Plant this holiday seed paper card and watch it grow!

Christmas and the surrounding holiday season can truly be a magical time filled with snow, family, scrumptious food, sweaters your mom still makes for you every year (even though you’re 35 and it’s a bit weird now), roaring fireplaces and general warm, cozy goodness. However, the weeks leading up to this warm, cozy goodness are not quite as comfortably endearing.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the shear materialism of the holiday season, you’re not alone. It seems as though everyone has lists of gift requests, ribbons, bows, bags, wrapping paper, trees, ornaments, lights…the list goes on and on. Some of the frantic list making and holiday purchasing is inevitable but, as an guilty participant in the Christmas buildup madness, I’ve found the frenzy is dampened when you shop with companies that go the extra mile in terms of sustainability and social consciousness.

Locally owned and operated, Bloomin, is one of those companies with a heart and soul. Bloomin has been around since 1995, supplying greeting cards, business cards, invitations, promotional marketing materials and other seedy goodies, nationally and locally. When planted, the 100% post-industrial, recycled paper with water-based ink sentiments will produce Black-Eyed Susans, Siberian Wildflowers, Zinnias, Corn Poppies, Spurred Snapdragons and other beautiful varieties. Each Bloomin product is handmade right here in Boulder, ensuring high rates of germination and bunches of flowers to make your holiday season greener and a bit cheerier.

If you’re into making your own greeting cards or invitations instead of purchasing, Bloomin has letterpress or die-cut paper in 21 colors died with vegetable-based pigments to select from. The paper is also compatible with many types of ink, including printer ink!

Bloomin’s motto “What you say grows”, holds true all year round but is especially meaningful at this time of year. The sentiments are powerful, so whether you’re making or buying your greeting cards, Bloomin is a festive, conscious way to add some heart and sustainability to the holiday season!

Alexandria Lemley