Susan K Mann

Award Nominated Mummy & Parenting blogger. Blogging about the highs and lows of being a working mother of two princes & princess, living out our own fairytale in Scotland.

Top Tips for Creating Magical Photo Christmas Cards

By 89 Comments

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. 

Tops Tips for Creating Family Christmas Cards

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.

beckams-christmas-card

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?

susankmann-christmas-card

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?

snapfish-christmas-card

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?

Snap Fish Christmas Cards

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.

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Comments

  2. Beautiful card, hun! I love your tips. I’ll try “smelly socks” next time I try and capture my 4 together. I generally get them to say things like “bananas” or “sausages” but “smelly socks” is a lot better!

    Reply

  3. Dont put 2 brothers next to each other…it always end in a fight after a dig in the ribs here, a sly elbow there 🙂

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  6. Fab post and I do love a family Christmas card. In fact this is the first year we’re not doing one as Logan has designed us a Christmas card at school. I think the best advise I could give would be that the best photos to use are natural ones. Even if someone’s not looking or making a goofy face it doesn’t matter as relatives love it 🙂

    Reply

  19. If you’ve got little ones don’t hang about, get the photo in quick as they’ll soon get fed up with sitting still. Or if possible bribe them to sit still with some sort of sugary treat haha!

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  23. Have a photo taken of you doing something that you enjoy doing as a family (riding bikes, playing board games, etc.)

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  42. I would go along the ‘fun’ line and not be too serious, and invite a hoard of relatives, and ask them to be as zany as poss in their dress code xx

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  46. I think photos of family’s having fun in the snow or playing a game make s a better memorable picture rather than just people smiling cheesily wit Christmas jumpers on!

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  48. photos taken in natural situations e.g. laughing or playing look much nicer on a card than photos which are staged 🙂

    Reply

  52. You want everyone to look relaxed so have a few props handy to make them smile. Ask them to choose something they love to have with them in the photo.

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  60. I like to make sure everyone is feed and watered and doesn’t need the toilet.
    Happy kids = better chance of a decent photo lol.

    Reply

  68. Choose good quality photos where the picture is nice and clear! and I think it would be nice to use a Christmassy photo too, like in Christmas outfits or by the tree!

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  76. There’s nothing more Christmassy than snow pictures even though we never seem to get a white Christmas. When the snow falls (even if it’s at Easter) think Christmas cards and take some fun shots to save up for later in the year.

    Reply

  85. Don’t worry about having everyone face the camera! Natural shots are often just as beautiful, if not more so x

    Reply

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