Admit it. Taking family pictures is not usually fun. Getting everyone to smile at the same time is a chore, and if you have little ones, you'll probably see some tears and pouting faces. I am horrible about getting family pictures taken. But, when it comes to pictures for the family Christmas card--we're all smiles. We've created some great memories over the years--making the holiday family photo fun instead of a chore. Want to see how we do it?
We don't even try to take a picture of everyone at once. Instead, we each don a Santa hat and ham it up! We take turns taking pictures of each other being silly.(This started because I only had one Santa hat, so we had to share. Last year, we finally got four more at the after-Christmas sales.)
Believe it or not, my picture-hating 13-year-old even has fun! I love the crazy pictures of get of the kids being silly. I often like them better than the smiling shots! Here's our collection of Santa hat family photos.
You might notice that Mom and Dad's pictures sometimes stay the same from year to year. I guess some years we're a little camera shy! Twice, we got busy and missed the hat traditions. We created New Year's cards for family and friends instead. Now that I see all of these cards together, I won't forget again. Check out some of the memories we made over the years:
Taking pictures with Santa hats is just too much fun. Fingers crossed that we find time (and sunlight) to get them done tomorrow. The weather outside is definitely frightful right now!
Since we couldn't take Santa pictures today, we spent time together creating a few LEGO Minifigure Holiday cards instead. Check out our Santa hat version: (Now, if we don't get our pictures taken, we can use this one instead! :-)
I hope you have a great time with family pictures this year! Who says family photos can't be fun?!
Thanks for stopping by today. You'll find more holiday inspiration below. (Images are linked.)
Marilyn
Heidi, it must be so much fun at your house....you always have the coolest ideas!
Heidi Fowler
There is fun at our house . . . but also tantrums and messes and all the regular stuff that is at everyone else's houses! Thanks so much. (This idea came from desperation. When you can't get everyone together to take a photo, you improvise.
Jess
I love how these turned out! Such a cute and neat DIY idea!
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Jess. They were really fun, and my girls and I had a good time together.
Camille
I love the idea to of taking individual portraits! SO much easier. Can't believe I haven't thought of that yet. Your pictures are so fun! Love the Lego cards too- I think we'll do those this afternoon when the kids will be officially home for Christmas break! Thanks Heidi!
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Camille. Have fun with the lego cards!
Michelle
Love the idea of taking pictures individually and hamming it up! I have a 3 1/2 year old, 21 month old and a newborn and it is impossible to get them all to look and smile at the same time! such a great idea!
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Michelle. You would think that getting kids to smile at once would get easier as you get older, but it doesn't! Then you get tweens going through the "I won't smile for a picture" phase! It sounds like you have your hands full in a really good way!
Kimber
Those Lego cards look so fun! Thanks for sharing your fabulous ideas!
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Kimber!
Celeste
Those are ADORABLE Heidi! We are taking individual pictures this year for our Christmas card as well. Too hard to get everyone looking at the same time with little kids ;)
Heidi Fowler
I don't know why I didn't think of this when my kids were even smaller!
Heidi
What fantastic ideas! I especially love the yarn trees. I'm debating about whether I should add them to my before Christmas list, or just make them as decorations for January. :)
Heidi Fowler
Thanks, Heidi. I love decorations that last a few months. That's why I like to decorate with pumpkins in the fall and snowmen and trees in the winter.
Kerry S
I love your Christmas card picture idea. So much easier to take separate photos. We also did individual pix this year, but I think it would be fun to do silly pix next year. Thanks for the great idea.
Tracy Bua Smith
I love taking our family Christmas photos each year to see how our family has changed and grown! I love your individual pic "trick"...perfect! Cute family photos too! Have a blessed Christmas! I'm stopping by from Creative Bloggers Collective FB page...glad I did! :)
ang
What a totally cute idea!! :) Thanks for sharing!