Young House Love

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DIY Christmas Card Photo Ideas

Here she be, all ye merrymakers of the world: our 2012 family Christmas card.

Xmas Card Final

Obviously it’s a play on the tradition of leaving some milk and cookies out for Santa, with a nice dose of the reality that unattended food at our house doesn’t stay unattended for very long. By some miracle we were able to get this shot without having to Photoshop the two of them together. Usually Clara is all up Burger’s grill – meaning that Burger bolts before the first shot is snapped. But apparently they play well together when there are treats to be had.

Xmas Card Outtake 1

These are just some outtakes from our little photo session, which we actually didn’t start until after Clara’s bedtime. Again, another Christmas miracle was at work here. She not only was an angel for the shoot (probably because she had a plate full of cookies) but despite the post-8pm sugar rush, she thankfully slept just as well as usual.

Xmas Card Outtake 2

Clara loved the fact that Burger was so interested in the milk (“More cookies for me!”) that she constantly tried to invite him to drink more of it.

Xmas Card Outtake 3

But eventually Burger became more interested in the other snack, which meant we had to pull the plug on the set-up (no chocolate for dogs!).

Xmas Card Outtake 4

But despite the abrupt end, we’re still psyched about the result. Especially since this design at TinyPrints made it even more festive. Yup, we splurged a bit this year (over our usual CVS or Target printing) and went for a heaftier cardstock printing through TinyPrints. But thanks to a free shipping promotion they were running and a coupon code we looked up (thanks Google), we were able to save $30 on our order.

Xmas Card Final

Speaking of past years, here’s a quick recap for ya: Here’s last year’s card:

2011 Petersik Holiday Card

And the one from 2010 (where we actually photoshopped that bow on Clara’s head to help long distance relatives remember the she’s a she).

Xmas Card Final

And lastly our card from 2009, while we were still awaiting Clara’s arrival the following May…

Christmas Card

And with that, we’re off to spend the rest of Christmas Day with our family. We hope you guys are all having a wonderful holiday and and are enjoying some great food, fun, family time, rest, or whatever else makes this the most wonderful time of the year. And thanks for reading our blog. We’re thankful for you.

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

Comments

  1. Amy says

    This card is awesome! It’s so cute and looks like an old 50’s spread in Life Magazine or something- so Norman Rockwell-ish! I just love it! Hope you all had a great holiday. I didn’t get your book :( but now plan to go straight to the bookstore and get it myself! LOL

    Reply

  5. Meredith Jones says

    I looooove the “Reserved” sign for to be Clara in you 2009 card. Superrr cute idea! I’ll have to remember that for our future babies to be :)

    Reply

  7. Sheryl says

    I was so happy to unwrap your book on Christmas! Kudos to you two for all of the unique ideas; no repeat ideas from the blog!

    Reply

  8. Elise says

    Merry Christmas! Finally got your book as a gift from my mom! So excited to be able to go through your “behind the scenes” post and know what you’re talking about! Also, I received homemade cloud shelves from my brother & sis-in-law. Funny thing is I had asked if he could make them months ago after seeing $40 metal versions at Land of Nod. I had no idea they were an idea in your book!

    Reply

  9. Penny says

    I got your book for Christmas and have been reading it in bits and pieces for two days. I LOVE IT. It’s so pretty. It even smells nice. Merry Christmas!

    Reply

  11. Kara M says

    MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I made myself wait on getting your book since Christmas was coming but it was waiting under the tree for me! Can’t wait to go through it!!

    Reply

  16. Silke says

    I miss the Petersiks ! I need to be in the office during the holidays but there is no-one here so I would have loved to have some blog posts to read during the lonely hours :( and Santa did not bring your book eventhough it was on my list..boohoo. Will buy it for myself for New Years !
    Enjoy your time with family ! Love from Belgium, Silke xoxo

    Reply

  18. Sherry in BC says

    Oh, I love your Christmas card…..it is just adorable. I haven’t had much time to drop by you blog recently so catching up now things are a bit less hectic. You always seem to have a new spin on things which keeps us all checking in. I can’t believe how much you are able to accomplish while keeping up the punishing book commitments. It sounds like your book ir really doing well. Love my copy, even if it isn’t signed. I am hoping you will do another book giveaway with a signed copy for us out of the way readers. I already know who I would give my copy to if I could wangle a signed copy. I am looking forward to hearing how your dinner went. Our turkey was lovely and the celebration was wonderful even though my grandchildren weren’t here this year. I was able to see that important part of my family through skype. Hoping for another session today. One of my family traditions at Christmas is to do a big jigsaw puzzle. I think it is a prairie thing as that is where I am from originally. We have it on a table in the living room and the whole family that is here in town has taken a stab at it. Lots of conversation goes on over a puzzle and wine. Best wishes to you and yours and please give that adorable little Clara a cuddle and tickle Burger’s tummy for me.

    Reply

  19. Anje says

    Happy Holidays! I just wanted to say thank you. Last night I indulgently cracked open my copy of YOUNG HOUSE LOVE which I received as a Christmas present from my mom. It was on my wish list :) I loved reading all the preface and introductory parts. It felt like you wrote the book for me and were speaking just to me. Thank you for being you. Winter Greetings from Wisconsin.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks so much Anje! So glad you’re enjoying it! Hope the rest is just as fun for you to peruse. We really were talking straight to you guys when we wrote it :)

      xo
      s

  22. Jackie says

    I’m tickled…that’s the same card from TinyPrints that I picked for our card this year. The fonts are so great! And the snow flakes add so much to it.

    Reply

  23. Sarah C. says

    Your cards past and present are all so adorable. I can’t wait to have a little family so we can do fun Christmas cards for everyone! I am bookmarking these for later inspiration

    Reply

  25. Mel says

    Hi Guys,

    Just wondering why you went with Tiny Prints over Winkflash? I know you have talked about winkflash before on here. I used Winkflash for our Christmas cards and our baby’s b-day invite and I was fairly a happy but not 100%. Just wanted to hear your thoughts.

    Merry Christmas to you all!

    M

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We weren’t dissatisfied with Winkflash in any way in particular. We mainly used them because they were the first site we came across where we could easily get a card printed that was fully our design (i.e. didn’t have pre-printed text or graphcis on it). But this year we decided to rely on an existing design (i.e. the “Merry Christmas” text you see on this year’s card) and we’d always admired TinyPrints’ graphics.

      -John

  26. Alisha says

    It makes me happier than it should to see that we chose (basically) the same Christmas card from Tiny Prints. I think that means we’re some kind of secret/virtual/Christmas besties, no? And I get to see you next week in Austin! Yay for a S.V.C. bestie reunion!

    Reply

  28. Melissa says

    I often think we’ve got a lot in common (just an observation, not a creepy stalker thing….one daughter, little dog with an attitude, primarily black wardrobe, etc) so add this to the list. We picked the exact same Christmas card! Funny!

    Reply

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