This post is sponsored by Minted.com. I have been compensated with credit to spend on their site. The opinions are all mine, as always.

Do you send Christmas cards? I love to receive an update from friends on how things have gone through the year. I also think that a card shows a bit of the personality of the sender. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time picking out cards to send to family and friends. I love to create my own cards. Minted.com has an amazing selection of Christmas, holiday – if you like the generic term, and New Year cards.

I like to put a winter scene or a photo of religious items – a manger scene and creche – on my cards. I could see some of my winter shots looking amazing on a card like this.

The great part is that a normal rectangle is not the only shape for the card. I could choose among five different shapes and three different colors for a background on the printed portion. There is also the choice of a flat card or a card that opens. Then, there are choices to be made for either the back or the inside.  After making those decisions, you are directed through envelope choices. The site walks you through step by step and is very clear on options that cost additional money.

If I were the parent of a young child, I would love the ornament choices that are available. While friends may not want your child’s photo as an ornament, grandparents will love these options.

Have you had a major life change that you want to tell everyone about? Is this your first Christmas together as a married couple? The card selection has you covered along with all those with cute kids.

And, if you have moved this year and want to be sure that everyone notices your new address, I might suggest the year in review format.

I have to be totally honest. The hardest part about this collection is going to be deciding which card you want to use as your base. The decisions after that are pretty easy. There are over 600 choices of designs. I know I went to look at the choices and spent over an hour just looking at the different cards. I still have not narrowed it down to fewer than ten that I like best.

On top of the holiday choices, I could decide to send New Year’s cards instead of holiday cards. Three choices are given for many of the designs, new year/holiday/Christmas. I have sent New Year’s cards before when the December crunch was just too much for me and cards were not ready for Christmas.

What do you do about Christmas cards? Do you send a letter with them and a photo of the family? If you do, would a photo card work better? Do you think sending a Happy New Year card would be a better option?