5 Tips for Taking Holiday Card Photos of Your Children

Thank you to Chooze Shoes for providing the Spark high top sneakers to add some edgy glam to my daughter's wardrobe. All opinions are my own.

I've been taking our own holiday card photos for as long as I can remember.  There was one year that we had photos of the whole family taken professionally, but my husband and I have always been the amateur photographers behind every holiday card photo of just our children.  I usually take individual portraits of each child and then some with all three together.  This usually works out great and I can always find a card layout with four spots for photos to complement the pictures we've chosen.

Since I've been taking photos of our three children for nearly a decade, I have learned some tips and tricks along the way.  Yes, taking photos of multiple children at once can closely resemble a game a whack-a-mole, but it can be done!


5 tips for taking holiday card photos of your children . . .

1.  Become familiar with your camera's settings.  You can take beautiful photos with a D-SLR or with your phone's camera.  All cameras having different settings to accommodate for low light and other conditions.  Experiment with them so you have an idea of which settings to use when it comes time to take portraits of your children.  It's likely your children will get antsy if they have to wait for you to play with your camera settings during a photo shoot.

2.  Dress your children comfortably.  Whatever you choose to dress your children in, make sure that they are comfortable.  Binding clothes, itchy tags, uncomfortable shoes, etc . . . all make the task of capturing a photo of a relaxed and happy child even more difficult.  I always opt for casual outfits.  The boys generally wear polo shirts or henleys.  My daughter's clothes can vary from a casual dress to a blazer paired with jeans to the comfy New England Patriots top she wore this year.  Regardless of what they wear, I try to color coordinate all three children's outfits.  Having all three wear jeans on the bottom is an easy way to do that.

To guarantee a smile on my daughter's face for the photos, I always give my daughter something special to wear, such as a hat or a pretty necklace.  This year, she was all smiles wearing her Spark high top sneakers from Chooze Shoes.  She owns a few pairs of mismatched shoes from this brand and loves them all.  Every pair she's owned has been super-comfortable and fun to wear!

3.  Choose a simple background.  Having to drive 10 miles to take photos does not sound like too much fun for kids.  You really don't need a fancy background.  We've taken beautiful photos of our children sitting on the front steps or huddled together in front of an evergreen tree.  I do recommend taking your photos outdoors for the best light, but having your children sitting on your stairs, on your sofa, or in front of your fireplace together will also work.  If you end up not loving the background in your photos, you can always blur the background with a photo editing program.  There are many free programs online.

4.  Get your children talking.  When taking individual portraits, getting your children talking will help them loosen up.  It also gets you some beautiful, natural smiles when they are telling you about something funny that happened in school last week (much better than the cheesy looking say-cheese smiles).  The tween (pictured below) is a tough nut to crack because he is starting to act like he's too cool for holiday photos.  Sometimes talking works with him, sometimes all I get is a mumble and a shrug, but all you can do is try . . .

5.  Promise your children a silly shoot afterwards.  This has worked amazingly well for us.  It is so difficult to get all three children to be smiling, not blinking, and looking at the camera at the same time.  Promising them a silly shoot (when you take photos of them dancing around, doing silly poses, and making goofy faces) in exchange for them holding it together long enough to get a good group photo really gets them to make an effort to give you that winning shot.

What tips do you have for taking great portraits of your children?  Share your tips with us on Facebook!

Support Independent Artists & Graphic Designers with Holiday Photo Cards from Minted.com

I received a promotional item as a thank you for taking the time to share Minted.com with 3G2S readers.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The time is upon us when holiday cards are beginning to be made and purchased. We send out cards nearly every year, so when I heard about Minted.com, I was excited to see what they had to offer. Minted is a unique site because they seek out independent artists and designers who have exceptional work and then showcase them on their site. Consumers can then purchase truly beautiful products that benefit the artists who made them by giving them a commission on their amazing work. In addition to selling holiday cards, they have various invitations, gifts, art prints, and more. Plus, Minted offers free printing of recipient addresses on their card envelopes, so it eliminates that hassle for their customers.

Minted has a very well-designed website with a great layout that is easy to navigate and browse through. There are literally hundreds of designs to choose from that will suit any taste. The available products are very clearly labeled and then you can narrow down choices according to what you’re looking for. They even have the ability to upload your desired photos and it will showcase them in the cards as you browse, which makes choosing even easier. For holiday cards, they have 3 options: flat, folded, and minibook cards. Once your card is chosen, you can customize the colors, shape of the card, which photos to include, and more, so you will have a card that is unlike any other and truly reflects your personal style. Upon browsing, I found many cards that I loved and narrowing down my choice to just one will be very difficult. I particularly fell in love with the minibook cards because it would eliminate my Holiday newsletter that always accompanies my cards.

If you are looking for something new and different to use for your holiday cards this year, have a look at Minted.com and see if you can find something you love.  The ones I've chosen to share are my favorite designs.  Which ones are yours?

You can follow Minted on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you are an independent artist, you can also visit their website to find out how your designs can be featured on Minted.com.

Find Out What's New at Tiny Prints in Photo Greeting Cards & Gifts for Holiday 2013!

Thank you to Tiny Prints for providing the gift code for our giveaway prize and for sending me one as well as a thank you for taking the time to share their new products and features with 3G2S readers.  All opinions expressed are my own.

This weekend (weather-permitting), we will be taking our children's portraits for our Holiday photo cards.  Over the past few years, it has become a tradition for our Holiday cards to feature one photo of each child alone plus a fourth photo of the three together.  Because of this, we are limited to cards that have a layout with 3 smaller rectangular or square photos and one larger landscape photo.  I usually only find 2 or 3 that I like, so I was surprised to find 7 or 8 Holiday cards at Tiny Prints with both a design and a 4-photo layout that I liked.  It was so easy to find what I needed using the filters on the sidebar to specify the number of photos, the format of the card, the size of the card, and much more.  After showing all the cards I found to my husband, we narrowed them down to the 5 pictured above.

Finding so many Holiday card options in the layout I wanted was not the only thing that surprised me while I was shopping.  I always knew that I had multiple options for color, format, and layout for most Tiny Prints cards, but this year I found that I could customize the trim for the edges and corners of the cards.  I am particularly partial to the rounded and the ticket corners.  The bracket and scalloped trim options are a little too ornate for me.

There are also new design styles for 2013 that will pretty much fit anyone's taste.  One of my favorites is the new All That Glitters cards.  These cards have the look of glitter without all the mess because the glitter is actually printed right on the cardstock.  Brilliant!

My husband and I were leaning towards the 7 x 5 Chevron Shine Flat Holiday Greeting Card.  We both liked the overall design and I loved the All That Glitters chevron background.  We still were not sure if it was the right card for us.  Then I clicked on the square format option and voila!  It's perfect!!

Now that the big decision has been made, we'll need to decide on the details . . . Should we go with the Pearl White Shimmer Paper?  Should we get the matching address labels too?  How about envelope liners?  Should we get the modified rectangular envelopes to save on the extra postage charged for mailing square envelopes?  Yes, there are a lot of decisions to be made, but I am thankful to have all these options to make our Holiday cards just perfect for our family.

To view all 708 Holiday greeting cards available from Tiny Prints for Holiday 2013, visit TinyPrints.com.  While you're there, be sure to checkout their photo gifts.  This year, in addition to photo books, photo iPhone cases, mugs, calendars, etc . . . , you will find new photo iPad cases and photo ornaments.  For a limited time, you can get Free Standard Shipping on all orders when you checkout with Tiny Prints promo code FS13.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random number drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Silly Monkey Stories: Unplanned Christmas Traditions

Since we started our family, my husband and I have tried to create fun Holiday traditions for our children.  Special memories are something we want our children to have plenty of.  Some of our traditions are leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, plus baby carrots and water for the reindeer.  We also have a magic key we hang outside our door, so that Santa can get in the house since we don't have a chimney.  On every Christmas we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast after the children have opened their gifts from Santa, but before they open any of their other gifts.  On Christmas Eve, my husband reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to the children for their bedtime story.

Not all traditions can be planned though.  For example, our youngest son always eats too much at Christmas dinner and throws up during the car ride home.  We definitely did not plan that one!

Do you have any unplanned Holiday traditions?

Happy Holidays from our home to yours!

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

The Die-Cut Holiday Photo Greeting Cards I Designed for 2012 (plus a 50% Off Promo Code)

For Holiday 2012, I tried ordering my Holiday photo greeting cards from a different company . . . Paper Coterie.  This company sent me a gift code to partially cover the cost of my order if I was willing to give their greeting cards a try, so I thought it would not hurt to hop over to their website to see what they had to offer.  What I found was a large variety of very unique, modern, yet down-to-earth cards.  I was especially drawn to the cards that had sleeves that slipped over the cards because they added an extra touch of elegance to the presentation.  My husband and I could not agree on a design with a jacket, so we ended up choosing the scalloped "Happy Holidays" Shaped Card, which is a double-sided 5"x7" flat card.  This card is printed on premium 100% recycled fiber paper, which adds to its charm.

All the Paper Coterie cards have a pre-made layout, but are very customizable.  Our card started out with a photo that filled the whole top half of the front (brown side) and a place for 4 photos in quadrants on the back (green side).  I basically changed everything on this card except for the "Happy Holidays" on the front and the background colors of the front and back.  If you like a card's layout the way it is, all you need to do is upload your photo(s), drag and drop them into the photo areas, and change the greeting or signature to represent your household.

If you are in the market for unique Holiday greeting cards this year, checkout the selection at www.PaperCoterie.com.  For a limited time, you can receive 50% off your Holiday card order when you checkout using Code:  HOLIDAYCARDS2012.


Although the Paper Coterie sent me a gift code to partially cover the cost of my order, all opinions expressed here are my own.

Gallery Collection Holiday Cards

For many families, sending out holiday cards is a long-time tradition.  Unfortunately, for some who grow too busy or are just too tired to be motivated to write out cards to everyone on their list, this tradition comes to an end.  I fall into the busy category.  I have been ordering holiday cards with pre-printed personalized greetings and pre-printed return addresses on the envelopes for years and they are solely responsible for keeping our holiday card tradition going.  My parents fall into the unmotivated category.  They have never tried using personalized cards, so I had these cards made for them this year to show them how much easier sending out Christmas cards can be.  All they will really have to do is address the envelopes, seal them, and put stamps on them.

My mother chose the card she liked best out of all the 360 personalized Christmas cards available from The Gallery Collection.  With so many to choose from, this was no easy task, but she finally settled on the Penguins On Ice holiday card.  The next step was to choose from a long list of greetings to have printed inside.  She wanted something that mentioned Christmas and New Years, so that helped to narrow the choices down a little.  Then she need to decide on how to sign the card and ended up going with something simple.  She even remembered to include the dog's name since he is as much a member of the family as anyone else.  She was also able to choose in which color the inside greeting and the return address on the envelopes should be printed.

The quality of The Gallery Collection holiday cards is impressive.  The charming penguin graphic is raised on the card.  Plus the foil lining and torn edges on the envelopes make a great first impression before the recipient even reads the card.

To view their full selection of holiday greeting cards, visit GalleryCollection.com.

Thank you to The Gallery Collection for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive their choice of one of the following sets of 30 boxed greeting cards (ARV $55) . . . 

• Holiday Card Assortment
• Birthday Card Assortment
• All Occasion Card Assortment

Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of Christmas cards offered by The Gallery Collection. Then leave a comment telling me the name of the card design that you like the best. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1)  For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)  For 3 extra entries, follow me on StumbleUpon. Then come back here and leave THREE separate comments with the link to your StumbleUpon profile.

3)  For 1 extra entry, "Like" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here with the link to your Facebook profile.

4)  For 1 extra entry each, follow The Gallery Collection on Twitter and/or "Like" The Gallery Collection on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment for each with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile.


5)  Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

6)  Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

7)  Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

8)  Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, November 7th, 2011 at 10:00pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Holiday 2011: Taking Holiday Portraits at Home

With the exception of one year, our family has always taken our holiday photo card portraits at home.  In fact, I am already thinking about this because we usually do this at the end of October so that we have our cards back in plenty of time to mail out after Thanksgiving.  When it was just our oldest son, we would simply put the tree up early, have him stand in front of it in a cute hat or holding a holiday plush toy and the results were always adorable.  When our twins were added into the mix, the whole portrait-taking experience began to be more stressful for me.  Suddenly, I was worried about matching outfits, poses, a suitable background, and don't get me started on getting all 3 children to smile and look at the camera simultaneously.

Last year, after 6 years of holiday portraits, I finally perfected my portrait-taking technique.  I took photos of each child individually first.  This helped them to warm up to the camera before the group shot.  Then when it came time for the group photo, I skipped trying to have a fancy backdrop and formal poses.  Instead, I asked our 3 children to huddle together with their arms around each other's shoulders on the sofa.  With the frame filled with the 3 children from the waste up, I did not have to worry about the background.  I also only had to coordinate their tops rather than whole outfits.  By allowing the children to be their silly selves, I ended up with some great photos!

Last year's holiday card layout had a place for the group shot and 3 smaller individual portraits.  This year, I am leaning towards the Little Berry Bunches holiday card in Rich Red by Tiny Prints.  I like this one because, once again there is a spot for a group photo and 3 individual photos, but there is an extra spot for a photo of my husband and myself.  We have only ever made an appearance on our Christmas photo cards once.  I think it's time we did again.  Now, I just have to break the news to my husband . . .


Tiny Prints provided holiday photo cards to my family as a thank you for taking the time to participate in this campaign.

Holiday 2010 Giveaway: $40 to Spend at Hallmark.com [CLOSED]

Every time a holiday rolls around, the name Hallmark is in the air, especially around my favorite holiday in December. Hallmark has grown far beyond the basic greeting card both in-store and online. Let me highlight some of my favorite Hallmark products for Holiday 2010 for you . . .

We have all heard of the Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. There is such a wide variety offered every year. My favorite types of ornaments to give are the dated picture frames. I love dated ornaments period, just because they will remind the recipient of a particular Christmas with one's family. I like using the picture frame ornaments as gift topper gift tags. All I need to do is insert a piece of paper with the "To" and the "From" right into the frame.

Next, I want to show you the Hallmark holiday photo cards I will be sending out this year. For the first time ever, I did not opt for a single photo layout. I took these photos of our children myself, so I made a point of taking some individual portraits as well. This Merry Christmas 4 Frames card suited my needs perfectly. I was able to add our family name beneath the "Merry Christmas." I was also able to choose from a long list of greetings for the back, as well as customize the signature to include all the members of our family. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to have received my cards within a few business days of placing my order.

For times when I want to give a holiday card to an acquaintance or someone with whom I have a business relationship, I often opt not to send a photo card of my family. It just seems too personal. For these occasions, I always buy one box of holiday greeting cards. There is something about foil or glitter accents on a card that always call out to me. I guess they best capture the mood of the season for me.

Something that is extremely popular this holiday is the line of Hallmark Recordable Storybooks. If you know someone who is in the armed forces or is a parent who cannot be with their children on Christmas Eve this year, the recordable "The Night Before Christmas" would be such an ideal gift to give. The parent could record themselves reading the story ahead of time. Then his or her children would be able to listen to the story on Christmas Eve at bedtime. This would also be wonderful for a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or even an older sibling to send a child whom they will not be able to be with during the holidays.

Every year on Christmas Eve before bed, my husband reads "The Night Before Christmas" to our three children. This year, he will read this version of the book and then allow the children to look through and listen to him retelling the story in the recording. There is even a place for us to personalize the book inside.

(Click any image to enlarge)

As you may have guessed, I have barely scratched the surface of the vast assortment of holiday products offered by Hallmark. To learn more, visit your local Hallmark store or pop onto Hallmark.com to see what Hallmark has to offer both online and in stores. If you are planning to order cards online, you can save 30% off your card order when you use Code: BLOGHER30 at checkout. This offer expires on December 31st, 2010 and cannot be combined with other promotional codes.

Thank you to Hallmark for sending us complimentary sample products to base this review upon, for giving us a gift code to use towards a holiday card order for this review, and for providing a second gift code for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a $40 gift code to spend at Hallmark.com (Code expires 12/31/10).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of Hallmark holiday cards. Then leave a comment telling me the name of the card that appeals to you the most. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, join the Hallmark Crown Rewards Program. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry each, follow Hallmark PR on Twitter and/or "Like" Hallmark on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment for each with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

<br /> <a href="http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/Busymonkeez/Graphics4Me/NEWBlogButton125x125.jpg" /></a><br /><br />

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, December 13th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Holiday 2010 Giveaway: Personalized Holiday Cards & More [CLOSED]

Every year we order holiday photo cards to send out to our friends and family. We just think they are more personal. Because they are more personal, we do not feel comfortable sending them to business and casual acquaintances. That is why we always purchase additional Christmas cards that are elegant and slightly more formal. This year we found the perfect cards from The Gallery Collection.

The Seasons Greetings Shimmering Tree Card had the elegance we were looking for. Like some of the other holiday cards available on GalleryCollection.com, this design is offered with either "Seasons Greetings" or "Merry Christmas" on the front. The inside of the card houses a greeting we selected from a long list of possibilities. Beneath the greeting is a personalized signature we composed to represent our family.

We were able to have the envelopes foil embossed with our return address, which looks much nicer than address labels. Our envelopes also are lined with foil, have a torn edge, and are self-sealing.

To view all The Gallery Collection's holiday cards and other products, such as all-occasion cards, birthday cards, gift bag ensembles and more, visit GalleryCollection.com . Also, remember to stop by the 50% off sale holiday cards section.

Thank you to The Gallery Collection for sending us a complimentary product sample to base this review upon and for providing additional product for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive their choice of one Gift Bag Ensemble (ARV $29 to $40).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of holiday cards offered by The Gallery Collection. Then leave a comment telling me the name of one card design you especially like (aside from the one reviewed in this article). You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, request a catalog from The Gallery Collection. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry, "Like" The Gallery Collection on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

<br /> <a href="http://www.3garnets2sapphires.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd206/Busymonkeez/Graphics4Me/NEWBlogButton125x125.jpg" /></a><br /><br />

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!