A few weeks ago, we drove 40 minutes up the road to Ashton, Idaho with our friends, the Pugmires, and we took our family photo for our Christmas Card. It’s something we do every year, and it’s such a fun tradition that keeps the whole family photo thing more casual and whole lot less stressful when friends are on the other side of the camera. I always take their photo (with Chris making funny faces to get the kids laughing) and then they take ours.

We stopped at two locations, just down the road from each other, and while I loved the white bark on either side of this trail…

The moss and woods and girls cracking up in the one below stole my heart and made it to the card. We’ve gotten a few questions about how to coordinate outfits for cards. I just try to balance patterns and solids. This was our first year (ever) going a little more dressy for pictures–even Charly got some bells around her neck (these).

Last year, we used Artifact Uprising for our cards and loved the quality so much, we ordered from them again this year. This foil-stamped “Merry” card spelled out exactly what I felt the girls were portraying and what we sincerely wish for all our friends and family.

The foil comes in silver, copper or gold (we went with the copper) and it’s so pretty in real life. Can’t wait to get these in the mail! Our friends at Artifact Uprising are all about spreading the cheer and have offered up a $50 credit to one of our readers! Just leave a comment below to enter and we’ll choose a winner Friday so you can start planning your own cards.