With Christmas in coming closer each day, I have been trying to get myself organised. Top of my list was getting the Christmas cards ordered so I don’t miss those all important last dates for posting abroad, etc. I love to send out Christmas cards featuring a photo of the children. I think it’s a lovely item for those dear to us, that we might not get to see as often as we’d like. Plus I always keep one for ourselves to look back on over the years. This year I have been looking at Snapfish to create our very own personalised family Christmas card.
I take a lot of photos of my children as you may know, for here, my instagram, twitter, facebook or just for our own memories. My favourite photos are not staged ones, but ones that I watch them play or do their own thing and snap a quick capture of that moment without them noticing. Photos of your loved ones are perfect for capturing moments, memories encapsulated in time.
My Top Tips for Taking Family Christmas Cards
- Use a tripod to steady the camera and a remote control if you can. This gives you hands free to get your children to look at the camera or for us mums to be in front of the camera if you use a timer of the remote.
- Make it fun for the children. Use funny sayings like “smelly socks” to get a natural smile and making it fun.
- Take several pictures. That way if anyone blinks of looks the other way, you’ll hopefully have one you like. But, don’t have them sitting too long. It doesn’t have to be perfect, the natural look is usually best.
- I would also suggest taking one picture at a time of each of your children and adding them together in a collage. This is what we went for this time. I picked out 4 pictures of each of us that capture us perfectly.
- If possible take pictures outside. We don’t get a lot of light this time of year, so it’s best between 10am and 3pm. Natural light looks best in pictures. Not everyone has their own professional lights with them. Go for a nice walk, get them to play in the leaves, throw in the air or hang out in a trees. That’s what I went for.
Snapfish asked me to recreate a famous family’s Christmas card. Being a child of the 80’s and a 90’s teen I couldn’t help myself, I chose one of the Beckham’s to recreate. Their family size is sort of similar to mine, give or take a child! I really liked this one below. I felt it captured each child in a natural way and was a photo you could look at all year round.
I took some pictures of the children outdoors and one of Aria on the stairs with the kitten. We wanted to include her this year, she was introduced to our family at the summer and was instantly one of us. As usual there are very little photos of myself. I am always the one behind the lens, so the photo of my husband and I was from a wedding at the summer. Next year, this is my new years resolution to get in front of the camera. Hold me to this, won’t you? I changed the photos to black and white, which I love. There is something strikingly beautiful and timeless about black and white photos, don’t you think?
Then the magic of the Snapfish website. I picked out my template, Gold Brush Handwritten Christmas, uploaded the 4 photos, added them in and amended the wording and away we went. Voila. What do you think?
I’ve used Snapfish in the past for creating baby thank you cards and Christmas cards. Snapfish has some great prices for cards, personalised gifts, canvas prints, mugs as well as calendars and much more. They offer a wide selection of photo cards, with a several of personalisation options and features to make card creation simple and effective. There are loads of choices of designs available, everyone more beautiful than the last. Creating cards, invites, thank you and much more. Or you can create one from scratch. The site is simple and easy to use. Each step is intuitive and it is easy up upload your photos to the site, save and go back to it at a later date if you with. The templates are vast and I am sure there is something that will suit everyone. Or just get those photos printed that have been sitting in on your laptop or phone for years. There really is something special about flicking through old photo albums. On Screen slideshows are just not the same.
I would highly recommend Snapfish for creating your own holiday Christmas cards, it really is a card that everyone will keep on their mantel piece for years to come. A little piece of your family love from you to them. Plus the prices are great. I cannot wait to receive our Christmas cards and send them out to our loved ones. Watch out on my social media channels where I will share the pictures of them.
I would love to see your Christmas card designs. Leave me a link in the comments or let me know on social media and I will come check them out. Happy Christmas card designing.
Ours just arrived. What do you think?
Disclosure:- This post has been created in collaboration with Snapfish, but all words and opinions are my own. This is something I have ordered in the past and loved.