On behalf of InvitationBox.com, we’d like to wish all of our dedicated blog readers and customers a very safe and happy Halloween!  I’m sure tonight will be full of trick-or-treating, costume dressing, candy eating and pumpkin carving…and hopefully not too much snow for our Northern customers who received a pleasant winter surprise this weekend.

Final reminder that our coupon code for 15% off your order, Zombie15, expires tonight at midnight!  We never know when these high discounts will appear on the site, so best to take advantage of this great discount as you shop for your upcoming holiday items!  Remember when entering  in your promotional code to run the entire code together, including the number.  There is no space between Zombie and 15, which so many customers tell us they have issues with.  Enter your coupon code at checkout, after entering in your credit card number and email contact information.

With Halloween ending, I know you’ll be like me and wake up tomorrow morning thinking – “Oh my gosh, the holidays are HERE” – (said in slight panic mode, of course)!  Remember that there’s still time to purchase your fall party invitations for those of you hosting Thanksgiving events for family, friends and corporations in your home.  We offer newly-discounted rush prices to help your order ship and be delivered within just a day or so of ordering on some of our most popular autumn party invitations.  Our digital press invitations ship the quickest out of all of our invitations, as they are printed in-house on our own digital press printers.  Choose from Thanksgiving party invitations with cascading leaf patterns, fall colored plaid borders, serene fall outdoor scenes, fall place settings and traditional Thanksgiving icon designs with scarecrows, pumpkins and turkeys.

If you’ve already purchased your fall party invitations, don’t forget about sending a Thanksgiving greeting card to your family members and friends.  Thanksgiving greeting cards are also very popular with larger corporations who prefer to remain holiday-neutral over the holiday season.  From serene fall scenes by lakes, rivers and bridges to photographs of falling leaves in the countryside, it’s a great way to spread the word of Thanks during this beautiful season.  Take a great snapshot over Halloween?  You can also turn a photo Thanksgiving greeting card into a great way to share fall photos with those who mean the most.

Happy Halloween, everyone – I hope you’re serving up plenty of treats, not tricks, tonight!

‘Tis the season!  Now is the time to start browsing for your holiday greeting cards – can you believe it?  With perfect timing, Birchcraft Studios has introduced over 700 brand new holiday cards to their holiday greeting card collection…it can seem like an overwhelming amount of designs to choose from, however with so many choices, you’ll know that the design you’re thinking of is available to you.  Birchcraft Studios new designs feature contemporary designs with colored card stocks, striking black backgrounds and modern compilations of colorful hues.  They also offer more traditional holiday greeting card designs with traditional holiday icons, simple holiday accents and traditional holiday colors.

Those looking for a corporate holiday greeting card will marvel over the options available with occupational cards featuring lawyer, dentistry, carpentry, construction, accounting and culinary professions.  We also offer team-building and company appreciation holiday greeting cards which will help you increase client and inter-office relations with co-workers, clients, associates and potential business clients.  Need a holiday-neutral greeting card?  Birchcraft also offers some of my favorite designs for the holidays with their global and international holiday greeting cards.  Add your company logo for a personal touch and recognition.

For those wanting to spread His word over the holiday season, and celebrate the birth of Christ, we also offer a complete collection of religious holiday greeting cards featuring nativity scenes, stained glass windows, bible verses, embossed patterns, and pictorials of Jesus, Mary and the three Wise Men.  We also offer Hanukkah greeting cards for those celebrating Hanukkah.

For those looking for something a bit more unique or serene, Birchcraft offers some of the most breathtaking outdoor holiday cards that we offer which feature photographs of lake scenes, snow covered rivers, countrysides and cityscapes during the winter months.  A small touch of green, red, silver or gold will add a little holiday spirit to the serene landscape design.

Check out some of the great brand new holiday greeting card options you’ll have for the 2011 holiday season!  Remember, Birchcraft holiday cards ship in as little as 2-3 business days, so there’s plenty of time to browse and purchase before the holidays roll in.

Have you changed your closet over to your winter wardrobe yet?  The cooler weather is blowing in, (yes, even for us in North Carolina), thus it can only mean that it’s time to start planning your annual holiday event – or start a new tradition by hosting your first-ever holiday party.  If red and green aren’t your thing, or you just want to do something different than your other five friends who are hosting Christmas parties this year, consider hosting a winter wonderland themed party!  A winter themed party allows for a gorgeous color palette of blues, silver metallics and white to work with which can great the most beautiful decor.  It is also great if you have friends celebrating multiple holidays over the winter months, as your party won’t single any specific holiday out more than another.

Set the tone for your holiday event with a winter themed holiday party invitation.  At InvitationBox.com we offer a plethora of holiday party invitations which celebrate the beauty of the winter months.  Choose from delicate designs with light blue snowflake patterns, filigree snowflake designs or delicately patterned snowflake borders.  For a more bold look, we also have vibrant snowflake themed invitations in a variety of bright modern hues featuring snowflake swirling patterns, snowflake detailed ornaments and snowflake covered cocktails.

When planning your party, start by decorating your room with blue and white details – from silverware wrapped in blue and silver ribbons to blue table cloths and white napkins.  Want to add a little glittery magic?  Sprinkle silver snowflake confetti, (see your local party store), over the table and around your centerpieces and place settings.  Since you’ll be celebrating the cold winter months, serve up some traditional comfort food from a thick potato soup or stew to macaroni and cheese, popcorn balls in snowflake wrappers or fried chicken.  Offer your guests a glass of eggnog upon their arrival or a fun minty winter cocktail.  Serve up some vanilla cupcakes with white frosting for dessert – decorated in a white chocolate snowflake on top.  If it’s snowy outside, host some fun winter activities, whether it’s put the carrot on the snowman, a sledding race or a full-blown snowball fight war!

Ready to chill your friends, family and neighbors with your own winter wonderland holiday party?  Check out these great winter party invitations below to get started planning your very own holiday party…

For some of us, 2011 was a rough year – whether it was a lost job, a divorce, a soldier sent overseas, a death of a loved one or financial hardships.  The good thing about the end of one year is the beginning of a new year – a fresh start and the chance to start anew.  I spoke with a customer the other day who told me she wasn’t much in the mood for celebrating the holidays this year in light of some recent events and we came up with a fun party theme that I think everyone could enjoy…It was a toast to 2012 party where you’re celebrating the upcoming year and all the possibilities that come along with it.  This is also a great theme for holiday celebrators who have friends that celebrate multiple different holidays.

At InvitationBox.com we offer a variety of New Years party invitations that will add a little sparkle to your event as you count down to the new year.  Whether you’re planning a black-tie affair or a casual house party, we’ve got you covered.  Choose from formal New Years party invitations with swanky silhouettes in formal affair, ornate chandeliers, champagne toast scenes and ornate pattern swirls.  We also have causal invitations which feature friends celebrating the new year, contemporary designs which decorate the year 2012, the famous ball dropping, clock countdowns and champagne towers.  Whatever your party style is for 2012, we’ve got you covered.

When planning your New Years party, set the scene with some sparkling decorations with black and silver streamers, confetti glitter and New Years signs.  Stop by your local party store and pick up fun New Years hats, noise makers, pins and glow sticks to make sure your guests can deck themselves out for the celebration.  Stock up on plenty of champagne for your midnight toast, and ask guests to bring a dish or brew to share with your other guests.  Start your party around 8 o’clock and be sure to collect keys or have safe rides home arranged.  If your friends have children, you may want to arrange for a sitter or two to watch the kids and entertain them so that your guests don’t have to arrange for a babysitter on New Years Eve, (trust me, they will thank you).

Check out some of our cork-popping New Years party invitations below and take a giant leap into the new year ahead!  Cheers to a great 2012!

The holiday season is on its way, which can only mean one thing…soon the gifts and presents will be rolling in…especially for the kids!  If you have children, you know the amount of gifts they will children receive from their friends, family members, grandparents and extended relatives can be extensive and overwhelming if you are trying to send out thank you notes!  Getting your five year old to hand-write a thank you note can be a daunting and difficult task, and one that may be tough for them to do.

At InvitationBox.com, we make thank you note writing during the holidays easy with our collection of kids holiday fill-in thank you notes.  We have chosen a selection of vibrant, festive and fun holiday themed thank you notes and turned them into easy fill-in notes.  Your child can choose from their favorite holiday design or pattern from ornaments to gingerbread houses, snowmen, Christmas trees, Santa Clause or a fun snow scene.  Each fill-in thank you note is pre-printed with a note of thanks and a fun holiday greeting.  Your child simply fills in the name of their recipient, the gift they received and their name at the bottom.  In just a minute’s time, they’ve written their very own thank you note…all on their own.  Our fill-in thank you notes feature coordinating envelopes and some designs even feature a matching fill-in holiday party invitation in case you’re planning a kids holiday party.

Fill-in thank you notes are a great way to begin habits of writing thank you notes to friends, family or gift-givers for their efforts, gifts or kind gestures.  Starting this practice early in life with a fill-in thank you note is a great stepping stone for a full-on hand-written note as your child grows older.  It will also touch your recipient as you and your child took time to let them know that you appreciated their kind gift or gesture.

Our fill-in thank you notes ship out within 1-3 business days, in case of need for last-minute thank you’s.  Stock up now and prepare for the fun gift-giving season ahead!

Heading to a holiday party empty handed and feeling rather uncomfortable about it?  You’re not alone.  A hostess gift is one of those things that people are always confused or conflicted over, etiquette-wise.  When exactly should you bring a hostess gift?  How much should you spend?  What should you give?  Is everyone expected to bring a gift?

If you are attending a large holiday party and are unacquainted with the hostess, it is acceptable not to bring a hostess gift.  However, if you are going to a close gathering with family and friends, you should bring a small gift for the hostess.  Your hostess gift can be small, and does not need to be an extravagant or expensive purchase.  Some of the most popular hostess gifts are a plant, bottle of wine, flowers or a gift card.  If it is a close friend, you should consider that hostesses personality and likes when purchasing the hostess gift.  Remember to give a gift that is low-maintenance – meaning if you bring flowers, have them pre-arranged in a vase so that the hostess doesn’t have to step away from her hostess duties to fix the flowers.

Thinking you need something a bit more unique for a hostess gift?  At InvitationBox.com we’ve got you covered for hostess gifts this holiday season.  Check out some of these great hostess gift ideas below…

Personalized Holiday Ornaments - If you are aware of your party a few weeks ahead of time, a personalized hostess gift is a great idea.  InvitationBox.com has teamed up with Personalized Memories to provide you with an array of holiday gift items that you can personalize for your hostess.  This Merry Christmas ornament on our left features your hostesses name, your names and the holiday year you’re celebrating.  The hostess and her family will be able to hang it on their Christmas tree and remember your gift for years to come.  This item is available in ten different designs to coordinate with the hostess from penguins to Christmas trees to reindeer, stockings or snow.

Self-Inking Snap Stamps by Noteworthy Collections - A perfect gift for the fabulous gift-giver, the Noteworthy Collections Snap stamp gift box is a perfect hostess gift when you’re not exactly sure what the hostess is interested in.  These self-inking stamps feature a fun box with a snap stamp inside which allows for over 9,000 different stamp face designs that the hostess can pick on her own!  Inside the box is a coupon code, (pre-purchased) which will take the hostess to our dedicated stamper website to personalize her own stamp face with her desired design and text and receive free shipping on the stamp face.  The hostess can then go back on her own and order multiple different stamp faces for just $19.99 so that she can use her stamper all year long on holiday party envelopes, gifts, letter head, mail correspondence or party favors.

Collegiate Pottery - Got a college fanatic as a host or hostess?  One of the coolest gift items we offer at InvitationBox.com is our collection of collegiate pottery from Magnolia Lane.  We offer an array of collegiate mugs, plates, serving platters, stadium platters, picture frames and notepads for your favorite college, university or college sports team.  Choose from Notre Dame, LSU, UNC, Ohio State, Florida State or University of Michigan, just to name a few.  This fun LSU Christmas plate on our left is perfect for a holiday hostess gift as they can celebrate their alma mater during the holidays as they serve cookies and milk to Santa Clause on their LSU holiday plate.  Remember, some of these items take 1-2 weeks to process, as they are hand-painted by the vendor – so be sure to order in plenty of time for your party.

Got a great hostess gift idea to share?  Please pass on how you made your hostess feel special and appreciated for hosting such a fabulous holiday event for all of your family members and friends to share!

Nighties and teddies…a little silk bra.  All are sure to make the groom say ooh la la! She’s getting married…and for sure she’ll want to spice up her honeymoon with something new for each night of fun – whether it’s sweet and frilly, sassy or racy and lacy!  Linen and lingerie themed showers are becoming more and more popular in the bridal world whether it’s the complete bridal shower theme or a theme tacked onto the bride’s bachelorette party.  Just make sure your bride is comfortable with this type of shower…it’s not for the shy or timid!

When hosting a lingerie shower many hosts will add on linens to the shower theme so that the bride receives a variety of gifts for not only the bedroom but for the bath or her linen closet as well.  This is also great for guests who may not be comfortable lingerie shopping for the bride.  Check with the bride ahead of time to see if she’d like her measurements given out to guests to ensure proper sizing…but be sensitive to her if she doesn’t want her cup size printed on her invitation.  Word of mouth is usually best.  If your shower is a younger, crazy crowd, you may want to have a fun activity like design your own underwear or thong with jewels, rhinestone words or paints to make and take home with you.  You can also spice things up a bit with a ‘bedroom’ expert to come in with advice, ideas and products.  Great ice breakers and a way to really get your guests giggling!  Be sure to offer your guests some posh cocktails, too.

Set the scene for your spicy shower with a linen and lingerie bridal shower invitation.  Our lingerie shower invitations range from simple and sweet with bathroom and linen scenes to racy and sultry with lingerie drawings, die-cut lingerie cut-outs and wigglers, brides wearing lingerie and animal prints.  Whatever her bridal and bedroom style, there’s a perfect invitation awaiting.  Below we feature some of our most popular lingerie shower invitations.  The first is our Bridal Nightie invitation from Paper so Pretty which features a delicate blue patterned background card with a black and white nightie.  A little secret?  The top of the lingerie is a die-cut wiggler which makes her top wiggle around.  Totally trendy and adorable…okay and a bit racy!  Our other lingerie designs feature the bride at her best in a black lingerie number drinking a cocktail, a lingerie mannequin surrounded by gifts and a blonde bride standing among an array of animal print lingerie on mannequins.

Ready to spice her bridal shower up a bit?  Check out our sultry lingerie shower invitations and help the groom smile on his wedding and honeymoon nights…

Perfect for the entertainment enthusiast, an Ornament Exchange Party is a great party idea or theme to jump-start the holiday season.  It’s   a great theme for holiday parties held early in the December month before the busy holidays are underway…and will help your guests all prepare for the upcoming holiday.

An ornament exchange holiday party involves asking your guests to gather to celebrate the holiday season and bring one ornament to exchange with the other guests at the event.  You can ask your guests to wrap their ornaments to keep everything a surprise, or bring it unwrapped for everyone to see.  My favorite thing to do with an ornament exchange is to set up your Christmas tree before the party with lights and garland – but no ornaments.  As your guests arrive they can put their ornament for the exchange on the Christmas tree for everyone to marvel over as the party goes underway.  At the end of the party conduct your exchange in which guests draw straws to choose ornaments from the tree.  When your tree is bare you’ll be able to decorate your Christmas tree as usual with your family for the upcoming holiday months.

Set the scene for your holiday party with an ornament exchange holiday party invitation.  One of our most popular holiday themed invitation styles are our ornament invitations.  From filigree ornaments with great detail to fun, swanky and chic detailed ornaments, there’s a little something for everyone’s party style at any age – be it 25 or 50!  Remember at the bottom of the invitation to ask your guests to bring an ornament for the exchange.  You can also put a dollar limit on the ornament if you feel some guests may over-indulge.  The typical amount I’d suggest for an ornament exchange would be about $10 – $15.

Decorate your party for the holiday season with red and green decorations with colorful accents of silver and gold glitter to glitz things up a bit.  Serve up some festive holiday cocktails with candy cane swizzle sticks and encourage guests to mingle before your exchange.  If you have kids attending your event, you may want to make a kid-friendly station where the kids can make their own ornaments to take home with them to hang on their own Christmas tree.  Be sure to have plenty of bags or boxes ready if you do an un-wrapped ornament exchange so that ornaments don’t break as they are transported home.

Check out some of our favorite ornament holiday party invitations below…

I’ll let you in on a little secret…I am obsessed with the holidays!  I seriously start decorating my house for the holidays mid-November…having holiday decorations up for just 3 weeks just isn’t enough for me.  If you’re like me, you like to add a little holiday sparkle to everything you do during the upcoming winter months.

One of our newest products we introduced this year will allow you to do just that!  Early this year Noteworthy Collections re-vamped their traditional  self-inking stamp with the new Snap Stamp, which allows you to purchase a stamp base one time, and then purchase stamp faces only to switch out throughout the year.  It’s a great, in-expensive way to make your personal mark on all of your belongings and takes up much less space than having 10 different stamp bodies with only one stampable design.  The stamps come with black ink pads and also allow you to purchase colored inks to further personalize your items.  We also sell colored stickers if you want to stamp and stick!

Okay, so what does this have to do with the holidays, actually?  The Noteworthy Collections Snap Stamp has a complete holiday collection which will allow you to add a little holiday cheer into everything you do during the holiday season.  Stamp your holiday greeting card envelopes, letters, mail and correspondence, on the outside of your baked goods for a cookie exchange or as a gift tag stamp on your gifts and presents during the holidays.  All of our holiday stamp designs feature a fun holiday design or a traditional holiday icon like a Christmas tree, dreidel, candy cane, holly, bells, reindeer, Santa Clause, peace symbol or winter theme.  Add your family name, address or a fun holiday phrase to the outer border of the stamper to truly make your stamp personalized.  Choose one stamp design to be from Santa for the kids’ gifts!

Need a great gift for the holiday season?  Whether it’s a hostess gift, a present to your neighbors or family members, Snap Stamps are great for the trendy gift-giver.  If you can’t decide what design your recipient will like, (we have a plethora of designs which can seem overwhelming at times), no need to worry.  We now offer a Snap Stamp gift box which sends your recipient their stamp base with a coupon code to choose and personalize their own stamp face.  This way you know they’ll receive a stamp design they like, which suits their needs, be it for the holidays or everyday use.

Check out our entire Self-Inking Snap Stamp collection at InvitationBox.com!

Have you walked the aisles of Target or your local department store yet?  I did yesterday expecting to see rows of Halloween costumes and candy.  To my surprise the Halloween aisles stopped at about four short rows and Christmas had taken over the entire back portion of the store!

Can it be…are the holidays really upon us?  In a word…absolutely!  Which can only mean one thing – it’s time to start planning your 2011 holiday party extravaganza.  Take a deep breath before you let the stress of the holidays creep in.  Remember that planning ahead is always the best things to do to reduce holiday stress, and plan ahead for the perfect holiday party that will go off without a hitch.

If you’re planning a holiday party for December or January, it’s important to send your invitations out plenty ahead of your event.  Normally we quote 2-3 weeks before an event as the amount of time needed to send out your party invitations.   However, as the holidays are such a crazy-busy, jam-packed time of year for everyone, sending your holiday party invitations out ahead of time is not only accepted, but essential if you want to have guests at your event!  Each Saturday and Friday night during the winter months are typically booked months in advance for parties, and you’ll want your guests to receive your party invitations first!  Sending your holiday party invitations out during the last week of November is a great time, as Thanksgiving has just ended and the preparations for December party events will begin.

In order to receive your holiday party invitations in-time for mailing, plan on ordering them approximately three weeks before you want to mail them out.  Our orders, from ordering online to delivery, take anywhere from 1-2 weeks total, (or faster if you need rush options).  You also want to give yourself plenty of time to stuff, seal, stamp and address your envelopes – thus a three week time window should be perfect.

When choosing the perfect Christmas party invitation or holiday invitation, be sure that your chosen holiday invite matches the theme of your event – be it a fun, casual and crazy ‘ugly Christmas sweater’ party or elegant and formal with a black-tie sit-down dinner.  Your invitation is the first indication of your holiday party ahead, and there shouldn’t be any guessing about the formality of your event, or the events to take place, if you choose the correct invitation.  Our causal invitations feature fun holiday hues with chic friends celebrating the holidays, fun holiday icons with Santa, reindeer and snowmen or Christmas tree designs.  Our formal holiday party invitations feature elegant holiday place settings, floral or damask patterns in chic holiday hues, evergreen scenes, intertwining swirls and accessory cards which feature layered cards, vellum and ribbon attachments.

When writing your holiday party invitation wording, be sure to include the main invitation essentials so that your guests have all the details they’ll need to know about your event.  You may want to start with a catchy holiday phrase or poem.  List the reason for the party, date, time, location, hosts names and RSVP, (or contact number if your guests have questions).  When listing your RSVP, it is widely accepted to now to include your email address in place or along with your phone number, which is especially convenient if you have a large guest list.  Should your event be kid-friendly or for adults only you are welcome to include this on your invitation as well…just remember to mention who IS invited, and not who ISN’T…as we don’t want to offend anyone.

Ready to jump start the holidays?  Take a browse through our amazing Holiday Party Invitation collection and keep the questions coming – we’re always happy to help you set up the perfect holiday party!