The Perfect Christmas Card Guide

There are a million reasons why I love the Christmas season and one of those is Christmas Cards.  I love receiving and displaying them all season and I love even more dreaming up our cards each year. I wanted to share my tips for developing the perfect Christmas card with you:

1. Pick a Theme

2. Pick Wardrobe

3. Pick a Photographer

4. Pick a Location

5. Take Photos
6. Search Card Options, Create, and Order

7. Mail

I believe it all starts with a theme.  Dive through Pinterest to get some great ideas or look through cards you've received in the past.  The theme I chose this year was The Polar Express.  Once you have a theme you can start shopping in the stores or even your closets for your wardrobe.  I always start with what we currently own so I don't spend too much money.  I decided to do coordinating pj's to go with our theme.  I was lucky enough to have all the items already in our closets.  If you don't have all the items try to work with a few items you have.  For example, if you have girls don't buy all new accessories; use what you have like bows.  I suggest using a variety of colors that coordinate.  I stray away from matchy-matchy clothing.  This year due to our theme ours were quite similar but they weren't exact.  When you do your shopping buy options and bring them home and lay out the different options.  I take a quick photo of all the options so that I can look at them on camera.  Then decide what you want each family member to wear.  

When selecting a photographer you want to look at the past body of work to see if they typically shoot a style that you like.  Also have a conversation ahead of time discussing your theme and what you want to accomplish.  Do you want everyone looking at the camera and smiling or do you want action shots?  If you have young kids you should ask if the photographer has experience with children and getting them to engage.  We use Stacy Marini Photography and if you are local you definitely should check her out.  She is so phenomenal with my kids and a true pleasure to work with.  Her turn around time is unheard of and she's reasonably priced.  

The next decision is location; do you want a spot that coincides with your theme or just a backdrop that you love?  Since I had a very specific vision in mind this year I wanted to find a train where we could shoot.  After you've decided on theme, wardrobe, photographer, and location its time to take the photos and choose your favorite ones.  Sometimes the hardest part is narrowing it down to just a few. After looking through the gallery of photos I picked out my favorites and then started looking for cards that carried out my vision.  

My favorite site for cards is Tiny Prints; their options are abundant.  I knew I wanted a card that was horizontal with the ticket cutout corners so it looked like The Polar Express tickets.  I also wanted something with snowflakes, front and back, and 4 photo place holders.  Even though my wish list for cards was specific I was able to find exactly what I was looking for thanks to Tiny Prints.  One of my favorite features from Tiny Prints is printed envelopes.  I can not stand addressing envelopes or even printing labels.  It's tedious and I just don't have time for that.  You can easily upload your list to Tiny Prints and they will print all the recipient's addresses and your return address on the envelope.  The whole process on the site is very easy and you have the option of designer review before printing.  I was able to work with a designer who made sure all I's were dotted and T's crossed.  She confirmed everything was perfect and my vision was executed correctly.  I was so impressed with the options at Tiny Prints, you will surely find exactly what you are looking for.


Don't miss out on Tiny Prints amazing sale going on right now.  Click the banner to start looking for the perfect card:

Also don't forget that Tiny Prints is a partner with Ebates where you will get money back just for shopping.  Click here to get started earning cash plus $10 for signing up:


Cards received in exchange for this review.  As always all opinions expressed are honest and my own.