An hour and not too many tears later everyone was dressed, brushed, and scrubbed. We headed outside armed with two white sheets, a step stool, and a camera. I draped one sheet across our deck railing and laid the other on the deck floor. With the stool in the middle, we started arranging children.
Every picture was adorable and since I was taking them myself, I didn't have to pay an outrageous fee or pick out my favorites. I could keep them all...for free!
Here are a couple of our favorites...
.jpg)
.jpg)
The sunny day made for great lighting which was really what made the pictures turn out so good. My photo editing software was also helpful when it came to cropping and erasing the shadows from the deck rails that shown through in some of the pictures. My favorite editing software is Memory Manager from Creative Memories. I used to be a CM Consultant and the investment in that software has been well worth it.
Also well worth the investment, is the digital scrapbooking software they offer, Storybook Plus. This is what I used to create my Christmas cards. I googled 'free digital scrapbooking' and found that there are many sites that have digital scrapbooking programs that can be downloaded for free. I can't vouch for any of them, so you'll have to do your own research if you're wanting to try them out.
The key is that when you create your card you need to make sure that you choose a 'custom size' of 4 by 6 inches. Design your Christmas card however you like using your digital scrapbooking program.
Here's how ours turned out...
The reason you want your card to be in a 4x6 size is because you can now order your cards as 4x6 prints. I usually order from walgreens.com because they often run deals for 10 cent 4x6 prints. Also, I can usually pick them up in an hour or less from my local walgreens store. I bought 50 Christmas cards for $5.
By the way, if I ordered the customized photo cards from walgreens I would have had to pay $12.99 for 20 cards. The only difference is that mine are a different size.
I've used my digital scrapbook program to make birth announcements, birthday invitations, and thank you cards as well. My program is really easy to use and it usually takes less than 15 minutes to create a card.
Pin It Now!
That is a great idea! Your card turned out really nice.
ReplyDeleteI love it!
ReplyDeleteWe just paid a friend for Christmas pics and they are SO overly staged....we joke about them being 'Olan Mills' style!
But I LOVE our candids So much more!
So I'll take your advice for next year :D
What a beautiful family you have, Shanna! And your cards turned out so nice. You are very clever. I never thought of doing it this way. I'm pleased with the ones I ordered this year and even found a 50% off coupon code online, so that was good!
ReplyDeleteYour pics look great, and I love the scrapbook/card you created. We took our own family photos a few weeks ago, and I used Photoshop Elements to add some wintery backgrounds. I love how they turned out! - now I need to hurry up and order prints.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! We did our own this year too, but are only printing about a dozen or so on cardstock. I liked the idea of getting a nice glossy 4x6.
ReplyDeleteYours turned out so cute!
Okay, I know, I already commented once, but I wanted to come back to say I loved your idea so much that this is how we are going to do our birth announcements next month! My mom and I spent some time together designing last night (so fun!). All we'll have to do is plug in the correct stats and a picture of that handsome newborn, and we're ready to go!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great idea. :)
Hey! To answer your question, we actually used photoshop elements. I'm not sure how that is different from a scrapbooking program - it's all I've ever used for that sort of thing.
ReplyDelete