5 Christmas Card Ideas Your Whole Family Will Love!

Giving and receiving Christmas cards is a fun holiday tradition. There’s nothing like opening the mailbox on a December afternoon to find cheery greetings from family and friends! And although we live in a time when social media keeps us in the day-to-day loop of each other’s lives, there’s still something magical about receiving a physical card. After all, the giver took the time to look up your address, seal and stamp the envelope, and send a tangible reminder of their affection!  

Yes, sending Christmas cards is a lovely thing to do in every way. But the “most wonderful time of the year” can also be just a little stressful! So why not get a head start? With some planning and creativity, it’s easy to pull your Christmas cards together well ahead of the holiday season and cross that sometimes-daunting task off your list—before that list is even made! Some of these ideas can easily scale to a Christmas list of hundreds, while others are a great way to keep kids occupied with Christmas activities.

1- Build-Your-Own Snowman: This Christmas card doubles as a super-cool DIY ornament for the receiver! Just get some card stock and send your loved ones a little craft kit. Kids will love building a snowman ornament to hang on the tree!

• Take a marker and give your snowman some eyes, mouth and buttons.
• Place the snowman pieces into the zip-lock bag and tape it behind the window.
• Write your personal message into the inside of the card along with an invitation to glue the snowman together to create a fun Christmas ornament.

2- Speaking of snowmen, this fun and festive idea changes the whole “face” of Christmas cards! With cardstock and some small family photos, you can easily create a sliding tab that changes the snowman’s face to the smiling photos of your family!

• First, download the pdf templates for this card and print the 8.5 x 11 card onto cardstock.
• Print copies of your family's faces around 1 inch tall (use a photo editor if you need to resize your pictures).
• Print the picture strip template onto cardstock. Then tape your family's pictures to the strip making sure you line up their eyes.
• Using a craft knife, cut a slit along the mark to the right of the snowman and cut out the circle in the snowman's face.
• Turn the card over and tape a 2 1/2 x 1/2 inch strip of cardstock to the inside of the card, lined up with the slit to act as a guide for the image strip.
• Slip the image strip face down under the guiding strip and through the slit.
• Add a holiday greeting.

3- Family News Cards: A hand-drawn card is a uniquely personal way to keep in touch, and don’t worry, great artistic skills aren’t necessary! Sketch or trace a simple scene with basic shapes or download our templates and use those!

Have each family member write a little note within the open spaces. This is a great card for a large list because at this point, all you have to do is make as many copies as you need and each recipient will get a personalized message from your family! Have fun with this and remember to add your own flair!

4- Use a Template: Thanks to a wide variety of online templates (and we've even included a template here), Christmas cards have never been easier. Simply choose a style you like and after downloading the template onto your computer, open it up in a program like photoshop. Then upload your photos, and add a quick greeting! Just a few clicks and your cards will soon be ready to print. You can even send the file to printers to get them printed on nice paper.

5- Family Christmas Pajamas: Okay, Okay, you could just do a normal family picture, and there is nothing wrong with that (other than being a bit boring). But why not add a bit of fun to your family pictures with fun Family Christmas Pajamas? Make a warm and fuzzy Christmas statement with a set of matching family pajamas (right down to the dog!) in cozy, coordinating styles. LazyOne has a wide variety of Family Christmas Pajamas to choose from!