Creative Family Christmas Cards

My son was born in 2009 and my daughter was born 18 months later. It wasn't until 2012 that I really started getting into doing Creative Family Christmas Cards. In 2009 I was a new dad and didn't think to put anything creative together but in 2010 the journey began. It started out slow and basic but it has been picking up creative steam ever since.

Below are my Creative Family Christmas Cards and their... how shall I put it... creative journey.

Enjoy!

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2010

As you can see in 2010 there was very little (if any) creativity but my son's cute face was all that mattered. Plus in my defense I hadn't even thought about Creative Family Christmas Cards.

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2011

Along came my daughter and yet the idea for Creative Family Christmas Cards hadn't begun yet. However, I did setup a photo session with my kids and came out with some nice shots to send out to friends and family for the holidays. Notice my son's hair was wet. Both my kids were having meltdowns with the lights and clothing, So we did what all lovely parents with an agenda do... we forced them. :)

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2012

Then in 2012 my journey with the Creative Family Christmas Cards began. The photo shoot was simple, my wife was agreeable and the kids just needed to hear me say a few poopy words to get them to smile. The idea isn't really original but it was the beginning of the creative holiday phase.

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2013

I truly enjoyed the idea I had in 2013 but after putting it together I think I missed the mark. While I think it's a cute christmas card I think I got lost in being creative and left out the family part. Yes you can tell it's us but it's just not the us I should have portrayed that year. Nevertheless it was added to my Creative Family Christmas Cards collection.

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2014

I have a beautiful wife and she always appreciates when I bring out that beauty in our photo sessions. I think I hit a homerun in 2014. Add in some more poopy words for the authentic smiles and I would say it's a grand slam.

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2015

I got a lot of great comments on my Creative Family Christmas Card idea in 2015. All of the kids from my son and daughter's school asked how we got to be green. I told them a little fib. I said we painted ourselves. Wow they all said. Well I did paint all of us but I did it in photoshop. :)

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2016

2016 was my favorite year doing our Creative Family Christmas Cards. Everything fell together nicely on the photo session. My wife loved that I made her the strongest of the family. Even though I came up with the idea I would say she truly is a warrior on every level so having her lift me and the kids up is not a far stretch. The toughest part was finding a photo of a house that I could manipulate and rearrange in order to give the true illusion that we were all holding each other up with smiles on our faces. 

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2017

My 2017 Creative Family Christmas Card was a lot of work but so worth the effort. One of the questions I kept getting asked was did I Photoshop our faces on a Christmas card with a elves on it. I wouldn't think of doing that as that wouldn't be much fun but instead of discussing my process you can watch it. 

This video doesn't show how long I thought about what to create or the issues I had putting it together. Nor does it show how long it took me to convince my wife to put on an elf costume but with a little imagination I am sure you can figure it out.

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2018

This year I decided to create a family Christmas card that was important to our 2018 journey as a family. Our Youtube channel was the big theme for us so I had to create a card that represented all our hard work. 

Our Youtube channel revolves around toy reviews so by the looks of the card below you can see where the influence comes from.

To be fair I did borrow this idea from Jon Arnold who did a great Christmas card 17 years ago. Hats off to you JA. Your card was so creative that I had to do my best to recreate one for my family.

Front of our Christmas card

Back of our Christmas card

Creative Family Christmas Cards 2019

Once again I borrowed an inspirational page from Jon Arnold's Creative Family Christmas Cards. It's not that I am not creative. I actually am as you can see from our family Youtube channel here. However, Jon Arnold truly inspires me so, even though I have come up with some creative things on my own I always love to recreate other people's genius (with credit).

Anyway, this year our family had many events happen during 2019. So, I figured why not share the year with our family and  friends, with a little bit of humor, in magazine style.

I also added a double entendre on the back which was a great way to get the kids to learn what that actually means.

You can click each magazine to see what was created for us all.

Everything that is written is true... and yes that includes my hip transplant. 

Front of our Christmas card

Individual Magazine Covers 

Back of our Christmas card