2020 Christmas Cards

It's no secret that I love Christmas Cards, like a lot. I basically couldn't wait to send and receive Christmas cards for so so long. While Hunter was on his mission, I straight up made a fake Christmas card of the two of us because I just desperately wanted to be a part of the Christmas card making club, ha! I was so excited the first year we got married that I could finally send out a REAL Christmas card. I loved every part of designing it, stuffing envelopes, going to the mailbox to send them, and of course the best part... opening the mailbox each day to find new cards! I just love this time of year so much and seeing everyone's beautiful families and how they've grown just adds to the Christmas joy. 

This year, I used a new company for our cards and I am SO happy with how they turned out! We used Paper Culture and the cards are beautiful. They have an awesome variety of design options with all sorts of color as well as simple cards. Each card has so much character and you are sure to find one that you love. The design process was incredibly easy. Uploading photos, placing them, adding and removing text... it was such a breeze! They printed both the recipient addresses as well as the return addresses on each envelope so I got to completely skip the hand cramping and smudged addresses, ha. The cardstock is so incredibly thick and the photo quality is perfect! I honestly could not be happier with our card!

I'm also super thrilled with the company's mission. All of Paper Culture's products are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Meaning, no new trees are cut down to make your cards! They also do little things in their office like print on two sides of a paper, recycle, compost, and choose to build offices near public transportation. Not only do they do all of that... but they also plant a tree with every single order! they have planted over 1,000,000 trees! Their employees literally pick up shovels and plant trees within their communities. SO cool! 

All around, I am so impressed with Paper Culture and everything they are doing to create a better world and a better way to keep the Christmas card tradition alive. Their cards are currently 50% off until 12/10! Make sure you take advantage of this awesome deal. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy 

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The Perfect Christmas Dresses.

This post is sponsored by Bonnie Jean Dress. All opinions are mine alone. #partner

When I found out Oaklyn was a girl, I was completely shocked. For some reason everyone and their dog was telling me they just had a feeling my baby was a boy. I got used to the idea of having a boy so by the time we found out she was a girl, I didn't know what to think! I had to completely shift gears and at first it was kind of hard for me. Then, I started thinking about all the girly things I love and I kid you not, one of the things I was MOST excited about was Christmas dresses. I pictured a little girl dressed up in a pretty dress every Christmas with her hair curled and big bow atop her head... suddenly having a girl was all I ever wanted! I have absolutely loved putting Oaklyn in a pretty little Christmas dress every year. Then Cam came along and it was double the fun! Seriously matching little girlies is practically the cutest thing in the entire world. I had a problem though... they quickly started outgrowing the "matching" sizes. Luckily I found a company that has the absolute cutest Christmas dresses and always has the perfect size range for my two little girls. We used Bonnie Jean Dress last year and if you follow me on instagram, you know the girls wore them like every other week this year. Oaklyn LOVED that red "spinny" dress and Cam loves being just like Oaklyn. It's a good thing those dresses are dang cute because they wore them nonstop! This year I let Oaklyn take her pick for their Christmas dress and she immediately chose the Emily Sparkle Lace Dress. Her eyes completely lit up when she saw it and that was all I needed to have it ordered that day. When the dresses arrived Oaklyn was so excited I thought she might rip it out of my hands, ha! The whole time we took pictures she was spinning around and smiling ear to ear. Gosh I love that girl and her love of all things girly. Cam followed suit and it was precious. They absolutely cannot wait to wear their dresses again on Christmas Sunday! 

Their sizing is true to size, Cam is wearing a 3T and typically wears a 3T. Oaklyn is wearing a 5t and also typically wears that size. The quality is incredible and I know it'll hold up for them to wear all year long this year. The lace is sturdy and holds shape rather than being fragile and thin. The rhinestones are perfectly in their place and made it through the girls constant dancing while taking photos. The tulle is the perfect amount of thickness and made for a great twirl. 

They have an entire holiday shop where you can view all of their Christmas dresses here.  Trust me, you'll asolutely find something you love. We want them all! I hope you love dressing up your little girlies in their Bonnie Jean Dresses!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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2019 Christmas Cards

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly. All opinions are mine alone. #partner

I'm so excited to share our 2019 Christmas card with all of you! It may just be my favorite yet! Somehow, we actually managed to get a few good pictures during our disaster of an afternoon taking family photos. I have a hard time paying for family photos each year when I know how to take them myself. It sure is more challenging being behind and in front of the camera, but it definitely saves money! This year we spent soo much time trying to get a few good shots and after ending photos super discouraged, (cue the two year old meltdowns here) I thought there was no way we'd have enough to do a bigger card... but I'm so glad they turned out better than I thought. With over 50 photos in our family album this year, I knew I'd need a big card to display my favorites. Thankfully, I knew just which company to look at for a card that fits all my wants and needs! We've used Shutterfly/Tiny Prints for over 4 years now on both Christmas cards and birth announcements. Every single time, they have been delivered better than I expected them to be! Shutterfly has so many options you are bound to find at least one card you love, but I can promise you'll find more! The past two years I have gone with a tri-fold card to have enough space to display all of our family photos. I love the tri-fold options but they also have flat cards, folded cards, and gate folds! On the side bar you can pick which type of card you're looking for, select colors you are wanting, how many pictures you want to display, size, trim options, and even a theme! Once you've found the card of your dreams, you can simply upload the photos straight from your computer into your card and drag the photos where you want them. You can add text and change both the font and size. You can get custom addressed envelopes by simply inputting the addresses of your friends on your list and even add a fancy insert or get custom stamps. Not to mention, they are always running the BEST deals! Thank you Shutterfly for making one of my favorite traditions a breeze!
See the card I picked here.

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Lace, Satin, and Bows, Oh My!

We've talked about matching Christmas jammies, and we've talked about Christmas cards, now it's time to talk about another favorite Christmas tradition of mine... Christmas dresses! Having two little girls, this is seriously so fun for me! I love choosing something festive and dressing the girls up so pretty. It's so fun to curl Oaklyn's hair and have Cambria wear a pretty, sparkly bow. The girls wear their dresses on Christmas Sunday to church and I try to coordinate mine and Hunter's outfits as well to get a festive family photo. This is a tradition I can't go without. Things like this just make the holidays so fun! Oaklyn is really into "spinny" dresses and looking "pretty" so I'm super excited for this year!

The girls got a little test run wearing their dresses for these photos because I just HAD to show you all the gorgeous dresses from Bonnie Jean. I mean seriously, these dresses are literally everything I wanted! They are tiered with the most beautiful lace and have gorgeous satin bonding. They also have a satin bow placed in both the front and the back making it stunning when looking at it from either view. I absolutely love the way these dresses fit on my girls and couldn't stop staring at them twirling and smiling as they had them on. There's just something about matching little girlies that is so so darling! I'm obsessed! 

There are soo many gorgeous options at Bonnie Jean, I'm sure you'll find the perfect holiday dresses for your own daughters! My girls are wearing the Ava dress, but a few of my other favorites were the Korah, The Westly, and the London! I absolutely think it is worth it to invest in holiday dresses because they can be worn and used throughout the year! These dresses are wonderful quality and will fit the girls for a little while. They will be perfect to wear during Valentine's day and would even be cute for the 4th of July! I also love dressing my girls in festive dresses the whole month of December so they can wear them next year before Christmas Sunday when they get their new ones!

If you're looking to start this tradition this year, or are simply looking for the perfect Christmas dress, look no further! Make sure to look at all the beautiful holiday dresses Bonnie Jean has to offer!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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2018 Christmas Cards!

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly. All opinions are mine alone. #partner 

If you've been around here long, you know that Christmas cards make me sooooo happy! Like giddy happy. There's just something so fun about getting tons of happy mail from friends and family during the holidays. It seriously brightens my day getting each card. I love seeing how kids have grown, reading about what everyone did that year, and seeing the different photos and designs everyone chose. We have sent a Christmas card every year we've been married and even though it is a hassle trying to make sure photos get done, I have never once regretted it. I love having updated photos of our family over the years, and I make sure to keep a Christmas card from each year so we can look back at those too. I love pulling the book out each year and remembering what each card looked like. I also think it'll be so fun to show the girls all the cards they were in over the years. 

For a while I chose to design my own card. It was fun to get creative and make it different. Over time though, I realized how much more convenient it is to order them from a company. There are a million companies to choose from, so how are you supposed to pick just one? Don't worry... I've done all the research to make it easy on you ;) After looking into several companies, I can hands down say that Shutterfly is the way to go! They have SO many designs to choose from that there is something for everybody's style. I promise! From gold foil to marble, and gate fold to glitter you are bound to find the perfect card. Once you've selected your card literally all you have to do is upload your photos and then drag them into the desired spot. You then have the option to use your address book and let Shutterfly address all your envelopes for you! They have cute designs and fonts and it makes it so quick and easy. Plus, your envelope will look SO cute! After that, you can order personalized stamps and have them delivered right to you. Then, you're done! I mean seriously, a few clicks and your cards are completely done! How cool is that??

Now I'm sure you're thinking it's too good to be true... but trust me it really isn't! The card quality is lovely and they arrive in a timely manner. You will definitely not regret choosing Shutterfly. This year I used a Tiny Prints design which is owned by Shutterfly and can be accessed through their site. I chose a tri-fold card and I seriously love it! Make sure to order your cards this weekend to get their Black Friday deal of 40% off everything! They will be having a Cyber Monday sale too! 

I hope you have fun sending and receiving cards this year!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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2018 Matching Christmas Jammies!

This post is sponsored by City Girl Mercantile. All opinions are mine alone. 

If you've been following along for a while, you know by now that I'm obsessed with matching Christmas jammies for my family. Our first Christmas I had every intention of starting the tradition but I was pregnant and tired and really just wanted nothing to do with clothes... ha! The next year we had Oaklyn and had SO much fun matching! We put them on Christmas Eve and woke up in them so we could open presents in our festive jammies. That has been a tradition ever since. Oaklyn totally got my love of all things festive so she was beyond excited when I told her that our Christmas jammies came in the mail. I was planning on just taking pictures in them and then saving them for Christmas Eve, but she was so happy that I let her sleep in them just this once. Seeing how happy she was and how much she loved them, I may let her wear them a few more times, too. We wear our jammies year round because they're always so cozy and cute! I'm so in love with the style we got this year! This year's jammies are from City Girl Mercantile and may be some of my favorites yet! They are all just a little different but also match so cute! Oaks loves the little polar bear, I love how relatable the sayings are, and Cam looks stinking darling in her footies! I love that they make them just a little different for each size. City Girl Mercantile has a ton of other adorable options, so you're bound to find a style your family loves. I will warn you that even though we love these jammies SO much because they are cute and comfy, you will absolutely need to size up one or two sizes depending on what kind of fit you like. Oaks will be 4 in February and I got her a 5t. Cam is 15 months and I got her size 24 mos. I'm a true s/m and got a small but honestly wish I would've gotten a large. Hunter is a true mens large and wishes he would've gotten an XL. So they're adorable, super snuggly, and arrived in a timely manner... but they for sure run small. If you haven't started many traditions in your family, add this one to your list! It makes Christmas Eve and Christmas morning that much more magical and adorable! Open your jammies, read a festive book, set out cookies for Santa, head to bed, and wake up in the morning snuggly and full of Christmas magic! Make sure to check out City Girl Mercantile's selection!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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