What are you going to do to make this year's photo Christmas cards really stand out? You don't have to fall back on the same old ideas this holiday. Here are ten suggestions to help you make this season's family greeting the best one yet.
1. Try a different spin on a traditional theme. This fall take a picture of the kids with a pumpkin snowman. Just stack three pumpkins, graduating in size with the biggest on the bottom and their stems removed. Paint a face on the top pumpkin, carve a small hole to hold the carrot nose, then put a Santa hat or wool cap on top and add a scarf. If you live near the beach, you can make a sand snowman instead.
2. Transform an ordinary photo Christmas card into a religious one by adding your favorite Bible verse. Look for a company that will let you create your own personalized message, instead of just sticking with the text shown on the sample.
3. Nothing is cuter than a holiday greeting that contains a photo of an adorable animal in a seasonal setting. The easiest way to achieve this look yourself is to take a picture of your sleeping dog or cat on top a sheet of wrapping paper or under the tree. Add the caption, "peace on earth" and wait for the "aaaahs".4. Create a four seasons look with a multi photo Christmas card that has space for four photos. Then choose pictures of your kids from the past year during the winter, spring, summer and fall. Personalize it with the words, "thinking of you at Christmas...and all year, too!"
5. Is your little one a budding artist? He or she can help you to create a really unique holiday greeting. Ask him to draw a picture of the family with crayons. Then, it's your turn to cut out the faces of each family member from snapshots and glue them to the top of the crayon bodies. Take a close up photo of the masterpiece for this year's card.
6. Are you famous for your holiday baking? If you're always being asked for the recipe for one of your seasonal goodies, you can turn that into a fun photo Christmas card. Write out the directions on a pretty recipe card, then clip a family photo onto the card, perhaps of the kids baking cookies. Be careful not to cover any of the instructions with that picture. You might want to add the words, "wishing you a sweet Christmas".
7. For impact, try black and white with a touch of color. Your favorite photo with the kids in Santa hats can be changed into an artistic black and white picture with just the Santa hats in red. Most online photo Christmas card companies will do this for you at no extra charge.
8. Make a statement. What makes your family tick? Are you a bunch of beach bums, taking advantage of sun and surf every possible moment in the summer? Then include photos in your holiday greeting of the kids playing in the waves and building sand castles. Are you all sports enthusiasts? Then feature action shots of your children playing for their team. Are you involved in animal rescue, active in politics, big on barbecues, busy selling homemade jewelry at craft shows, passionate about your faith? Find a way to work it into your pictures. This year, instead of a posed portrait, give people a glimpse into your family dynamics.
9. Send a holiday greeting that takes a trip down memory lane. For this idea, you will need to select Christmas cards that feature multiple photos. Choose your current favorite family picture and then add one or more photos of the kids when they were younger for a then and now effect. You might want to ask the card company to change the older photos to black and white or make the current picture larger than the rest. Don't forget to add captions underneath indicating the year the photographs were taken.
10. If you're still looking for a fresh idea for this year's Christmas greeting, then it's time to browse. Start searching through the huge variety of designs in photo holiday cards online until you find one in particular that inspires you. Maybe it's a candy cane motif and you'll think of posing the kids with comically oversized candy canes. Or you'll fall in love with one that has a pale blue background with snowflakes, which might lead you to dress the family in shades of blue. Many times, it's easier to pick out the card first, which will set the tone for the pictures you want to include.
