Anyone send holiday cards with non-holiday pictures?

[veronica]

I ask because snapfish is having FS for today only and I have some cute pictues of the kids taking their first bath together from a few days ago. I could "try" to dress them in their holiday gear this afternoon and take pictures but am wondering if I should just put in the bath pictures.

Are holiday pics a must or can I use the bath ones? Just wondering on opinions. Are bath pictures too intimate (DD is 3 and DS is 16 months)?

I am a sucker for free shipping but it really seems like a good deal especially since some of their cards a pretty cheap too.

[missym]

We used a snapshot of the girls playing together last year, and it turned out great. HTH!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Cute is the main thing, imo. Holiday doesn't matter to me. I think it would actually be more special and fun to have a more candid shot from during the year on there.

Beth

[Melaine]

If it's cute and they are both looking at the camera, I say go for it! (with my twins my standards for photos are shockingly low) I just try to get them both to look, even better if they both look happy. I wouldn't hesitate to use a non-holiday themed picture.

[billysmommy]

I like using cute candid pics that show who they really are ~ not necessarily dressed up and posed :)

This year ours have a beach pic of the 2 of them, Benjamin eating a cupcake and Billy holding up the horseshoe crab he found (He wanted to choose his own pic this year :) )

[CiderLogan]

Absolutely fine! Sounds super cute! And the bath thing wouldn't bother me as long as it only showed their heads and shoulders....

[tnrnchick74]

I'm weird - I HATE the cutsey "Christmas" pictures! I want to be able to display the picture all year long!

So, I vote for a good picture of your kiddos, no matter what!

[amldaley]

In the last two years, I have had a few non-posed shots - May be a new trend? I have to say, I prefered them! It is like someone sharing a glimpse of their life with you and void of any pretention. It is more personal.

As for bath time being too intimate, I guess it depends how broad your Christmas card list is, how deep the bath water and bubbles are etc. Are you sending these to people you barely know or friends and family?

If you log in through www.igive.com, you still get the Snapfish FS deal plus they doubled their donations to 6.4% (I think) to the charity of your choice!

[egoldber]

We always use some sort of candid or other shot. One year we just used Sarah's school picture (pre Amy) because it was really cute and we were not otherwise motivated. :)

But we also never do the JCPenney/Picture People type photos because we are just not fans of the typical posed photo shoot.

[KBecks]

Last year our card had a photo of the boys sitting in a laundry basket from earlier in the year. People loved it. I did make it b/w. It was one of the only photos I had of them together and I decided to see what we had before attempting a photo.

This year I am considering an email letter with several pictures attached to nearly all our relatives and friends, at least all the ones I have emails for. I'll probably do a letter with some kind of photos for mail distribution too, but I'm liking the idea of doing an email / mail combo effort for savings and convenience. Haven't done it yet but I plan to write the letter and then goof around with setting up a draft email and seeing how I like it.

[LarsMal]

I like using cute candid pics that show who they really are ~ not necessarily dressed up and posed :)



I agree- candid pics that show personality are the best! The past two years we used non-holiday pics. This year I wanted to try to dress them up and see what happened. If you see my pics in the holiday card thread you'll see that we dressed them up, but getting them to sit and smile for the camera (together) was NOT happening. So, we used one that definitely captured who they are and put a "nice" pic of either of them on the side. I'm happy with our photos this year, but also like the ones we've sent out the past two years- not holiday related at all!

[neeleymartin]

my favorite card last year came from my friend. the three boys were at a pumpkin patch, surrounded by pumpkins. totally not xmas, sooooo cute.

n

[khm]

For the last three years - I've sent out cards that are a collage of various photos from the previous year.

People seem to like them, I get lots of positive comments that I never got when sending "Christmas-y" poses.

It basically started because I could NOT get one good pic of the two of them together, so I gave up and did a collage style. :)

[tarabenet]

For years now, my cousin has been using a family photo taken during that year's vacation, usually in the summer. Her kids are in HS and college now, and this is when she can get them all together. I guess it struck me a bit funny the very first time, but now I don't care: I just want to see my happy extended family! A picture that makes you smile will make your friends and family smile as well. Isn't that the whole point? Have fun!

[veronica]

You guys totally convinced me. I was thinking twice of DD with her wet hair but her Birthday is in early Dec. and everyone will likely get a "formal' pic of her then.

I just bought them. FYI-if you use code CARD08 at snapfish, you get your first 20 cards for $.01 each plus $5.99 shipping and handling and tax. It came to about $.32 cents per card for me. I did a set under my user name. One under DH's username and one under my mom's name so I ended up with 60 cards total. The best part was, I chose a different pattern each so I have a variety!

ETA: code expires this saturday , it was sent to me in an email.

[mamaoftwins]

If it's cute and they are both looking at the camera, I say go for it! (with my twins my standards for photos are shockingly low) I just try to get them both to look, even better if they both look happy. I wouldn't hesitate to use a non-holiday themed picture.

:yeahthat: Haha, same with us. :)

[MMMommy]

We make Shutterly holiday photo cards with regular pictures, without any holiday attire. I just pick out select pictures of the girls from the past year that are cute and use those. As for bath pictures, I think that would be fine as long as body parts are covered!

[new_mommy25]

I almost never use a holiday photo. :)

[DrSally]

I have always used a pumpkin patch photo.