How to Step Up Your Christmas Card Game

When our parents sent out Christmas cards it was a cute family photo and a letter wrapping up 1996 with what everyone did that year. Fast forward 20 years later and the Christmas card game has changed just as much as the Nintendo 64 your mom got you in comparison to the Nintendo 3DS XL you just bought your step-son. Keeping up with Joneses takes a little more effort when it comes to being the star atop the card tree.  Damn you Mrs. Jones and your ‘momtography’ skills! Here’s some ideas to get the snowball rolling and the creative eggnog flowing.

Props, Props, Props

Go all out! Scrounge up anything and everything you can to fill your photo. A lot of Christmas decorations go a long way or you can just make the most hodgepodge of obscurity and toss on a Santa hat. Granted it’s even better if you have a theme to go with it, it’s your card so have fun with it.  Add kids and/or dogs for some real appeal and hit your recipient’s right in the holiday feels.

This:
“Rappy Holidaze! One Love, Ice Cold Curtis and Tuck Master Flex”

Not this:“Pussy Christmas Card”… Because there’s cats.

Learn a Little Bit of Photoshop

You can go from this:

TO THIS:

If you already know Photoshop, or any other image editing software, you’re already in the money for a prime photo coming out of post. Filters, layers and superimposing Santa, Jesus, the girlfriend you don’t have or your dog will take your card to next level.

Themed for the Year

People love relevancy, especially when it’s things they like. Nothing says I’m hip and with it like a pop culture reference that appeals to the masses. You might’ve loved ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ last year but everyone else saw ‘Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens’.

Ghostbusters Christmas Photo (2016) Photo Cred: Ghostbusters Detroit

Christmas Night of the Living Dead (2014… when The Walking Dead was still good.)

Played out like Fruitcake

Hipster glamour shots are so last decade. We’ve seen it, we get it, it’s all over Pinterest. Kudos if you do actually look and dress like that all the time and not in an ironic sense. Because if you’re still rocking roller bangs, braces and a shirt from junior high at age 30, that’s just you doing you girlfriend, so don’t let any fashion Grinch steal your thunder. 

In with the Old, In with the New

Forget the aforementioned hipster craze and your hipster phase. The best throwback is a true one. Find a family photo from 20 or 30 years ago and recreate it as best as possible. Instead of the letter update, the photo will do all the explaining itself. Your recipients will think, “I see John grew his first beard and kept it, Carol has had a few kids and dyed her hair, Steve has been working out way too much and Becky still has a drinking problem.”

If All Else Fails 

You’re never too old for Santa’s lap and the older you are the funnier it is!