DIY Photo Collage Cards: An Illustrative Way to Say Happy Holidays

Who doesn't enjoy photographic greeting cards? Most folks have family members and friends in faraway locations. What a treat it can be to find current photos in your mailbox during the holiday season!

Many families find it challenging to obtain a single group photo that is pleasing to all participants. Not only that, but professionally printed photographic cards can be prohibitively expensive for many families, particularly during the holiday season.

Why not circumvent this challenge altogether? You can create a collage of favorite photos from the year.

Personally, I like to make my cards during the Thanksgiving weekend, when the televisions in our house are tuned to football. By doing so, I am usually able to postmark our holiday greetings on December 1^st.

As a result, I am free to focus on decorating and preparing for the holidays, instead of fretting over getting those cards out!

First, gather your materials:

Card stock (100# works well)
Greeting card envelopes (5 ¾" x 8 ¾")
Personal computer
Holiday clip-art
(This is available free online - see links provided, to get you started.)
Digital or scanned family photos
Address labels
(You can also make these yourself on your computer.)
Postage stamps

Here are the simple instructions:

Select fun and festive graphics or clip-art for the front cover of your card.

Write a greeting (or pick a suitable Scripture passage or poem) for the inside.

Inside the card, you can create a collage of family photos from the past year. Digital photos are simplest, but scanners work well, or pictures can be digitized at most photo shops.

On the back, you can list your current address, phone and e-mail.

Save, and print. Fold, and address. Stamp, and mail.

Voila! That's it!

Instead of composing a Christmas letter, I simply let the photos tell the story of our past year. Our family, friends, colleagues, classmates, and other contacts can view photos of our major family events, such as weddings, new babies or pets, graduations, family trips, new homes, and more.

Every year, when I open the holiday cards we receive, I am tickled pink (red and green?) to read notes about our collage cards. In fact, several friends have copied the idea.

As a bonus, because I have included an email address on the back of our cards, I have enjoyed renewed communications (electronically) with several far-flung friends.

What a wonderful way to keep in touch, especially during the holiday season!