holiday cards and more

Hey there! Welcome to the kick off party for Holiday Cards & More! I know it's still September, but I've already booked our annual family portrait and have all sorts of ideas going on for holiday decor. How about you?

Today the Go-to Gals are helping promote the "holiday photo" section in this special issue.

Isn't it purty? I love that they have shot the issue in a home setting - so inspiring!

So, there is a great section on photo cards right at the front of Holiday Cards & More with a ton of cute ideas. But, what about a few other ideas on what to do with those photos? That's what today's blog hop is all about.

I "borrowed" an adorable vintage photo from my sweet friend Gloria. It features her husband's family posed with the jolly old elf.

I used the photo as part of my gift wrap. I'm a sucker for "brown paper packages tied up with string", so that's exactly what I did. Then, I layered the photo with an old Christmas envelope, added a tag and a ribbon clip. Done. It's a fun way to decorate your packages. Wouldn't it be great to use old photos of your gift recipient? Swoon.

So, dying to get a peek at this special issue? Leave me a comment about your favorite family holiday photo and I will enter you to win a FREE copy!

And...don't forget to check out all the Go-to Gals today. I can't wait to see what they do with their photos.

Teri Anderson

Julie Campbell

Me (!)

Jennifer McGuire

Windy Robinson

Betsy Veldman

Everyone is giving you a chance to win. Yay! (Want even more inspiration? Check out Paper Craft Connection all this week - lots of eye candy and lots of chances to win a free issue).

Later.

Comments

[Billie A]

How cute I love the idea. Even a borrowed photo is awesome. I love the kraft and the way you put the elements together.

[Perrie Sanders]

Honestly....have not done a traditional "family Christmas photo" session...have done the KODAK moment with the brother in law as "Santa" and the older kids flocked around him....just like when the magic was there years ago!!! Good times! Thanks for the chance to win!!!!

[Lucy]

Great idea. I'm a sucker for kraft anything! The picture that always comes to mind is one of my siblings (the first 5 of 7 of us) when we were ranging in age from about 2-9, all sitting around a little table and chairs we'd gotten for Christmas. Dad was big on making us fold our arms to keep us still, so we all had our arms folded, looking so pleased with our new table and chairs that were "just our size," as he also used to say.

[pamela (spookiee)]

Lovely way to integrate the photo card and the packaging all together!

[Natalie Winterstein]

Cute! Love the vintage photo idea - very cool. Thanks for the chance to win.

[Tricia]

I come from a family of 10 children, so my favorite photos are from holidays where we're all dressed up - Easter, Christmas, Halloween! So much fun to see everyone together in the photo!

[Annette Allen]

wow this is amazing...totally love it..

[Linda C]

What a great looking "retro" idea!

[Heather Maria]

Kim, this is such a brilliant way to package a gift! I have a fondness for brown paper packages too and love the way you've layer the cute vintage photo with the old Christmas envelope! One of my favourite Christmas photos is from when my two guys were quite small and were setting out treats for Santa beside the Christmas tree, they look ready to burst with excitement!

[Susan]

Very cute! We just took a new family photo last night, with all of us lined up on the stairs. So that's my current favorite. :)

[kazan]

Love this! Great way to reignite old Holiday memories. Thanks for the inspiration :)

[B Vincent]

What a great idea! I love vintage photos. You've totally inspired me to try this on a few packages this season! Thanks

[Geri G]

Sweet package idea! My favorite Christmas photo was the last one I took with my mom and dad and our two children, together on Christmas morning! Oh, to have that time back again!

[Holly]

I love the simplicity of brown paper packages tied up with string, but I like them fancied up a little like this! Thanks, Kim!

[Lisa Norstrom]

Cute idea - I love vintage wrap also and might play around with some of my color photos of my nieces and print them in black and white to make them look older. Thanks for the great idea.

[Cheryl elster]

This would be great for my husband's parents who are in their 80's and love to reminisce. Great to do with my teen daughter for them. I, too, love "brown paper packages"--used it exclusively with pretty ribbon & handmade tags last year.

[Ruth G]

OK, so I'm weird, but my favorite holiday family photo was when my son was young, he'd had a very full Christmas day and then grandma makes us all stand in front of the hot fireplace for a family picture. There's a progression of my son on grandma's lap looking very upset, then squirming out of my hubby's arms and then everyone cracking up because it just was not going to be an ideal picture in any way shape or form! I love having a record of the reality of our lives and I believe those pictures have quite a story to tell!

[Lynne]

Since my family never did the holiday photo I have come to treasure the family photos that I've gotten from friends over the years. Its so amazing to see children grow up from year to year.
Your tag is a wonderful way to hopefully get me organized enough to get pics of my family to make tags for them. Love the idea.

[Dawn Donato]

My favorite family photo is where my siblings and I are in our Easter finery. It's hilarious to go back at look at our hair and what we thought was fashionable.

[Deirdre]

We never did a holiday photo when I was growing up. Now I have my own family and lived in the States for a number of years I really look forward to receiving all the annual shots from our friends. Great to see the kids grow up each year. My boys always manage to make up goofy faces for our annual photo! Boys will be boys!

Thanks for the chance to win.

[cindy]

If I don't win, I just may have to buy this issue! Lots of inspiration in here:)))

[MaryLouH]

I have a family photo of all of the family - including an ex-daughter-in-law. She became ex after the picture was taken. But I treasure it as everybody looks so happy.

[Jingle]

I love this!!!! I can't wait to get this issue!

[Linda K]

I love the idea of using old photos! I'm thinking my fave holiday photo is one of my mom with Pere Noel in France when she was about 16 yrs old. PS- I did use that photo for my Christmas cards one year :)I can't wait to have this issue for more inspiring ideas!

[Nancee]

My fav photos are the ones from when we were kids in front of the tree all dressed up for the occasion.

[Corrine Ann]

What a cute idea! One of my favorite vintage photos is a picture of my Mom, Dad, my sister and I taken in 1945. My sister was one year old and I was almost nine, my birthday being two days after Christmas. Hmmm...I might have to do something special with this picture this year. I keep it on a small bulletin board in my craft room.

[tape]

We've got this one pic from the 80s where everyone's wearing their best clothes, my parents and I are smiling and my little brother looks absolutely shocked! :O

[Lillian Child]

Really great idea, and will be incorporating your brown paper packages tied up in string idea for the upcoming holiday season. LOVE the look!

[Dana W]

Cute package!!

[Phyllis Strickland]

My favorite photos are the photo Christmas cards I receive each year! It is fun to see how the children have grown since the year before. Most of the ones I receive are very creative and some are even part of a hand stamped card.

[Angie Hall]

One of my favorites ia a black and white one of my brothers and I visiting Santa.We make shots of each family when we have our Christmas gathering. It's fun to compare how we've changed over the years.Thanks

[Sue D]

Awesome way to gift wrap! I like the B&W family photos of my family opening up presents around the Christmas tree.

[Tracey McNeely]

Kim this is such a great photo gift wrap, the black and white perfects it.

[sue]

I love the card/brown paper package combo. Perfect!

One of my favorite holiday photos is an old black and white of 2 of my sisters and me, dressed alike in our holiday dresses (Mom was big on that when we were little)!

[Agata]

Our family is not very often together so when there's a chance, we always take one. We had our last session beginning of July. Love that pic! The one you used on your project is so cute! Love the vintage feeling to it!

[Susan]

Awww ... what a wonderful idea. Love this vintage photo with old envelope and the "brown paper package tied up with string"! Can't think of a particular Christmas photo, but remember my dad taking 8mm home movies of us on Christmas morning with that huge bar of brilliant lights! (Guess I'm showing my age!)

[Lynda Marquez]

Love that pic! My favorite photo was when my kids were little and I dressed them in red velvet and took their pic with Santa Claus!

[Pat C]

What a krafty idea! :) My favorite photo was where we all lied on the floor with our bare feet up in the air next to our tree...really relaxed look but so cute!

[Mary Bee]

Love the vintage aspect. Our favorite photo is one of my husband myself and our two daughters. We had a neighbor come over to take it as we posed in our living room. We girls were wearing red and my husband had a beard! This was about 27 years ago--the girls were 1yr and 5 yrs old. We had it printed to a card--just love it. Thanks for chance to win,Kim.

[Kailash]

Great idea. Thanks for sharing!!!

[Nina Yang]

Love this!

[Noreen]

I like the photo on the package, and I love brown paper packages, too!

[Laurie Takens]

Favorite family photo - my son had just gotten married and we had a friend come over to snap some pics for the Christmas card photo. The friend kept snapping pics and we all started to get slap happy...little did we know when we looked at all of the pics that were taken - there was one where the whole family is laughing and acting goofy and our new in-law has this pasted smile on her face with a pained look as if to say "what kind of family did I get myself into??!!" Hilarious pic!!

[Sheri K]

Very cute! My fav family photo is one we did a few years ago while visiting Switzerland--the family was all bundled up, on the top of a mountain--great memories!

[Chris Cross]

My favorite Christmas photos come from the year of my Mom's last Christmas. She fell on January 11th and was never the same until she passed away on April 26th.

[Lane]

What a lovely way to honor this family!

[Lindsey]

What a great photo! Love how you used it to dress up this brown paper package. :)

[Tina]

I love this idea! I remember one holiday photo taken with the old polaroid that my brother was in...he had scooby doo pajamas and was opening a new matchbox cars set. His face was PRICELESS!!

[Jennifer]

My favorite holiday photo is my daughter reading a letter from Santa on Christmas morning with a new winter hat on her head. It just brings back so many memories!!

[Lee]

I love my family photo with my three kids and they all were of the age loosing their baby teeth and had some out! it was very cute! Its so fun to remember those days!