcements.

Whew – I made it through the whole post without any Thanksgiving cliches – you can also be thankful for that! Last year, I didn’t do so well.

Today most people are putting the finishing touches on their costumes for trick-or-treating or a fun halloween party…

You may, however, know someone who is putting the finishing touches on growing a baby! If so, share this post with them. But go ahead and wait until they’ve brought the new baby home from the hospital…

All of our adorable halloween-themed birth announcements are available online. Here are a few of my favorites:

Or, if your baby isn’t quite due yet, you may need a last-minute costume idea for your pregnant belly – check out this post.

What’s your favorite preggers costume or baby costume?

It’s ridiculously early, I know.

Personally I’m a no-Christmas-until-the-day-after-Thanksgiving girl, so the fact that some stores are putting out Christmas stuff before Halloween drives me crazy.

At the same time, I know that some of you plan ahead and are thinking about your holiday greetings – taking family photos, mulling over ideas for your letter. Here are some helpful letter-writing hints from Mummified Times Five (Mum as in Mom, not a Halloween Mummy!).

And while you’re at it, take a sneak peak at our Christmas cards…

Now go back to eating candy corn and planning your kids’ costumes. Please!