Yesterday was the first day of school for many students across the country, which meant that there were dozens of teary-eyed parents dropping their little ones off for the first day of kindergarten, snapping photos and blowing kisses as their children officially entered their school-age years.

When I was a kid, my mom would line my sister and I up by the front door every year to take our annual “first day of school” pictures. I’m sure the tradition started on that infamous first day of kindergarten, but it continued well into high school. I have a hilarious photo of myself looking haughty and annoyed as only a senior in high school can, standing at the front door, tennis bag slung over my arm, books and summer homework spilling everywhere.

That snapshot has become a family favorite, but the really sweet photos all came from my elementary school days. As I chatted with a friend on the phone last night about her daughter’s first day of kindergarten, I kept telling her that she should do something fun with the photos she took. Everyone always celebrates their kids’ graduation from kindergarten, but why not announce their first day in style as well?

These adorable, school-themed cards are the perfect way to inform your family and friends that your child has started kindergarten. All you have to do is modify the text using Tiny Prints’ easy-to-use personalization engine to let everyone know your little one has taken his or her first steps towards that PhD!

Maternity clothes used to be as sloppy and bulky as a potato bag, but nowadays there are a lot of designers creating maternity wear that will make any pregnant woman feel modern, hip and stylish. Here are a few gorgeous designer styles that I love: Girasole Silk Dress from BabyStyle, Target Swing Top by Liz Lange, tie front cardigan from A Pea in the Pod, and Merino Open Jacket Sweater and Bubble Top by Japanese Weekend.

And after you’ve found the perfect outfit, why not show it off with one of Tiny Prints’ sweet and equally stylish Pregnancy Announcements and Story Cards?

Do we sense a controversy simmering? Seems there is quite a bit of uncertainty regarding how to spell one of the most basic terms on our site, stationery…or is it stationary? We’ve done some research and come to our own conclusions but would love to hear you weigh-in as well.

We have to thank Mike over at DesktopSupplies.com for bringing the issue to our attention. To summarize, the evidence suggests that when people are searching for printed paper products online such as birthday party invitations, birth announcements, holiday cards and personalized stationery, they are frequently using “stationary” as part of their search term. As Mike duly references in his post, stationary is defined as: “standing still; not moving.” He goes so far as to say that people have written in to correct the spelling of “stationery” on their site to “stationary.”

This obviously creates quite an issue for us because we’re in the camp that believes we sell stationery. However, many use what we’d politely call the “alternate” spelling to find our cards. Naturally, we’ve ruled out building new site utilizing the word “stationary,” confusing people with more than one spelling or sending out a mass e-mail to all English speaking people correcting them of their ways. But…we’re open to suggestions.

Don’t panic! Whether you have a grade school grad or a college grad, you are probably all too aware of how fast graduation is approaching. One of things that must get done is the graduation announcements.

Graduation announcements serve many purposes. For one thing it helps let all of your friends and family know, near and far, about your child’s accomplishments. Secondly, a lot of schools limit the number of guests you can invite because of space issues. And it’s also great to have a celebration after the ceremony and your announcement can tell people where to go following it.

Here are just a few from the Tiny Prints collection.

Also, remember to send thank you notes to everyone who came and those who generously gave gifts.

With a lot of my friends living oceans away from me, I feel like I’m missing out on all of their pregnancies. I realized that I won’t see what they look like pregnant or hear all of their personal stories. The next time I see them they will be a new mommies. This is why I love the idea of sending out pregnancy story cards.

Tiny Prints sells a whole bunch of adorable cards some with the option of including a photo of the mommy-to-be. Don’t deprive your friends and family the details of your pregnancy. Send them one of these fun pregnancy announcements.

Baby Face

Damask Baby: Sky

(Inside Damask Baby Story Card)

Moving to your dream house? You’re so lucky! The hardest part, however, is the moving part. All those boxes, and the packing and unpacking can be a little overwhelming. There are however, a lot of great websites you can go to for tips on the best strategies to make your move effortless. Check out FlyLady.net for some awesome tips. About.com also has a great article on helping you to have a smoother move. Here’s a few things I found on various websites and things that have helped me personally:

1. The next time you go to a market or store ask them if they have some boxes you can take. A lot of places have more boxes than they know what to do with.
2. Remember to bring cleaning supplies to get your new home in tip top shape.
3. Get lots and lots of packing material. Think tape, newspapers and bubble wrap!
4. Label the outside of our boxes. This seems obvious but sometimes people forget. And can you imagine the horror of having to open up every box to find something as important as toilet paper?
5. I think moving is a great time to discard old things that you no longer have any use for. Separate clothes and books that can be donated and other things that need to be thrown away. This way you won’t bring old clutter into your new house.
6. Make sure you let friends and family know where to reach you. A great way would be to get some really cool Moving Announcements. Here are just a few from the Tiny Prints collection.

Acanthus Damask

Urban Chic