I love Christmas cards. Each day I get a card from a loved one during the holidays, I can’t wait to open and hang it. I try to find a place to keep my cards displayed throughout the year. It makes me feel like those special people are near.

We’ve made it a tradition to get our family photo taken for Christmas. We use our family photo for our Christmas cards. Sending out cards can get expensive as our list of loved ones grows, so we’ve utilized a simple method that has saved us a little bit of money during the holiday season. After we get our photo taken, Calvin designs a 4x6 card in Illustrator - applying text and design elements for that year’s card. Then we use the new photo file with the design added and order prints through Snapfish. It’s a super inexpensive way to make your own cards and allows us to send more than we’d otherwise be able to. We started sending out Christmas cards in 2012 and I only wish I started before then.

| Credits: Author & Photography - Jacintha Payne |