We have had so many great photo ideas submitted that we have broken this into two articles.
Here is a link to the first section if you still need more ideas. Post your own Christmas card photo here.
Happy Holidays!
By Diane
By Amy
By Kelley
By Tabitha
By Coni, Evanston, IL
By Debra from Alabama
By Julie
By Yolanda
Around the picture we used the word (quote)Soccer balls, basketballs, baseball, track, and more... Oh, what fun we've had this year! We're anything but bored! (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)(/quote)
When they were smaller, I would dress them in red or green and lay them on the floor in the shape of letters such as J, O, and Y. Photo each letter separately from above and then use a digital editor to cut out the letters and place them on a card.
By Deb from WI
Another year we all fell into the pool sideways and had the caption "May you plunge into the Holidays with love and laughter"
Went to a cotton field and had an Arizona Snowball fight with cotton since we do not get snow.
My 9 year old sat on the floor, my 13 year old knelt behind him, I sat on a chair behind him and my husband stood behind me so we were in a tall stack. We each had on a different style of Santa Hat.
By Peggy - Arizona
By Cherie
By Karyl from Oahu
By Dee
By Trisha
By lmrauch
By Amanda
By Lisa Jane
By The Byerlys
By Tina Keppler
By ali
By Turner
By Rhonda
"May the light of the Savior be reflected on you this Christmas"
By Y
By Cheryl
We got so many great responses - we think we'll do a fun card like that every year! Thanks to everyone for their ideas - never would have thought of this idea without reading some of yours!
By Michelle
I did a joy to the world theme and put pictures of all the places my husband and I traveled that year. I created a blank 4x6 inch canvas in Photoshop and cropped all the other pictures to a 1x1 size and inserted them in leaving room for what was originally going to be 4 squares but then switched into 2 that said "Joy to"& "the World". Mine required 18 photos
By Beth
By Ant
By Amber
By Theresa
By Theresa
By Elke
By Stephanie
Last Christmas I couldn't decide which family picture to use so I combined a few of my favorites into a montage using some graphics software. It was a smash hit! I've never heard so many compliments on a Christmas card (even from the ladies at Walgreens who printed them).
I think you can get these automatically done now from places like Snapfish or Kodak EasyShare but If you're inclined to try this yourself my only tip is to be careful which aspect ratio you're using--4x6 or 5x7 and do the layout accordingly. (My red border didn't come out symmetric on the prints.) It might take a few tests at your local photo place before you do the "big print."
This definitely raised the bar for me and now I'm on the prowl for 2008 ideas.
By Dan
By Jensen
By Mayra
By Stephanie
This picture was taken in my neighbors yard. My sister-in-law said it took a couple of days before she realized it was my kids in the pic. She had to see it hanging in her mom's house before she noticed it. My mom had made the costumes for the kids to attend an Advent celebration at church where the kids were encouraged to dress up.
By Jolice.
By Tiffany
Caption read
"Let There be Light"
By
By Monica H
Wishing you a wild ride into 2009!
By Courtney
This was our 2nd Christmas card (the milk and cookies one).
This was our 3rd Christmas card...now with 3 kids. So we did the J-O-Y pictures to make it easier on ourselves.
Inside, it said:
Santa hat...$2
Wooden letters and paint...$5
Choosing a card that didn't require a picture of all 3 kids together...priceless
And in the background is a chaotic picture of all 3, which is what we assumed would happen ;)
By Amber
By Seth
By Jeni S.
By mom of 4
By Shannon
By Jinny S.
By Tammy
By Metalgal30
By Shirley
By Shawn
By Leslie
By Carey D
By Shari
By Mary
By
Here is last year's card. It was perfect for a not so interested teen! We had the image printed onto card stock, with the caption: "Listening" to the Night Before Christmas. Notice the ipod in my son's ears and one of them looking at a sports magazine; both pretending to listen to their little sister's story!
Here is another: simple yet festive - the kids in their winter finery posing on our decorated front porch. Sometimes simple is good!
Check out my decorating blog for more holiday ideas:
By Restyled Home
By Cindie
By Kim A
By ThriftyFun
By Tina
By Debra from Alabama
By Courtney
By Eileen
By The Holt Family
Last year our Christmas card featured our cat, Kitty. I found the cutest card from Walgreens that said "Meowy Christmas" and it had little fish and bones, etc on it. She is "reading" 'The Night Before Christmas." We got rave reviews!
By Amy
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
We have had so many great photo ideas submitted that we have broken this into two articles. The first batch is below.
The first Christmas as a married couple, we did a Grinch inspired card that read "Merry Grinchmas and Happy Who-Year". Since then, our friends and family expect funny cards.
Our second year married, my husband and I pretended to be asleep in our bed. I took a separate picture of our dog in a Santa costume then, using Photoshop, superimposed him in a thought bubble. The card read, "The Nemecs were nestled, all snug in their bed while visions of Jack danced in their heads."
Last year, our third Christmas together, we made milk mustaches and had a plate of cookies in front of us and were toasting with champagne glasses filled with milk. On a fluke, the dog stuck his tongue in the glass as the camera went off, and the picture was hysterical. It read: "Wishing you a milky white Christmas."
By Melissa
We dressed our new baby in a red hat and red converse hightops and a diaper. We strung Christmas lights and garland around her crib and propped some stuffed animals around her. "Merry Christmas from Our Crib to Yours!"
By Kelly
This year we are using the following Photo. Our card will say:
"Remembering the reason for the season... Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!"
By Erica
Here is the easiest Christmas card we've ever done because we could take separate pictures of each child instead of all three kids having to look right in one Photo (which is nearly impossible for us).
By Debra
Here's ours from last year. We got a file box and wrapped the bottom and top separately. Added some tissue paper and popped our then 6-month-old daughter inside. The rest was pure luck! The expression on both their faces is priceless. We still giggle every time we see this picture.
By Stephanie
Here's our first Christmas card Photo last year of our daughter who was 4 months old. I just put it on a Photo card with a Santa that read "HO HO HO".
By Angela
We try to do a unique card every year too. We are a big sports family, so I dressed our oldest son in his football uniform with a Santa Hat, our middle daughter in her soccer uniform with a Santa hat, then our youngest son in his tee-ball uniform with his Santa hat. We sat basketballs, bats, gloves, baseballs, soccerballs all around. The caption was: "Merry Christmas from our HOME TEAM to yours!"
Last year, I took our Santa hats to the beach and had the Kids stand by the surf in their swimsuits. I put it in black and white and colored in the Santa hats. I ended up not using this one because I got an impromptu shot that was better. We went to the mountains to a Christmas Tree farm to choose and cut down our own tree. This was the first time we had ever done that. I took my camera just to document the day and snapped a pic of the kids by our choice of tree. I used the caption "We found the perfect tree. Hope you have a perfect Christmas".
By Lisa from Taylorsville, NC
We did the bubble bath pictures and highlighted the hats and rosied up their cheeks. We typed "wishing you bubbles of fun this holiday season" We got a ton of great feedback!
By Maria
Sometimes you don't know you have the right picture until you look them over later. We had given up on getting our one-year old in a Santa Suit and our dog with reindeer antlers to pose and look at the camera at the same time. We tried everything including props such as a dog treats and a Christmas ornament for him to toss. After over 50 pictures of him pulling the dogs antlers, taking off his hat, falling over, and sobbing we decided to pack it in. The next morning we came across this gem - a little Photo enhancement and Voila!
By Amanda
Last year we had a 3 year old and a new baby of 2 months. I thought posing them in Santa hats would be really cute but somehow it failed. Madeline the 3 year old was mad that she was having to pose and Max the baby was fed up and hungry as well. So, despite all efforts I ended up putting the picture of her pouting and the picture of him screaming together and titled it "Better Not Pout".
This year we took a picture of a neighbor's Nativity Scene and superimposed a picture of our daughter dressed as Mary. The Outside says "It's Christmas". The inside says "Be Mary".
By Kelly
We did the "Santa, I can explain" one.
By Stacey
One of my twins was determined to catch the other under the mistletoe one way or the other!
By Debra from Alabama
We wanted to do something different for our Christmas cards/picture this year. The outcome was "Incredible!" I made the costumes and had a friend (who happens to work for the local newspaper) come over and take the picture in our living room. We cleared out the furniture and just had a fun Photo shoot. Then I used my Photo editing software to add everything else in (and remove my living room wall!)
By The Eastman Family
Cut your heads out in a paint program or Photoshop and paste them into a picture. We then added the Santa hats.
By peggie
This is the shot I used for my 2003 Christmas picture. On my card I wrote: " He's making a list, and checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town!" I thought it was so cute!
Last year we used one of the ideas posted here - the silent, peaceful one :)
By Mia
We used the little bakers idea last year. We got so many comments on the card! Thanks for the idea!
By Jen L
One of the cutest Christmas cards we did was take a Photo of my two girls dressed as angels (ages 8 and 10) and my infant son swaddled in a white blanket in a manger so it looked like baby Jesus with the angels looking over him. We just took the Photo at the church in front of the pulpit and used the candle lighter robes for the girls. The church had the manger from the nativity scene. I have gotten so many complements on this and have even been asked for the original so that an a friend could blow the Photo up and use it as decoration during the holidays!
By Nebraska Mom
Here's our card from last year. We had my son, who was 7, reading The Night Before Christmas to his 18 month old twin sisters.
By Amy
Something I did with a little cutting and pasting last year.
By Tim
We've been trying to come up with new ideas for years now. We've done the snowman with the kids' faces in the snowballs, we've done the "Ho Ho Ho" with the faces in the O's. Last year, we set the kids up with some musical instruments in the basement with a white sheet as a background, then cut out the photos and superimposed them on a Photo of a Christmas tree I found on the web (our tree wasn't up yet). The caption read "Have a Rockin' Christmas!"
By Pete
We were not at the beach, but at the library swingset. But we loved this picture of all of our feet in the sand.
By Nichole
This was our card from last year. "Happy Mistletoes" It went over very well! We used the one with our toes up in the air, but the other one is cute too, shaped like a wreath.
By Julie
Last year, we went to the edge of the woods, my husband wore a red sweat suit with a santa hat. He is disabled in a wheelchair so we decorated it up like a sleigh. We have two daughters (then 5 and 7). We three each had brown sweat suits on and reindeer antlers on our heads(bought at Wal-mart). We took red garland and draped it from my husbands wheelchair, to me sitting on my knees, then to my 7 year old on her knees, then to my 5 year old on her knees, and her nose was painted red like Rudolph. It turned out to be the cutest card yet. Our friends loved it. I was afraid they would think we were a little crazy. I set up the camera on the tripod and would have to run to get in position which made everyone laugh for a really good photo.
The year before that we took pairs of adult size jeans, stuffed them with filling, safety pinned rubber boots to the end of them, then posed my two girls infront of the Christmas tree laying down on their bellies. We just put the fake legs on top of theirs and pulled the feet over their shoulders to look like their legs were twisted over their shoulders. It was hilarious, and on the inside of the card we wrote Merry "Twistmas". You couldn't see their own legs and you wouldn't believe the people that asked us how they did that(like it was their real legs twisted over their shoulders!)
The year before that we wrapped large boxes in colorful wrap, cut a hole in the top just large enough for the girl's heads and cut out the bottom. They simply "put their boxes on" and we put a large bow on top of their heads, posed them in front of the tree and it was a cute and fun Christmas photo.
Lori in Mississippi
Last year we went to our local church and borrowed nativity scene costumes and dressed our family members as Joseph & Mary, three wise men, angels, shepards. We used a doll in a manger, the pictures were done in black and white and were done in a haybarn. We placed a real calf (donkey would be better) and barn cats around us. On the inside we did a quote about the saviour. The feedback was amazing.
Another year we took a normal photo but had billy bob teeth in and did a quote about smiling. A different year, we used green ink and made a handprint tree, using the baby's handprint as the top and the adults as the bottom (the prints have to face outwards and each person does the opposite hand for the sides of the tree except the person on top) we also printed our cat's under the tree, it was really nice.
Good luck, we may try a twisted version of your twisted idea this year (we have to incorporate 19 people!)
By Trudy & Connie (The crazy sisters)
Last year I dressed my two young daughters in pink tu-tus, white fur on the floor, lots of beads and with black and white film and took their picture. The card says, "Hope your holidays are Tu-Tu good!"
By Nancy Schaaf
We have 10 family members from 4 yrs to Grampa. Last year we all wore white t-shirts, dark pants and reindeer antlers. The four grandkids each held a different ball (basketball, football, soccer ball, and volleyball). Our 3 adult children in the back row each had a baseball bat over their shoulder. My husband and I wore ball gloves. The caption said "Care to join us in some reindeer games?"
By Katie
My sister had her two boys (4 years and 2 year) in their bathtub. They had santa hats on their heads and the tub was full of bubble bath. The boys had their faces with beard of bubbles. The pictures turned out beautiful. She sent them as a christmas photo card. She also bought colored soap crayons and had drawn christmas pictures on the shower wall. Like presents, etc. in green and red.
By Amy
We have done a funny family photo for Christmas for at least the last 10 years, some ideas are: A Harley Christmas, A Christmas Story (dressed up as characters from the movie), Christmas Ornaments, A Winter Wonderland, Cruisin' thru Christmas, A Collage. It is a major family tradition to do the family photo. Everyone loves them and friends/family talk about them all year. All time favorites are the Harley Christmas and the Christmas Story. I like your ideas too!
By Kamla Winters
Last year I helped my four children (ages 4,6,8 and 10) make four snowmen very close together in the front yard. Rather than put snowman heads on them, my children's faces were at the top. It looked very cute with bright colored hats and scarves. I took their picture, but it wasn't the one I mailed out. What we did for that one was make one giant snowman and posed around that. Since we had just moved to a new town, our card said, "We've made some new friends, but still miss the old ones!" (Get it? We made the snowman... made a friend.)
By Lisa
One year I put night caps on my kids, lined them up in our big bed and told them to go to sleep. The caption for that photo was "The children were nestled all snug in their bed..."
Another year, they circled around a scrawny evergreen tree out in a field (A Charlie Brown tree) we put one ornament on the tree.
Another year they all dressed like old fashioned Christmas carolers. We took the photo outside with them holding music and candles, singing "Oh" of course.
All these were done in black and white or sepia toned. (12/03/2004)
By Kathy
A few years ago when our son was 7 we did this photo. Our son sat in the middle of our bed with a Santa hat on, holding a fairly large book of "The Night Before Christmas" so you could see what he was reading. He was reading to my husband and I laying on either side of him, but we were "sound asleep." That was easy to do with the tripod.
When he was little we did a black and white photo at a tree farm with him peeking out from behind a tree with his Santa hat on. This would be cute to stack family members behind a tree. For this year I still hope to get a hold of a small Santa costume for our son so we can sit on his lap. Thanks for the fun ideas!
By Shelley
If you like cats, dress everyone up in cat suits and paint their faces. You could have 'Meowy Christmas' across the bottom on a sign.
By Cathy
Here are some I've done over the years:
I stuffed some red pants and put them into some black boots. I stood this up inside the fireplace and dressed my son in red pajamas, had him stand beside the fireplace with his hands on his face like the "Home Alone" kid. This won 2nd place in a local Chirstmas photo contest.
My husband wore his Santa suit in the background with my son and our cat in the forefront. My son was eating a cookie and our cat was drinking milk from a mug with a sign reading, "Dear Santa, these cookies & milk are just for you!" This won third place.
My son held mistletoe over his head while his twin sisters kissed him on each cheek simultaneously. This won honorable mention.
I bought the wooden letters "J" "O" "Y" painted them white and had each child hold one to spell "JOY". I took each child's picture individually so they would show up better and printed them on the computer on to cardstock in black and white. I attached this to red paper then put this on white cardstock and then wrapped red gingham ribbon around the bottom and put "Heavenly Joy" on the front as well. Then I put the bible verse Luke 2:10 on the inside.
Hope some of these might help.
By Debra from Alabama
We took our 3 year old to the beach and made a sand snowman with carrot nose and the works. The ocean was behind us. It was very cute.
By karen
Last year my husband dressed up as Santa and "discovered" our 2 year old sprawled out on the floor under the tray of "eaten" cookies and milk cup that was on it's side empty. Made a very cute picture. We put a caption on the bottom that said: "Sorry, Santa, I tried to be good."
By Kristi from Texas
We did a Human Pyramid (Christmas tree) with all of us in green and the youngest at the top in yellow.
By Tricia
Last year we had the kids sitting around the campfire all bundled up. The card said "Warm Wishes". It was beautiful.
By Mersbiz
Last year I recieved a beautiful card from a friend it had he husband dressed as the grinch. My friend and her oldest daughter dressed in red outfits with white boas. Her daughter (6 years) was at the top of a ladder holding a list that was long and she was holding a feather pen. You could see the list of gifts on the paper and the card read "we hope you get everything you ask for". It turned out really cute and everyone loved it. I can't wait to see what she does this year.
By Granny
We all dressed up in white shirts and I cut out the numbers 2005 in red felt and tacked one number on each of our shirts. Standing as "2005" we all held party horns and threw confetti in the air. It was a great photo to keep up "all year" as it was not a traditional holiday photo!
By Lisa-Illinois
I'm really into black and white photos and last year I had my three children, ages 10, 6 and 4 lay down in the leaves with their heads touching each in a different direction - looking straight up into the camera. I only did head shot with leaves around them - it was a great, fun shot! Everyone loved it! The leaves are colorful in the North East this time of year, but something about the black and white made the picture really stand out!
By Dixon
I do this everything year, but since I don't have children it's more of an adult play-on-words thing. We've dressed up with white ghost sheets on and held presents. The caption: "The Ghosts of Christmas Presents"
We've stuck tongues on metal poles (AKA Christmas Story) and used: "We double-dog dare you to have a good Christmas."
I've made fake police mug shots from the North Pole Police Department: "It would be a crime for you to have a bad Christmas."
One year I dressed up in a fancy apron and Santa hat, and held a big spoon over a bowl. "Not a creature was stirring?" (11/17/2005)
By Amy in NC
I had a really hard time last year with my 6 month old and my 2 year old. Since they wouldn't be still for a picture. I decided to let them do something they liked, eat. We set them up with bowls and spoons and lots of powdered sugar and let them make "cookies". They took the best pictures, he fed spoons full of sugar to his sister and we had a ball. They were both wearing aprons and chef's hats hers with a big red bow. I put out lots of premade cookies and cookie cutters. It really was very easy.
By Kristin-Texas
One year my daughter and I made Christmas cookies that spelled out Merry Christmas 2003 and had them set out on the table, while we were dressed in aprons, flour etc. At first you would just think we were baking Christmas cookies, but then you would notice the cookies actually spelled something. Last year I took my daughter's cheerleading photo, and said Bringing you Holiday 'Cheer'. Trying to think of something again this year myself, so thanks for all the help (11/21/2005)
By Laura
We used the bathtub and bubble theme one year, with the caption "May all your Christmases be white."
Another time I dressed the two kids up as elves working on the naughty and nice lists. I put them at a table with the sign "Santa's Workshop" behind it. The caption read "Have yoursElves a merry little Christmas" in a playful font.
The year we moved we had the kids (ages 6 and 4) stand in front of the fireplace each holding a sign that they wrote. The little one's said "Atenshen Santa" and the older one's said "Our chimny has moved." (What made this so cute is that I told them what to write, but they did the spelling on their own!) Inside the card I put our new address, so the holiday card was also our change of address notification. Everyone loved it.
The year we got the best feedback, however, was when we had professional portraits taken at the beach. There happened to be one photo of the two kids looking down at a starfish in the dunes. I printed the following Christina Rosetti poem on vellum and put it on top of the photo with a ribbon holding the two things together at the top. The poem: Love came down at Christmas...love all lovely, love divine. Love came down at Chrismas...star and angels gave the sign.
Hope these ideas help!
By Sharon from PA
You know how someone is always blinking if your photos? One year, all five of us blinked on purpose and titled the card: "And may all you Christmases be bright."
By Kel
One year we received a card from a family of 5 in a portrait setting and they all had milk mustaches (including the baby!) and the card said "Got Eggnog?" I thought it was really cute.
By Sheree
Last year we dressed our four year old in red with a moose antler headband. We had her hug herself and and make a kissy face. The caption said merry KissMoose. One year we had her peek through the middle of a wreath and once we let her go crazy with a big pile of ribbons and bows.
By Lisa from Missouri
I too did the kids in the tub and it was awesome! Last year we went to the beach (since we live so close) and put the kids (7 and 4) on the sled in front of a dune as if they were sledding down the hill. My son (7) wore a white t-shirt and tan shorts and my daughter (4) wore a beautiful white sleeveless dress. The pictures turned out awesome and we got lots of wonderful feedback. Now I feel like I have to come up with something better year after year!
By Charlene from FL
I got a card from a family with four children last year. It had them all laying on the ground on top of each other and the card read "Hope your holidays stack up like ours did." It was too cute!
By Amie
Last year we didn't really have a plan for a photo, and it turned out to be the best. We gave my 2 year old nephew a gift and told him to hold it out as if he were trying to give it to the camera. He of course, wanted nothing to do with that idea, so the photo ended up being a picture of all of us laughing around him (trying to direct him) and him holding a gift somewhat facing the camera (with an extremely innocent and confused face on). There was no caption, hopefully everyone just realized that we were trying to give them a gift. It was extremely natural and in black and white.
By Kate
I am a retired newspaper photographer and for the past six years have done various Christmas card photos for the neighbors. One year, I used a storm window, sprayed it with fake snow and Ice, and had the two boys hold a candle and look out into the cold with out-of-focus christmas lights in the background.
Another was the mother dressed as Santa going down a backyard barb-a-que fireplace with the kids sleeping with milk in front of a fire. Both photos were merged in photoshop.
Last year we sent out a photo of myself, my wife and 27 year-old daughter with Santa hats, a live camel with Santa hat and a camel driver in front of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.
Another of the neighbor's was "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", two kids looking suprised as real mommy was kissing Daddy in a Santa suit in front of the tree.
By Lynn from Wisconsin
I have a friend who has done my two favorites:
Their last name is Byrd. She took a picture of her 4 girls with phones at the ears. Caption: "Four calling Byrds"
She took pictures of her girls in a cotton field with caption: "Have a cotton pickin' Christmas."
By Terrie from Georgia
It sounds like you have done just about everything imaginable. So, how about being your own Christmas Card? Use cardboard for each person, have them decorate the "card", sign it then take the picture. Depending on how many there are in your family, you should come up with several different cards, as we all know, noone likes to get the same card as everyone else!
By Stacey Liddle
This year I did a take on the gift wrapped children idea. I wrapped a huge box and box lid and put my two kids (2 and 5) in the box with the lid leaning on the box. They each had a "Christmas-y" outfit on and a santa hat. The caption read, "Oh looky, looky! What do I see? Our favorite blessings under the tree."
By Mom me poo
The year our family of five went to DisneyWorld, I used the photo from the Jurassic Park roller coaster ride, We all looked scared to death plummeting down the hill. I caption it "Twas the Fright before Christmas". Everyone loved it.
By angie
Last year I took a beautiful picture of my 3 kids. Their ages are 19, 12 and 10 so they didn't want anything too "little kid" like. So I put them in dark clothes and gathered up all the candles I owned, tall and short. I turned the lights out, lined up all the candles on a coffee table with the tall ones on the sides and short ones in front. I then put the kids behind at various heights and told them to lean in toward the light and hold very still. Using a tripod I took the picture without a flash. It was a tight shot - only faces and candles filled the frame. Their faces glowed and the candles served as a sort of frame around them. Numerous friends and relatives commented how beautiful and some even had the picture still on their refrigerator months later!
By Nancy
This year I took pictures of all 6 of us individually in front of a white sheet, with no flash. The pictures were closeups, all of us had different expressions and looking in different directions. Then I made a kind of index print on the computer with 3-4 of each of us. It had a brady bunch feel. I liked it in sepia. I interspersed it with Christmas messages in some of the squares. Everyone loved it and it stands out from the usual photo card!
By Susan
One year we put the kids in the bathtub with Santa hat's on and made bubble beards on their faces. The caption we used was "Rub a Dub Dub, Ho Ho From the Tub"
By Joan
One year, a friend of mine took her family to the beach. They wrote "Merry Christmas" in the sand and the family sat behind it. The photographer took the picture facing them and the words. It was really nice looking. They all wore white shirts and jeans and it was all in black and white, but Christmas colored outfits would be nice, too. It is great for all ages.
By Julie
I bought a red sweatshirts for my neice and nephews. Walmart sells white felt that is sticky on one side and I cut the words "FA", "LA", "LA", "LA", "LA", "LA" out and stuck them on the sweatshirts. We put "FA" on the oldest (tallest) and "LA" on each of the other kids. The kids sat on bales of hay stacked up so "FA" was at the top and all the "LA's" followed. it was too cute! When the pictures were done, you can peel the letters off and have plain sweatshirts again.
By Robin
One year, I couldn't get my christmas tree lights untangled, so before I bought new ones, I let my 3 year old get tangled up in them in front of the Christmas tree.
By Karla
Editor's Note: Most Christmas lights are made with lead and have warnings about keeing children away from the cords. Be sure that you have lead free lights before trying this tip.
I received a card with a photo of the kids feet on the front of the card (they were laying in bed and showed the bottom of their feet) and on the inside were the kids sitting up with santa hats on their heads. The caption read, Happy MistleTOES!
By Karla
Have everyone stand circling halfway around an extra large pizza. Write Pizza On Earth on the bottom of the card.
I've had my baby in a decorated gift box in a Santa Suit in front of the fireplace--very cute. I've also had my baby lay on a blue sheet with cottonball clouds. I laid some handmade glittery wings down on this sheet, peeled him down to his diaper, and laid him on top of the "wings" to be a little angel--very cute.
By Sandy from WI
Last year we did computer work and had me, my husband and 3 kids with our pants rolled up. I found a beach picture I liked and we took our picture. My aunt blacked out the background so it looked like we were standing in the ocean with our pants rolled up. Then we typed on there "NO MORE WADING FOR CHRISTMAS". We also all wore santa hats.
By Leanne from TN
One year for photos, me and my husband were wrapped in tangled lights with my kids standing next to us with the end of the lights. On the inside of the card we put "We're on the naughty list, how about you?" Everybody loved it.
By Anonymous
Last year our friends, a married couple, simply cross dressed in a formal dress and tux, and stood in front of the Christmas tree. The guy even wore makeup. The inside said "We hope your Christmas is as beautiful as our marriage." It was amazing.
By Ballzy
My first year being a mommy and I forgot to take my child to get her christmas pictures done. I was upset then my mom helped me decide to get picture's of her in front of the tree but it didn't work because a three month old can't sit up. So I got out her bouncy seat and laid her down in it and proped presents all behind her, it came out great. (09/30/2006)
By Jennifer from Michigan
<img src="http://www.thriftyfun.com/feedbackdisplay.lasso?feedback_image=tff5473591" hspace="10" vspace="10" alt="RE: Christmas Card Photo Ideas">
Put everyone in Santa hats laying in the pool....snap a picture and have the heading read...from our piece of heaven to yours. (10/04/2006)
By Kim
We have some very creative friends. Last year one sent a picture of their 2-year-old daughter wearing goggle with messed up wet hair. The caption was, "Wishing you a great OUTLOOK for 2006." Another was a 15-month-old little boy standing at the bath tub with a bare rear end. The greeting read, "Merry Christmas from our end to yours." (10/06/2006)
By Meg
When my daughter was 10 months old, I bought angel wings on sale after Halloween. I dressed her in a white onesie and put a black sheet on the couch. Then I put the angel wings on her and the dog (West Highland Terrier) and set them on the couch... cute!
Another year I dressed my 1.5 year old daughter in a lion costume and made a little lamb costume out of felt and cotton balls for the dog. The caption on that read 'There shall be peace, led by all the children'. Both pictures were in black and white and on a black background. (10/18/2006)
By Beth, MN
My husband, kids and i wore matching chirstmas pajamas. He sat in a big white rocking chair holding a book as if to read , the kids were at his feet with a plate of milk and cookies, I stood beside the chair with my hand on his shoulder. Everyone looked at him. The back ground was white with red poinsettas sitting around. It was very memorable...(quote)(/quote) (11/01/2006)
By Deborah Johnson
Last year, I put my three boys in their Christmas outfits and lined them up in front of the fireplace, each holding a Little Tikes hoe. The caption was "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
The year my youngest son was a newborn, my father made a manger and we put him in it and puit straw in the backyard all around it. I dressed up my two older sons as wisemen and had them adoring the baby with a gold star hanging in the back. (11/07/2006)
By Alissa
Last year I had 2 of my children sit on a bench in front of the fire place w/ the 2 dogs, and the other 2 children behind the bench - each holding a letter Ho Ho - it was very cute. I need a new idea for this year! (11/08/2006)
By Karen
i don't have kids, but my brother does and so last christmas I took pictures of his 3 kids ages 4,3, and 1 wk. The outside of the card had the two boys aged 4 & 3 standing in a big wrapped box with just their faces sticking over the edge propped up on their hands and santa hats on. The caption read guess "what we got for christmas?" the inside had a picture of their new sister lying on a white blanket with white tissue paper with just a clothe diaper on, asleep. and it said "a new baby sister forever to keep" and then it had her birth information on it. so it served as a birth announcement and a christmas card since she was born so close to christmas. (11/08/2006)
By auntie sam
2 years ago, I dressed my daughter in her christmas nightgown and a santa hat and had her drink a little cream (i.e. Got Milk?) and had a plate of half eaten cookies on a plate and 1 in her hand. The caption was "Dear Santa, I can explain. Daddy did it."
We still get comments on that card. (11/10/2006)
By Jennifer
One year, we took a picture of my daughter(in a fancy dress) with her hand over the mouth of a standing knight figure. The caption read "silent Knight". It was really cute. (11/12/2006)
By Jeannie
I did the bath idea last year but I did it in black and white and colored in the hat red. Everyone loved it. (11/13/2006)
By gavcolMom
<img src="/images/feedback_image.lasso?id=18559671" width="400" height="275" alt="RE: Christmas Card Photo Ideas">
I superimposed a Santa hat on the ultra sound photo of our daughter a few years ago. (11/14/2006)
By
we dressed our 4 month old up as santa; when he was aleep we put a plate of cookies and glass of milk in front of him in the recliner. The caption was Waiting for Santa (11/17/2006)
By Aarons mom
We are having our dog, a beagle, wearing antlers, pulling our daughter, who is 6 months old, in her baby sleigh, dressed in a Santa dress. I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out! (11/18/2006)
By Diane
Last year we painted our hallway wall with bathtub finger paints. . they wipe off easily. Then we covered my son in the paint and had him "finger paint the wall". Threw on a santa hat and added the caption " deck the hall" (11/20/2006)
By kerry
Last year I tried for the perfect christmas card pic and was giving up as my 2 children were crying in there perfect holiday outfits, infront of the tree, so I put on the caption Ho,Ho,Oh who cares! (11/20/2006)
By
For a super easy christmas card photo my daughters and I spent the afternoon together making a gingerbread house. When it was finished we all sat behind it with a sign we had made that read "Merry Christmas from our house to yours". (11/22/2006)
By shades of grey
Last year we took a picture of our kids with their mouths duck-taped shut in front of our christmas tree..Under the picture we put 'May your holiday's be pieceful"...on the inside we put ours will be. Everyone loved it (11/26/2006)
By jr
One year, we had the boys all dress up as mobsters and signed it from the McFaddin Mob. Sepia tones. Cute.
One year, we did the manger scene with everyone dressed up in the part.
I think the cutest one was when they were little and looking through the glass of a Christmas display & catching their expressions. My youngest at the time was about 2 & he was actually licking the glass (yuk!), abut was so cute.
By TammyMc
Another time we put all of them outside holding the plastic candy canes. they all looked adorable!
Another is when my nephew was 2 he loved candy canes. there was a house next door that had a light up dandy cane so one night we took him over and told him to lick the candy cane and he did! they snapped the picture and it was so cute!
Someone i knew had everyone with duck tape on their mouths with the caption silent night (11/29/2006)
By Mary Kate
My husband and I dressed up in camoflogue, holding bows and arrows and a rifle. My son (2 yrs) sat on his camoflogue chair and our beagles were sitting beside him. We took this photo outside and had large bushes behind us. The caption read "Hunting for Santa". (11/29/2006)
By Red
Last year I dressed our 3 dogs up as Mary, Joseph and baby jesus in a manger with the saying "Fleas Navidog". Before that we lined up 3 motorcycles with someone on each with Santa hats on and I stood over our minature horse - the saying was "Oh what fun it is to ride." We've also done a "dashing through the snow" with horses and cars via photoshop. (11/29/2006)
By Lani CA
Have each person in your family stand in front of the christmas tree each with a homemade card reading "Naughty" or "Nice", each should wear black or white shirts for easier reading of card (11/30/2006)
By Donna C. Madisonville, LA
last year-our children ages- twin 1y/o, a 2 1/2y/o and 5y/o all lined up in front of the tree. I took the picture up close of their faces. Since our home is quite busy and loud, the caption read: Silent Night, Yeah Right! people loved it! (12/02/2006)
By kelly
This year I really wanted to take picutres of my two girls making snow angels. I was going to put the ladder close to them and take it from above, but so far this year we haven't had any snow!!
Last year I took their picture sitting in the door way of a a small cabin built by their grandpa about 43 years ago. They were both wearing jean jackets and santa hats and there was snow on the roof. (12/02/2006)
I got an idea from a magazine last year, so not, it's not original. We took close-up pictures of each of the three of us. My husband is such a goof-ball - he made funny faces, but my daughter and I posed as we normally look. We printed several black-and-white pictues of each of us and cut out just our heads. We took black paper, trifolded it, and on each section of the card, we glued just one of our pictures. When the card was fully opened, you could see all three of our pictures. "Happy, happy, joy, joy" (Ren and Stimpy) were the only words.
This was simple, fun to make, and VERY unique. Every card had a different mix of poses. They definitely were the talk of the family that holiday! (12/05/2006)
By Marti
Just a cute way to incorporate our 9 yr old Jack Russell Terrier and our 9 month old son. (12/06/2006)
By Adina
<img src="/images/feedback_image.lasso?id=61821178" width="400" height="266" alt="RE: Christmas Card Photo Ideas">
We did a "Nutcracker" theme! Our two little girls (then 4 and 6 yrs) dressed in their ballet leotards and ballet shoes, and our son (then 2 yrs) held a wooden Nutcracker soldier in the middle of them posing. It was so cute! If you have two girls and a boy it is perfect. If you have all girls you could just have the girls each hold a Nutcracker soldier, or pose the Nutcracker somewhere in the photo. (12/12/2006)
By Christina
Since everyone seems to have a good sense of humor can anyone come up with a caption for my picture? We took a zillion pictures and they all pretty much look like this! (12/12/2006)
By Mary
<img src="/images/feedback_image.lasso?id=78019303" width="400" height="266" alt="RE: Christmas Card Photo Ideas">
How about "Where's the Snow?" or Sandy Santas (12/13/2006)
By ThriftyFun
A friend of ours has twin 10 yr old boys and each year gets wilder & wilder. Last year they had both of them facing a snow bank backs to the camera with their pants around their ankles (boxers still on). "Happy Holidays" was written in the snow in yellow & the boys turned their heads to the camera &had the most devlish looks on their faces. It was Hilarious!!!!!!
(01/30/2007)
By Becky
Last year the kids ages 2 and 4) donned their aprons and chef's hats and stood in front of the tree with a bowl and a whisk each. The caption was "We Whisk you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" (09/30/2007)
By Ann
Last year I put a fire in the fireplace and a small lit Christmas tree next to it. I then placed my 2 year old in front of the fireplace. He was in red overalls and completely wrapped up in colored christmas lights. He had both hands on his checks and his mouth wide open- with an expression like he had just been caught! The caption read: "Dear Santa: I can explain" (10/23/2007)
By Embree
We have a son that is 8 and a daughter that is 2 months. She would not sit for a picture. Therefore, we had our son holding our daughter infront of a window with a candle in it. They were both looking out the window because I was outside getting their attention. (But you could not see me). Our son was wearing a santa hat. The picture was in sepia. The caption was, "Yes Ella, there truly is a santa claus!" We got the best feedbacks from this. You only see the profiles of the kids. Therefore, it was easy to get their picture no matter of the age. (11/04/2007)
By Suzanne
We all climbed in an antique clawed tub (clothes on of course). The caption read "Rub a dub, dub, Three Breland's in a Tub!" Everyone loved it! (11/07/2007)
By Teresa
Since, our front yard has so many trees and LEAVES everywhere and we live in the south, we decided to go "sledding." My husband, 5 yr old son, 4 yr old daughter and myself sat on a sled in a pile of leaves and acted like we were going down a big hill really fast. We had our hands out and big expressions on our faces while wearing santa hats, gloves, big jackets & scarves. Our Caption said, "Who needs snow?" It turned out really cute! (11/09/2007)
By Southern Mom
We got an adorable card a couple of years ago from a friend. She had several pictures of her three young kids in their Christmas outfits in front of the tree, clearly not cooperating, except for the last one where she got everyone to look at the camera at the same time. The caption was: Christmas outfits for three kids: $150. Christmas presents for the family: $500. Tree and decorations: $100. Getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time: Priceless. (11/12/2007)
By Dr.Yades
To show off our newborn daughter, I took an empty box and wrapped it like a gift with a bow showing on the side, but left the top of the box open. I placed a pillow in the box and printed out a large gift tag that read "Our gift from God." I placed her in the box and had big brother sit next to it. It was a hit! The Christmas tree was in the background. (11/13/2007)
By Kristen
Last year my husband dressed in a Santa Suit and my girls 4 and 1 1/2 laid in my big bed "asleep", and my husband dressed as Santa was bending over them giving them a kiss on their foreheads. Just by chance my comforter was red satin, very Christmas like. We get tons of compliments on the card, It came out great! (11/13/2007)
By Lisa
We are the masters of the cute cards around here and it gets tough to do better each year, so after pulling my hair out in three or four failed photo shoots.I realized that as the kids get older, it gets harder to get them to all cooperate, so I took pictures from all year long of each of them (alone) and put them side by side like a film loop. Then we wrote a poem about so many smiles and memories and wished everyone a year full of memories as precious as ours. It has been our most successful one yet! (11/14/2007)
By Jheri
This page contains the following solutions.
My son was a knight for Halloween, so it was great to get double duty from his costume!
I propped my 3 month old on his belly and elbows and put an adult sized Santa hat on him. I also got photos of him sleeping in his elf outfit that said, "Santa's little helper" and cropped the photos into a website that provided the template and ordered enough for everyone on my Christmas card list!
Get a box large enough to fit your baby in it. Wrap the box and put a ribbon on it. Place the baby in the box and put a bow on top of his or her head. You take the picture outside in the snow, or under your tree.
We love the movie "A Christmas Story". So last year we decided to pay tribute to the scene the boys love best, which is where one kid dares the other kid to stick his tongue to a frozen flag pole. I used my photo software to change the picture to black and white and frosted the edges. The caption on the card read "WE TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU TO HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS". Everyone loved it!
I saw a great idea for a Christmas card on here and wondered if someone could tell me how to do it. They took individual pictures of their kids and made them into one picture.
I've tried to figure it out but haven't had any success. Thanks!You get them on the computer. Use the cut and paste star or box in paint brush. No need for professional editing or pricey software.
Another idea--if you are going to have them printed by Snapfish, Winkflash, or one of those kinds of places, they will have software on their site that will allow you to put your own pictures into a template to make a collage.
Christmas card photo ideas, anyone have an idea for a Christmas picture to go with cards that I purchased? The card says "Joy to the World" and "Peace". I have 2 children, a girl and a boy, 10 and 13. Thanks!
