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Shannyn Snyder
D.C. Mom & Dad ExaminerI am a busy mom of two daughters in Northern Virginia. I homeschool my oldest, and we take advantage of all that D.C. has to offer for educational fun. We stay active in town during the week and road-trip on weekends. My background is in political science, anthropology and global health.
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Preparing to "Say Cheese" - Great Holiday Cards
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by Shannyn Snyder, D.C. Mom & Dad Examiner
I am actually one of those people who looks forward to getting out my Christmas cards, mainly because I am one of those “cheaters” who does not handwrite long-winded, lovely sentiments on glitter-touched bi-fold cards that are either blank inside or have lines such as “May your Season be Bright.” Although I still get a few of those cursive-laden cards wishing us well, they are fewer and far between.It’s not that we are lazy these days (okay maybe a little) but we have all just skipped sitting to write (by hand, you say?) long verses and instead opt for the cards that say it just as well.
Now, that is not to say that my husband can get away with buying a Hallmark card for our anniversary that has a 3-page poem and simply sign it “Love, Hubby,” but I have since given up the notion that I will be receiving a 3-page poem handwritten by him. Thus, thankfully Hallmark can say a little more than “you are my favorite wife.”
I also occasionally spend the time typing up a Christmas letter that gives my nearest and dearest a play-by-play of our year in retrospect, to be “personally” Xeroxed by Kinkos and folded into Christmas envelopes each year. I really do love reading those letters from friends and family, to be honest, because it allows me to “catch up” when I have been busy or remiss. Now that most of us have blogs, however, we can even add "check our blog to see what we have been doing all year.” I love sharing ours, as it is a regularly updated "scrapbook" of our life. Don't have a blog? We love the easy of Typepad!
So, what about saying cheese? Well, that brings me to our choice of cards. We love photocards, and they don’t have to follow a certain rule. You can get them from studios like Walmart, JC Penneys, the Picture People and you can get them from private photographers too. Last year, we were grateful to have Amanda Elkins Photography come out from Camarillo, CA to take a wonderful family photo in our backyard...you know, the one where everyone gets into coordinating sweaters and acts civil long enough to "say cheese."
Each year, we typically plan a picture “hour” sometime on Thanksgiving weekend to take fun pictures to then select and send on to Clark Photo Labs for printing. Two years ago, we took a photo of the girls in matching turquoise kimonos they received from Nana in China. The year before that, our photo was a favorite from a trip to Disney World.
This year, we have an artsy photo shoot planned with Terra Dawn Photography to capture the kids jumping on the bed or acting like rock stars, just acting like “themselves” (albeit in matching "rock star" outfits) instead of something staged. I can always “Christmas-up” during the print planning.
Clark Photo Labs, for example, has cards with background colors in every spectrum, formats in landscape and portrait, and if you can’t choose just one photo, they have layouts where you can put several favorites. Then, the best part, is you can choose preprinted messages with everyone’s name and anything else you would like to say, to save lots of writing and signing later.
Sending out Christmas cards can be fun, and no one (other than Aunt Bertha) is going to chastise you for having preprinted cards, preprinted address labels and a typed insert that says “check out our blog.” With most families receiving an average of 50 cards, it’s the thought and the remembrance that counts, not the amount of time each friend or family member specifically spent on our card. Most of us are just happy that we still appear on someone's Christmas card list year after year – because after all, receiving a Christmas card really says something special about you, too.
So, snap a photo, download and go. You will be surprised at the quick turnaround by places like Clark and even CVS. In fact, while you’re ordering, turn favorite pictures into photo ornaments, t-shirts, ties and mugs, too. These are great gifts for Dad, Mom, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We love printing the annual ornament for our tree, a reminder of what our card looked like each year.
Have fun and welcome to the holiday season!
Tip: Get those Christmas cards knocked out by December 10th to be sure they will get received in plenty of time!
Photo courtesy of Amanda Elkins Photography!
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