Holiday Card Tips

This Christmas I’ve been trying to shorten my to-do list and focus on quality rather than quantity (not always easy, right?), but Christmas cards isn’t something I’m willing to cut.

You’ve heard it a thousand times: The kids grow up so fast, so creating a card forces me to get a current snapshot and something in print to save and look back on each year. I also put them in the kids’ baby books and this year I’m going to find a spot to display them as Christmas decor – I’ve seen designers hang them on the mantle, a door or in stairwell garland.

And I love receiving cards just as much as I love creating them. I always display them – instant meaningful holiday decor! Aside from the tree, what’s better than seeing a beautiful collage of your family and friends?

If you haven’t done yours yet, there’s still time! It can be *fairly* stress-free…

I used to be a professional-photo-holiday-card junkie, but I’ve had a change of heart recently. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a proponent of annual professional family photos, but I don’t think it’s necessary for your card.

You can use a selfie stick, set up a timer (you can even get a camera remote so you don’t have to do press and dash) or have a neighbor/friend take a current photo.

My friend Amanda takes her own photos with a tripod and remote.

And then you also get the fun bloopers.  

This year I decided to go the tripod route, too. Because it’s our first year in our new house, and we just finished our landscaping, I decided to take our photo in our backyard.

Here was a test shot.

And then we got the whole family in…

How do you like our miniature blanket? [insert crying laughing eyes]. And then it was too late/dark, so we decided to try again the next day.

I decided to use our entry bench instead of the postage stamp blanket…it only took a few takes [insert crying laughing eyes again], but fun memories, right?

Set-up was better with the bench at least!

We didn’t get a perfect shot, but found one that worked okay. And after seeing Pear Tree Greeting’s #HolidayOuttakes, I was inspired to put a few on the back of the card. Why not keep it real, right?

I like cards that are sort of yearbooky with some way of memorializing the year. Last year I was upset because I wanted to use a professional photo, but we didn’t have one that I liked. And then I realized, it’s our last year in Colorado and we had just gone to Aspen that fall.

The kids are covered by jackets and my hair is flying in my face, but it’s the Maroon Bells in Aspen so who cares, right? I can’t believe I almost did a staged photo instead, when this one will always bring back happy memories and it was such a beautiful place!

So remember, it doesn’t have to be fancy.

Tell a story. How do you spend your weekends? At the park? At sporting events? Family bike rides? In the snow? Beach? Real, everyday life is the best type of holiday card photo.

Or highlight a special event. Don’t forget about those special events during the year: a vacation, graduation, wedding, any firsts, anniversary, new house, birthday, gatherings with extended family, etc.

You can also get creative with text. I always look forward to getting my friend Amanda’s cards because she does a short-and-sweet fun theme to summarize her family each year. One year she did cabinet members: secretary of energy (know anyone in your family with that title?), defense, labor, etc. with a cute description matching her family member. Another year she started with “All I want for Christmas,” with what each person was focused on that year. And one of my favorites was her bestseller book titles for each person in her family.

And good news! Pear Tree Greetings is doing an extended cyber week sale so everything is 30 percent off. So grab a photo and get those cards done this weekend! And remember those awesome new canvases I featured? Now is the time to get those, too!

This isn’t a sponsored post – I just truly love Pear Tree’s products!

Happy card making!