Tips For A Memorable 2011 Holiday Cards

Photo Source: Minted.com

It’s that time of the year again! Time to start planning and preparing for the Holidays… well, Holiday cards that is. Especially if you are planning to include a family photo– like we do.

One of our favorite family photographers, Vicky from Family Photos By Vicky, has come up with some wonderful tips on how to create a lasting impression with your 2011 Holiday Card.

SOME AMAZING TIPS FROM VICKY

Tired of sending the same holiday card every year?  Don’t want yours to end up at the bottom of a drawer?  Creating an interesting greeting that tells your family’s story can be a lot of fun—and less work than you might think!  Here are a few ideas:

• Use Minted.com to create a Yearline photo card that tells your family story along a timeline, with multiple photos and text blocks. I discovered Minted when I was shopping for wedding invitations – the designs, paper quality and printing are beautiful.

• Download a free MS Office Word family newsletter design template from the Microsoft website, fill in some text, drop in some pictures, and print at home on nice paper from Staples. My husband has an aunt who does this every year, and we absolutely love getting them.

• Use Animoto.com to create a holiday music video greeting using your own photos, text and even video clips. Animoto has a very cool technology that matches up the movement of your images and text with the music you choose. Try the “Simplicity” template for a video greeting that is much more professional and less cheesy than the typical video greeting. 30-second, small hosted videos are FREE!

• Commission a professional photographer to take your family portraits and design something completely unique for you. One of my most popular products this year has been the magnetic mini accordion book. Clients love them, and I know a few who will be using them as holiday gifts for family. Check out my blog for examples of these books, as well as a few other unique holiday photo gift ideas.

HERE ARE SOME OF MY TIPS TO GET ORGANIZED

TO DO NOW:

• If you’re doing a photo card, schedule a photography session as soon as you can! A lot of photographers have Holiday Session Specials going on right now and they are booking up fast. If you’re not doing a photo card, it’s still a great time to get family pictures done. Think gifts for the Grandparents!

• Select which company you want to order from. Vicky provided some new (I’ve never heard of them before) ways to create a fantastic card or you can ask your photographer if he or she can create a design for you.

TO DO IN OCTOBER:

• Select or narrow down which card design you want. And after you receive the photos, pick the pictures you would like on the card… if you’re doing a photo card. Trust me, it’s not always easy to narrow down the pictures.

TO DO AT THE END OF OCTOBER:

• Order the cards

• Print address labels and buy stamps

TO DO AT THE END OF NOVEMBER OR BEGINNING OF DECEMBER:

• Send the cards out the day after Thanksgiving! Okay, not really, but some do. I’ve done that once but I think I only had one kid that year…

What are some of your tips for preparing and sending out Holiday cards? And don’t forget to check out Vicky’s Blog for even more information and tips!