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DIY Christmas Card Photo Ideas

Here she be, all ye merrymakers of the world: our 2012 family Christmas card.

Xmas Card Final

Obviously it’s a play on the tradition of leaving some milk and cookies out for Santa, with a nice dose of the reality that unattended food at our house doesn’t stay unattended for very long. By some miracle we were able to get this shot without having to Photoshop the two of them together. Usually Clara is all up Burger’s grill – meaning that Burger bolts before the first shot is snapped. But apparently they play well together when there are treats to be had.

Xmas Card Outtake 1

These are just some outtakes from our little photo session, which we actually didn’t start until after Clara’s bedtime. Again, another Christmas miracle was at work here. She not only was an angel for the shoot (probably because she had a plate full of cookies) but despite the post-8pm sugar rush, she thankfully slept just as well as usual.

Xmas Card Outtake 2

Clara loved the fact that Burger was so interested in the milk (“More cookies for me!”) that she constantly tried to invite him to drink more of it.

Xmas Card Outtake 3

But eventually Burger became more interested in the other snack, which meant we had to pull the plug on the set-up (no chocolate for dogs!).

Xmas Card Outtake 4

But despite the abrupt end, we’re still psyched about the result. Especially since this design at TinyPrints made it even more festive. Yup, we splurged a bit this year (over our usual CVS or Target printing) and went for a heaftier cardstock printing through TinyPrints. But thanks to a free shipping promotion they were running and a coupon code we looked up (thanks Google), we were able to save $30 on our order.

Xmas Card Final

Speaking of past years, here’s a quick recap for ya: Here’s last year’s card:

2011 Petersik Holiday Card

And the one from 2010 (where we actually photoshopped that bow on Clara’s head to help long distance relatives remember the she’s a she).

Xmas Card Final

And lastly our card from 2009, while we were still awaiting Clara’s arrival the following May…

Christmas Card

And with that, we’re off to spend the rest of Christmas Day with our family. We hope you guys are all having a wonderful holiday and and are enjoying some great food, fun, family time, rest, or whatever else makes this the most wonderful time of the year. And thanks for reading our blog. We’re thankful for you.

Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15! 

Comments

  3. suzanne says

    Absolutely adorable!! Merry Christmas!
    Can’t wait to do kick back over the holiday to do some relaxing and reading of your book I’ve had for a month or so!

    Reply

  6. Mary @ Ms Redo says

    Great card, love the Clara and Burger gig with the cookies and milk :) I made a lot of fudge for Christmas, left it overnight on the kitchen counter. Our boy, Casper, jumped up and yanked the plastic bag down and ate some of it. It didn’t hurt him a bit (he’s a 90-pounder) but ruined 3 pans worth of fudge. In the final analysis I was glad, because I would have eaten way too much if it had stayed around another day! Love you guys, Merry Christmas, Mary

    Reply

  8. Hannah says

    Merry Christmas, this card is great I am in love! I am pretty sure Clara is around the same age as my little one (maybe a few months younger) and if my little one is anything to go buy you guys would have had a GREAT Christmas this year, we did!

    Totally random, but…are you ever concerned about Clara sucking her thumb? Eden is a thumb sucker also, it never worried me as a baby (probably because I think this contributed to her great sleeping habits!) but I do sometimes wonder if she will ever stop! My only real concern is it pushing her teeth out. Just wondered what your thoughts on it were!

    Reply

  10. Jami Denton says

    That is the cutest picture I have ever seen. I LOVE the thumb in Clara’s mouth. So precious. Merry Christmas from The Dentons.

    Reply

  12. Aoife says

    Merry Christmas John, Sherry, Burger and Clara! The card is just so cute! Just to let you know though our dog was sick recently and when we googled home remedies we discovered milk has a laxative effect on dogs. Hopefully Burger didn’t experience that particular side effect but the photo still looks very cute. Happy holidays x

    Reply

  14. Meg says

    I felt like I got to hang out with you this Christmas! I got your book and spent the following hour reading through it. I LOVE it! Merry Christmas to all of you!

    Reply

  15. Cheryl says

    Merry Christmas.

    I must share a story concerning our 4 lb teacup chihuahua. We adopted Joey when he was 4 years old. We only had him about a month before Christmas, so we were rookies when it comes to dogs. I had put Hershey kisses in my husband and daughter’s stockings. We opened gifts and left later Christmas day for festivities elsewhere. When we returned, we found about four Hershey kisses wrappers on the floor. A stocking had been left on the floor and Joey helped himself to a Christmas treat. Four kisses is a lot of chocolate for a 4lb little Joey, thankfully he didn’t get sick. Even though he is a hearty little fellow, he still isn’t allowed to have chocolate.

    Blessings on the New Year!

    Reply

  17. Emily P says

    I’ve been a huge fan of your blog and crafty ways for some time now! It was such a treat to open my first Christmas present and see your book staring back at me! I’m so excited to begin reading and learning new ways to spruce up my first home! (And the book is a great addition to my coffee table!!)

    Reply

  21. Gina says

    Merry Christmas!! Love the card! So excited…I got your book for Christmas. Hope to get it signed when you come to Charlotte in February. Is there a date set yet?

    Reply

  26. Susannah says

    Hi John and Sherry (and Clara and Burger of course),

    I just wanted to let you guys know how much I love the blog! My older sister Amelia, who actually introduced me to YHL, got me your book for Christmas and when I opened it, I’m a super embarrassed to say this but, I cried. I was so happy. It was a signed copy too, which made me even more over whelmed. Gosh I sound like a Backstreet Boys fan from the 90s! Basically I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you guys and your positivity! Happy holidays to all of you!

    P.S. Amelia is going to your Palo Alto book signing and she is really excited! I’ll be back in school by then, but I can’t wait to hear about it and read about the rest of your tour. Good luck!

    Reply

  27. Erin says

    EEEeee! Today I got to unwrap a certain present under the tree that I’ve been impatiently waiting FOREVER for! Your book of course! It’s been torture seeing little snippets here on the blog and knowing that the amazon box has been around the house teasing me too! Best. Christmas. Ever! Hope your day was as happy and squeal-inducing as mine!

    Reply

  29. Amber says

    So happy I got your book for Christmas! Hubby made a fake one for under the tree I case it didn’t get in on time. Book came to our door on the 24th and I unwrapped it Christmas morning! Happy happy joy joy. My sis in law browsed through and said she is jealous me, hehe. Her birthday is in February so I guess I will be ordering one right about now.

    Reply

  32. Gillian says

    Hi John and Sherry, My awesome hubby got my hints and bought me your book for Christmas and even ordered it with plenty of time for it to reach here in time (I’m in Australia). I love it!! Thank you and Merry Christmas to you all x

    Reply

  33. Linda Adams says

    The cards are great! I’m so glad you showed the progression. These are memories in the making. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

    Reply

  37. Lindsay says

    Merry Christmas! Love how it turned out. (and if Burger ate a cookie he would be ok, it’s solid chocolate that’s really bad for dogs so having a tiny bit on accident won’t hurt).

    Reply

    • Kim Wethe Rily says

      While it’s best not to chance it, I will say that Peaches, our 13lb poodle — (John used to dogsit her) — once ate a pound of chocolate — it was sitting by the door in a box as a Valentine’s day care package, and lived. She got really sick, but it did not kill her. (Our white carpeting on the other hand???)

  38. ruben says

    Hi J,S,C & B

    Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas!!
    The Card is awesome, very very creative!
    We tried out hand at photoshop this year….not my best work :)
    anyway, I just wanted to wish you guys a very Merry late Christmas and a wonderful New Year filled with great new adventures and maybe an Iphone App. ;)I can see it now
    “YHL…because it’s awesome” get it? Y HL … because it’s awesome :) ..sorry about that it is not Open Mic Thursday yet at the comedy club :)

    p.s. I was not lucky this Christmas regarding your book. They are all out at our store in this little town in the middle of Wisconsin
    I guess UPS is scared of driving through the snow ;)

    Reply

  39. Tanya says

    Merry Christmas! I hope you all get time to really kick back and enjoy your friends and family this feastive season.

    It must be kind of surreal that this time last year you were facing a book deadline and this year you are best selling authors! I’m looking forward to seeing what this year holds for you.

    Love the card!

    Reply

  40. Karen says

    This is my favorite of your cards! I looked at it yesterday before I read the post and my first thought was “That looks a lot like our card!” Today I read the post and saw that you got your cards from the same site that we did, so I guess I was right! I hope your big family Christmas was a huge success and I’m so glad that Clara liked her eggs! Did she notice that Santa gave her the same cart that she had helped push out of the thrift store?

    Reply

  41. Michelle says

    Super Cute! Your book found its way under my tree yesterday also! My hubby and I can’t wait to turn our New-To-Us house into a home. Thanks for all of the inspiration! Merry Christmas!

    Reply

  46. Adrienne Myers says

    Merry Christmas Friends (in a bloggy, you don’t know me kind of way, but I feel like we are friends)…one of my most favorite gifts this year was a copy of your book! I was so happy my sister could score me one, she said it was the last one on the shelf. Thanks for inspiring me and for making me smile every day. I hope you had an amazing 2013!

    Reply

  47. Kheuamalai.Cathi says

    Hi Petersilks!

    This has nothing to do with your post, but I thought I would share this article with you since you two are absolutely my favorite bloggers. I work in the online legal marketing business and think some of the tips here will help to give your blog more visibility. Specifically, I highly recommend linking the byline of your blog posts to your own Google author profile.

    http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2012/12/19/the-future-of-search-seo-trends-for-2013.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter

    Happy reading!
    ~KC

    Reply

  49. Raeann says

    So fun! This year’s is my favorite yet :) And I LOVE your fonts! I wonder if you’d ever be interested in doing a little post on your favorite design elements or font choices? I’m a rookie #typegeek

    Reply

  50. Anne says

    Merry Christmas! I’ve quietly read your blog for a couple years and have enjoyed following your adventures. Santa was good to me by bringing both a West Elm store to Indy and your book for Christmas! Looking forward to this snowed in day of reading and crafting. Thanks for your inspiration!

    Reply

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