Opened up my mailbox yesterday and EEEEK!! The first Christmas card arrived! Now it feels like Christmastime! I love love love, opening Christmas Cards so naturally, planning + designing our Christmas cards is one of my favorite things to do. Although, it can be a PROCESS, am I right?!

Unless you just got married and have a beautiful wedding picture to send off, you can feel like you don’t even know where to begin! Because there are too many variables. Should the entire family match for the photos?? When is the best time to take the photo? 1 or 4 photos on the card?

This year I LOVE how our cards turned out, so I thought I would share the process from start to finish in three steps (and a few tips I picked up along the way!).

1. Outfits!

This is what everyone seems to get stuck on because it really does set the theme for the entire card. But here’s the thing, whether your outfits are coordinated or not, it does not matter. What matters is that it reflects YOU. And when I say, you, I mean YOU, not your husband! Because we know he does not care about this at all and he is just along the ride, ha!

So start by walking in your closet. What pieces do you love the most? Are you drawn to the lighter or darker colors? What makes you feel like you?? A favorite outfit you wore all year? For me, there was a lot of warm tones, dresses, and pink, ha! But let’s say yours is turquoise and white.. then let that be your inspiration and then sit down with PINTEREST and browse. Maybe search those colors, look at other family photos, and see what you are drawn to!

Then once you’re feeling inspired, pick your outfit first. Once you feel good about your outfit choice, the rest is EASY! When you pick your family outfits, just pick colors that blend well together but don’t match, just like you would if you were getting dressed! For example, a deep-orange color looks beautiful with ivory. So if your top is ivory, let your husband’s shirt be somewhere in the orange color scheme. Don’t think bout it too much and it will turn out great!

2. Pick A Time.

It makes sense to take the photos on the way to a family party because you’re already dressed up right?! Wrong. Wrong, wrong. wrong! That’s way too stressful and it will come across in the pictures. Even if you don’t schedule a shoot with a photographer, just pick a time with your familt when you don’t have anything else to do after! Relax, take your time, and HAVE FUN!

3. Pick your card!

Once you have your photos you can design your card! I always go through a site to do this, because it is SO easy and guaranteed to make your photos look even better. This year I used Pear Tree and I am literally OBSESSED with how they turned out.

First of all, the design process was seamless. In the past, I’ve struggled for DAYS trying to get the card to look right when I edit on the website. The customizer on Pear Tree is SO easy to use and allows you to personalize all the different elements without over-complicating it. You don’t wait for drafts. You can upload your photo, crop, change the fonts, and get an immediate draft of your design. When you go to order, you have the option to order matching return labels and envelops to make it even easier!

I was originally drawn to their site because of the card designs they offer because they are so unique! They have trifold cards (so you don’t have to just pick one photo!) and ORNAMENT CARDS so that you can hang it on your tree! How freaking cool is that?? If everyone could please send me an ornament card, I will be the happiest girl in town.

You can see the rest of the Holiday cards from Pear Tree HERE

I chose one of the designs from the Ribbon-Booklet Collection because I needed to fit as many photos as possible into a single card. 😉 Kidding, but not really! Ava is at such a sweet age and we never sent out newborn pictures of her, so I thought this would be an extra special way to say Merry Christmas! I could not be happier with our finished product!

Creating a family Christmas Card does take a little time and effort, but don’t all things worthwhile? 😉 You will be SO glad you did it and the process can become a tradition that you look forward to every year.

I hope these little tips help you enjoy the card you create and the card you send!

All my love,

Alex

Photos: Katie Chang Photography

This post was created in a collaboration with Pear Tree. All selections and opinions are my own!