Young House Love

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Dog And Baby Christmas Card Ideas

Anyone can make this photo Christmas card – as long as they have a dog and a baby. And as we head into the holiday weekend, we’re looking forward to watching “the kids” unwrap their presents (yes, Burger gets some too), gorging on goodies, and spending time with family and friends. But before the festivities officially begin, we wanted to take a moment to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you guys and share our little family Christmas card.

Xmas Card Final

The image above was the card we sent out to our family and friends (in case you can’t see, the text reads: “Hope you get your mitts on everything that you want this season“). This is the template we used through Snapfish (we just provided the pic and the wording of the note and they printed 40 5 x 7 cards on matte photo paper & provided envelopes for each one to the tune of around $25 thanks to a coupon code that we googled around for).

Getting the shot was a bit more involved than our previous years’ cards (which starred Burger as a reindeer, a kiss-monger, and a big brother in waiting) since we had a dog and a baby to work with this time (everything from getting Burger to actually wear his trapdoor sleeper to keeping both of our models in place was a bit of a challenge). But we had tons of fun watching Clara try to lick Burger for a change (weird, but true). And since we know you guys love behind the scenes stuff, here’s our “set” of sheepskins in the ol’ den where we shot it in early December:

Xmas Card The Set

Notice the block acting as Clara’s stand-in while she was getting a diaper change? Oh and here’s a fun fact, Sherry actually photoshopped that bow on Clara’s head after we uploaded the pic since there’s no hair to clip a real bow to yet. Anyway, happy holidays to all! May your days be merry and bright- and may your chihuahuas (and other various family members) be held tight.

Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15! 

Comments

  1. Lindsey P. says

    I was a hairless baby as well and my mom taped bows onto my head so people would know I was a girl. She told me that even with a bow taped on and a pink dress an old man in the mall still said I was a “handsome boy”. lol

    Reply

  6. Amanda says

    There’s a photo of me as a bald 1-year-old with a bow magically sticking to my chrome dome. My mom actually taped it to my head. Seriously! Clara is lucky to be born in the age of PhotoShop!

    Reply

  8. amanda says

    I was wondering if you taped that bow on her head, but it’s better that you photoshopped it, lol. The little story about Clara trying to lick Burger reminds me of that show Raising Hope when the baby starts barking like a dog at the doorbell because her daycare is down to only her and dogs so she’s taking on the dogs’ mannerisms. Very funny show if you’ve never seen it.

    Reply

  10. Blair says

    That is absolutely precious! I love the backdrop & caption, and the added bow definitely makes Clara even more adorable (didn’t know that was possible!).

    Enjoy your first Christmas in the new house…there will only be one first! You all will look back one day with fond memories of the excitement and newness of the house and boxes all around! :)

    xo Blair

    Reply

  11. Dusa says

    Merry Christmas to all of you, too! Thank you for your inspiration, funnies, DIYs – warts and all, and your generosity in sharing your lives and loves! Here’s to a fab 2011!

    Reply

  14. Karen J says

    Such a cute card! And what a genius idea to photoshop the bow in! My daughter (8 now) was a total baldy for a very loooooong time. I have just a few pics of her with cute headbands on that really help to “girlify” that bald head. I have far more plain pics where she could easily pass for a boy. I have looked at the pics and thought with regret “Why didn’t I put more headbands on her?????”. It never occurred to me to fix it with photoshop. Thank you!!!

    Reply

  20. MeMe says

    Oh thank goodness. I looked at that bow and thought Photoshop, but with the reassurance I definitely feel better. Thanks for the reassurance. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

    Reply

  22. Julie says

    Merry Christmas to your beautiful family! I have enjoyed all you have shared over the past year. Have a safe and lovely holiday:)

    Reply

  23. Laura says

    I love all of your photo cards! I also do photo cards every Christmas. I find store bought cards too boring. I like being a little creative and knowing there is no other card out there exactly like mine.
    Wishing your family a wonderful Christmas and New Year in your new house. I love you guys, you have such an adorable family (including Burger of course!)

    Reply

  24. Sarah says

    Soooooo Adorable!

    I didn’t have hair AT ALL (including eyebrows!) until I was two…my mom just got my ears pierced to give folks a visual cue!

    Now I have super SUPER thick curly hair. When I go for cuts, my stylist reserves two appointment slots for me, and my hair only goes to my shoulders! It takes a whole appointment just to blow dry it.

    Reply

  26. LindseyR says

    Merry Christmas Petersik Family!! Love, love, love the photoshopped bow! Would’ve never known (but thanks for spilling secrets!)

    How do you guys get away with sending out so few Christmas cards though?? And what do you do with all the cards sent by friends and family? I’m sure you have some great organization or display idea (to be shared in 2011 of course….enjoy the break and the HOLIDAY!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just toss all the cards into our clam shell (which is usually our fruit bowl) and we flip through them and enjoy them a few tines throughout the season. There are definite ways to enjoy them that are more display-driven (swagging a ribbon and hanging them from it, using ornament magnets to display them on your fridge, etc). Maybe try googling around for ideas? As for how we get away with sending 40 cards, we only had around 75 people at our wedding (so we sent out around 40 invites since multiple people live at each address) so that’s just the right number for us when it comes to our family I guess.

      xo,
      s

  29. Sarah says

    Cute photo! I was completely bald until age two. My mom’s trick was to stick on a bow with a little dab of honey. Sounds odd, but apparently it works, and it washes right off later. Much friendlier to a baby’s skin than sticking something on with tape. Photoshop works too, of course :-).

    Merry Christmas!

    Reply

  31. Diane says

    So adorable! I love how patient Burger is being. I’m so non-tech-savvy that I thought, “How clever, they used double-sided tape to put a bow on her head!”

    Doh.

    Reply

  33. Anna says

    just wanted to say Happy Christmas. Thank you for your brilliant blog. I check it almost every day and love being a part of your life- that sounds a million more times creepy than it ever should. Anyway, i hope you have a wonderful Christmas in your new home! Lokking forward to all your new projects in 2011.

    Anna x

    Reply

  34. Monica says

    The Chatty Housewife suggested trying honey… probably not a good idea. If Clara accidentally gets some in her mouth (I know my 10.5mo old manages to get everything in there!), it might trigger something you can’t go back from. Babies aren’t supposed to have honey–and I’m not a stickler for very much. Just: honey & nuts.

    My mom used to use double-sided tape for my bows when I was little, as I had no hair either. It’s not TOO sticky, so it doesn’t hurt when it comes time to remove the tape.

    Good luck! Adorable cards!

    Reply

  38. Lauren says

    All I have to say is this is the cutest thing EVER. Not ONLY because of the picture, but the story behind it. As a mother of a toddler I laughed while I read the truth about the “perfect” picture. Thank you for being real…..as we both know it takes SO much work to actually get the picture worth sending to a crowd. Merry Christmas from our family to yours. ~Mr. Man, Lauren, Bean.

    Reply

  40. Christina S says

    Merry Christmas Youngsters! I hope your day was full of love and fun! Since you guys are mindful of the environment- composting, recycling etc… I’m wondering if you took any steps to make your Christmas greener? Like your family we are 2 adults, a 6 month old, and a dog. We don’t go overboard with gifts for each other, or even the baby, but when I was cleaning up this afternoon, I realized our trash and recycling for the day tripled what we throw out in a week! I mentioned to my hubby that I’d like to make less waste next year, but I’m not sure how. Any tips? Did you notice a similar situation or did you find ways to cut back on the trash?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We always try to use gift bags which we all reuse year to year (most of our family even reuses the tissue paper)! It seems a lot less wasteful than filling garbage bags with wrapping paper like we used to years ago. We also give gifts with other reusable “wrappings” like Envirosax bags, pashmina scarves, and even just a ribbon around the object (like a pretty blanket or sweater). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  41. Sevi says

    Happy Holidays guys! That is such a cute card. I was so surprised to see the bow on Clara’s head, I thought she had more hair than we could see in the pictures :)

    Reply

  42. Ashley says

    LOVE your Christmas card :) I know this sounds really silly but I was looking at your SKIL-ME giveaway winner and I noticed that the winner was “Ashley” and that “Ashley” wrote the same comment I did… I know that in 4,000 plus posts there was probably another Ashley that wrote that their favorite foursome was their family of four! I don’t think I recieved an e-mail or anything saying that I wont but my lovely hubs did delete a bunch of what he thought was “junk” emails! So, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t the big winner?!?!?!

    Reply

  43. Victoria says

    To Christina S –
    My family uses holiday themes napkins, pillow cases, etc to wrap presents with a small amount of ribbon (also reused each year). This reduces the waste enormously and it is still festive!

    Reply

  46. Lindsey Rockers says

    Such a cute pic! But I have to ask, since the text on your Christmas card is definitely non-descript as far as religion goes, if you guys celebrate Christmas because it’s Jesus’ birthday or if it’s more of secular holiday for you guys??

    I’ve never heard mention of Jesus on your blog (in reference to holiday traditions, all of your blessings, etc), so I just had to ask.

    Hope your enjoying Christmas in your new house!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Lindsay,

      We’re both Christians and we love celebrating Christmas, but we made a decision back when we started YHL that politics and religion wouldn’t be things that we discuss on the ol’ blog. Our site has always been all about home improvement, interior design, and living well on less- so we try to stick to those topics since it’s where we feel most at home (pun intended).

      xoxo,
      s

  48. Rebecca says

    As I’ve expressed before I truely enjoy your site. I am over joyed to learn that we also share a faith in Jesus Christ!!! I respect your decision to not discuss faith or politics…..sometimes it just seems most wise to let ones actions speak for themselves. I had presumed/hoped you were believers due to how often you refer to being “blessed” & the like. Thank You for sharing this.
    Hope you had a Merry Christmas! God Bless you and your business in the year(s) to come!

    Reply

  49. Gina @ Temporary Nest says

    Ok… so you had the perfect house… now you have another perfect house that will get perfect-er. You are the perfect couple and have the perfect dog. Of course your daughter has to be the CUTEST most perfect little girl on the planet. She is so expressive and happy looking!! That picture and her smile makes me melt!! I have a nephew on the way and seeing pictures of Clara getting big make me so excited to be an Auntie for the first time!!! :) Merry Christmas!!

    Reply

  50. Lindsay L. says

    Hey J & S, I’m picking out prints for our new house and I came along this one that reminded me of Burger:
    http://www.ronkrajewski.com/chihuahua-020607.html
    I don’t know this guy and I’m not advertising his site or anything, just getting a dog print that looks like our cockapoo Grover and thought of y’all because of the chihuahua and darker tones in the print!

    Reply

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