What are you going to do to make this year’s photo Christmas cards really stand out?  You don’t have to fall back on the same old ideas this holiday.  Here are ten suggestions to help you make this season’s family greeting the best one yet.

1. Try a different spin on a traditional theme.  This fall take a picture of the kids with a pumpkin snowman.  Just stack three pumpkins, graduating in size with the biggest on the bottom and their stems removed.  Paint a face on the top pumpkin, carve a small hole to hold the carrot nose, then put a Santa hat or wool cap on top and add a scarf.  If you live near the beach, you can make a sand snowman instead.

2. Transform an ordinary photo Christmas card into a religious one by adding your favorite Bible verse. Look for a company that will let you create your own personalized message, instead of just sticking with the text shown on the sample.

3. Nothing is cuter than a holiday greeting that contains a photo of an adorable animal in a seasonal setting.  The easiest way to achieve this look yourself is to take a picture of your sleeping dog or cat on top a sheet of wrapping paper or under the tree.  Add the caption, “peace on earth” and wait for the “aaaahs”.

4. Create a four seasons look with a multi photo Christmas card that has space for four photos.  Then choose pictures of your kids from the past year during the winter, spring, summer and fall. Personalize it with the words, “thinking of you at Christmas…and all year, too!”

5. Is your little one a budding artist?  He or she can help you to create a really unique holiday greeting.  Ask him to draw a picture of the family with crayons. Then, it’s your turn to cut out the faces of each family member from snapshots and glue them to the top of the crayon bodies. Take a close up photo of the masterpiece for this year’s card.

6. Are you famous for your holiday baking? If you’re always being asked for the recipe for one of your seasonal goodies, you can turn that into a fun photo Christmas card.  Write out the directions on a pretty recipe card, then clip a family photo onto the card, perhaps of the kids baking cookies. Be careful not to cover any of the instructions with that picture. You might want to add the words, “wishing you a sweet Christmas”.

7. For impact, try black and white with a touch of color.  Your favorite photo with the kids in Santa hats can be changed into an artistic black and white picture with just the Santa hats in red.  Most online photo Christmas card companies will do this for you at no extra charge.

8. Make a statement.  What makes your family tick?  Are you a bunch of beach bums, taking advantage of sun and surf every possible moment in the summer?  Then include photos in your holiday greeting of the kids playing in the waves and building sand castles.  Are you all sports enthusiasts? Then feature action shots of your children playing for their team.  Are you involved in animal rescue, active in politics, big on barbecues, busy selling homemade jewelry at craft shows, passionate about your faith? Find a way to work it into your pictures.  This year, instead of a posed portrait, give people a glimpse into your family dynamics.

9. Send a holiday greeting that takes a trip down memory lane.  For this idea, you will need to select Christmas cards that feature multiple photos.  Choose your current favorite family picture and then add one or more photos of the kids when they were younger for a then and now effect. You might want to ask the card company to change the older photos to black and white or make the current picture larger than the rest. Don’t forget to add captions underneath indicating the year the photographs were taken.

10. If you’re still looking for a fresh idea for this year’s Christmas greeting, then it’s time to browse. Start searching through the huge variety of designs in photo holiday cards online until you find one in particular that inspires you.  Maybe it’s a candy cane motif and you’ll think of posing the kids with comically oversized candy canes.  Or you’ll fall in love with one that has a pale blue background with snowflakes, which might lead you to dress the family in shades of blue.  Many times, it’s easier to pick out the card first, which will set the tone for the pictures you want to include.

This year you can have an amazing photo Christmas card that gets rave reviews from friends and relatives.  All it takes is a little inspiration and thought to make this season’s greeting a one of a kind expression of your family.

Christmas decorations are one inseparable part of the Christmas holidays, without which Christmas would lose all its color, spirit, warmth and charm. And it’s also great to get together with all in the family or the whole gang of friends for the Christmas decorations. Isn’t it a joy untold to watch the hand-crafted stars or bells hung up on the Christmas tree or on the wreaths ? Don’t you feel the festive tickle to see Christmas-themed table-spreads, curtains, napkin-holders, or carpets ? Ideas for Christmas decorations are plenty to satiate the festive craving of all and sundry. And the stores dish out a huge array of Christmas decorations too. You can either buy them home or decorate your home yourself with your own ideas and designs. Here’s enlisted a few for you to get started with your Christmas decorations and Christmas planning.

The easiest and simplest of all Christmas decorations—get empty boxes or cartons and wrap them up in red, green, blue colored papers or colorful Christmas wrappers. Tie ribbons around some and leave them sporadically around the base of your Christmas evergreen or on the mantle.
Hanging cute Christmas stockings make good decorations too for your Christmas d?cor. You can cut out papers or fabrics in shapes of stockings or candy canes, have them colored by the kids and stick them all around the room to add that festive touch on Christmas.

Umpteen stores sell battery-operated candles especially for this holiday and these look radiant in and around your home as also on your Christmas tree. Anyone would like to go for these hassle-free Christmas decorations and give their interiors a total face-lift for the occasion.

A fetching idea for your Christmas decorations would be to deck up your house plants with little stars and bells and to place them on window sills.

Get holly boughs and mistletoes home. Hang them around and watch the magic of Christmas unfold before you. These Christmas decorations are traditionally passed down through ages and never fall out of the hall of fame.

How about this ? Take a pin-up board and pin Christmas-related images or messages on them. You can also fix Christmas cards that you get for the year. This Christmas decoration would be best for your office cubicle or room. So bring your colleagues in the spirit of the holidays instantly as they step into your holiday ‘den’.

Now here’s another to rev up your Christmas decorations—take a white table-spread and stick little paper or fabric pieces in shapes of stars, bells, candy canes, gift-boxes, Santa hats and more.

Deck up your halls in Christmas streamers (bought or homemade) or in Christmas wreaths. You can hang a bunch of bells on the doorway too. Won’t it be sweet to hear the jingles every time anyone enters during the Christmas season ?

Decorate white slender candles with red and green ribbons. Tie them into a bow or just spiral it around. They would swell for sure if placed in a cluster on your Christmas dinner table or over the mantle. Don’t forget to leave a bell carelessly at the base. Your friends, folks or sweetie pie would surely love the shine and shimmer of the bell in the candlelight and you may collect few kudos for such thoughtful Christmas decorations.

For outside decorations, get some Christmas lights home. Glowing bulbs or lighted candles that run on battery would just suit fine outdoors. You can place a big cutout of Santa to welcome your dear ones too. Or you can let loose your own festive ideas.

Play Christmas numbers for the background scores to complement the tree, table and hall decorations. Well chosen Christmas songs are just the right fill for the holiday ambience.

Create cute bows for the special day and have them stitched to curtains or tied to door-knobs or around the glasses on the Christmas table. These Christmas decorations won’t take much time and would be fun to do too. So get on with these.
Well then, welcome the season of joy and brace up to make merry with friends and family—it’s Christmastime folks ! The merriest time of the year is here. So leave your worries behind, deck the halls with wonderful Christmas decorations and share the warmth and joy of the season with all far and near.