How to make your holiday cards unique and modern
When it comes to holiday cards, I believe that design and style are important. For our family, we hang the cards from our dear friends and family on our bulletin board for the whole year. So when I think about a certain friend or family grouping, I automatically imagine their holiday card and picture the design they used to surround their photos.
So here are some of my own thoughts on how to make your Christmas and Holiday cards stand out in a unique and modern way…
Use Local Art as the backdrop
Beth Williams, one of my favorite lowcountry painters, can help you add to your own art collection and also use the art you purchase from her as a design for this year’s holiday cards! Here is an example of a two sided card with her art on one side and a family photo on the other…
Front of holiday card (original art in the background)
Back of card with a family photo in the background
I find this to be a really fun way to support a local artist while also adding to your art collection, buying art as a gift, or making sure no one else has your design on their Christmas card. ;) Ha!
For more information on Beth and choosing your own art and design, go to her website or email her at: beth@elizabethnorthcutwilliams.com. You can also find some fun snaps of her work on her Instagram page @bethwilliamsart
Photo Strip
What’s more classic and timeless than a photo strip?
This is the perfect option when you have kids and have so many photos that you love or there’s not one stand alone photo with everyone looking in the same direction.
We chose to design a photo strip card for our 2020 family Christmas card because hello, 9 month old and a 2 year old.
Highlight Individual People
This is a great option for families with kids or anyone interested in writing about the past year and highlighting everyone. Think about those letters you’d receive in the mail in the 1990’s with paragraphs about each family member and what he/she was up to. Yeah, so this is a modern, simplified and more beautiful version of that. Here are a couple of lovely versions that I’ve seen this last year:
Share a Family Motto or Word of the Year
This is something that my husband and I love adding to our Christmas cards throughout the year. We practice coming up with a new phrase or word every week in our home and love summarizing those themes at the end of the year. We also love looking ahead to the new year and thinking of the mindsets and principles we hope our family can live by. Adding a family motto or quote instead of a traditional saying is a unique way to not only stand out in the sea of holiday cards, but also invite others into a more personal look into you and your family’s world.
Embrace the Chaos
This is my new favorite trend that I started loving when holiday cards came out during the pandemic. I mean, why not just let the photo be what your family is on a normal day and then call it as it is?!
Let your kids be kids, laugh in your photos, and then find that perfect sassy text to go with it.
I promise you’ll get center stage on your friends’ refrigerators and bulletin boards.
Go Minimal
Let your photo be the main event with subtle writing or give a lot of space with a smaller photo and minimal writing.
Favorite Minimalistic Cards:
Send New Year’s Cards after the holidays
This became a favorite tradition of our family’s when life was so hectic and we couldn’t quite get cards out to our friends and family before the holidays. So, I love when we will get a family card in the mail in the middle of January or February! You can bet that your card will definitely get more attention and not automatically put into a pile.
Here are links to a couple of my favorite New Year’s cards:
Artifact Uprising’s version of modern new year cards