The photo is almost never something standard, we try to be a little creative. Some years have been more out-of-the-box than others. One year when I was about 5, my mom painted a sheet with a Christmas tree and cut out a hole for me to be the angel on top. My dog, Rebel, was a reindeer laying in front of the painted backdrop wearing strapped-on dog antlers. Another year my mom painted a sheet depicting a rooftop with Santa at the chimney. She cut out holes for my dad to be Santa, while my mom and I were dolls peeking out from his toy sack. The photos using painted sheets for the scene were my favorites. It was a little hokey, and that's what made them great.
It's been a while since we've done a painted sheet photo. Now, we try and come up with ideas that are a little less hassle. When my parents are in town for Thanksgiving we take the picture, and the last couple years I've designed the card around the photo. This year we went with "mistletoe" for our theme. Here are the three photos that made it: our final card design...
