Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Photo Christmas Cards - 7 Unique Ideas For This Year's Holiday Card

Your friends, relatives and neighbors are eagerly looking forward to your annual Christmas photo cards. But how do you make this year's holiday card really fresh and original? Here are seven ideas to help you make your new photo Christmas cards stand out.

1. Go black and white photo for a dramatic look. Many digital cameras have a setting that will enable you to take your photo in black and white. Or you can change a color snapshot to grayscale in your photo editing software. If you don't know how to do it yourself, most photo card companies can do it for you at no extra charge.

Christmas Card

2. The more, the merrier. This year, include more than just the kids in your photo Christmas cards. Get in the picture with them! One year my uncle remarked that while he enjoyed receiving a photo of the kids every year, he would like to see a picture of us, too. So, gather the entire family, even the pets. And if you have an opportunity during the year to attend a large family get together with grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, you might consider using a large group family photo.

3. Pack the Santa hat on vacation. Whether you're going to the beach, sightseeing in the city or pumpkin picking in the fall, bring along a holiday prop or two, such as a Christmas stocking or ornament. When you're taking photos of your family excursion, include a few with everyone holding or wearing the Christmas props for refreshingly different holiday photo.

4. Think personality. While you might enjoy a posed photo of your children all cleaned up, in nice clothes, with not even a hair out of place, it doesn't show off their real personalities. For more interesting photo Christmas cards, try taking some candid photos of your kids doing things they enjoy. Or pose them with props that reflect their interests or accomplishments.

5. Scrapbook a page. If you're creative, you can put together several cropped photos and your greeting on holiday background paper, then photograph or scan it to be used as your photo Christmas card. Since most photo card companies use 4 x 6 inch photos to produce your cards, trim a standard 12 x 12 inch scrapbooking page to 12 inches wide by 8 inches high as your background for your layout.

6. Embellish it. Even if you have already ordered standard photo Christmas cards, you might still be able to jazz them up a bit. Check out the scrapbooking aisles in your local craft store for tiny embellishments, such as bows, ribbons, and other holiday dimensional items. These are practically flat, since they are meant for a scrapbook page, so they will still fit into your envelope after you glue them on your cards.

7. Shop around. There are so many photo Christmas card companies on the internet that are offering unique, original, personalized designs. Some designs can even contain multiple photos, so you don't have to worry about getting that one perfect snapshot. Or they will put your photo into the shape of an ornament, tree, or other holiday symbol. Many companies will let you write your own message, so you have more choices and options. They come in all price ranges, so it pays to do some browsing.

So, don't be afraid to try something a little different with your photo Christmas cards this year. With a little imagination, your holiday photo cards will be truly special.

Photo Christmas Cards - 7 Unique Ideas For This Year's Holiday Card

New Year's Eve Decorating Ideas

Make decorating your home for New Year's Eve party a pleasure instead of a stressful nightmare. Organization and planning helps you keep on top of your New Year's Eve party.

Create a gorgeous party planning notebook with an inexpensive plastic three-ring binder that has a space to insert an inspirational picture. Keep cutouts from magazines of ideas you love about decorating, themes, menus, and recipes. Keep notes about your party afterwards so you remember what worked well and what to do differently next year. Your personal party journal will be an invaluable assistant to help you avoid holiday stress.

Christmas Eve

New Year's Eve Decorating

Enjoy your home decorating for New Year's Eve. Don't try to do too much. Keep in mind that people love to come to homes decked out in festive array but that it doesn't take a lot of cluttering ornamentation to create a joy filled room. Just a few large decorations can add the desired impact without taking a lot of time to set out. Plus, too many little decorations get lost when you have many people standing around.

Where to decorate for impact:

1. Your front walkway: Greet guests at the entrance with lights surrounding your front door and two large floral arrangements or evergreen trees.

2. Your front door: A large swag of evergreen decorated with nuts, apples, raffia, and ribbon spiced up with cinnamon sticks and cloves makes a different statement than the usual wreath.

3. Your dining table: If you plan a sit-down dinner, avoid tall centerpieces that interfere with guests seeing across the table. White table cloths reflect the light, add a feeling of elegance, and don't interfere with colored china. Bold colors add drama. Have fun with your table decorations.

4. Look up: Because table decorations get in the way, add decorations above archways and doors.

5. Your powder room: Because guests use this room privately, they take the time to look around and notice decorations.

If your TV looks like a black hole in your room when it's off, play an old black and white classic movie with the sound turned off.

Enjoy your New Year's Eve decorating this year. Try some new ideas and keep a party planner for next year. You'll be ready for new holiday decorating ideas!

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

New Year's Eve Decorating Ideas

A Black, White, and Silver New Year's Eve Wedding

New Year's Eve is definitely the most glamorous night of the whole year to have a wedding. Black, white, and silver is a chic color palette that will bring out the stylish flair of the holiday. Learn how to plan an unforgettable New Year's Eve wedding using a black, white, and silver color scheme.

It almost goes without saying that a New Year's Eve wedding should be black tie. Classic black tie always looks the most elegant; while rental shops may suggest colorful vests for the groom and groomsmen, a black cummberbund is more dashing and timeless. Silver dresses will be the clear choice for the bridesmaids. If they are comfortable in slender silhouettes, slinky silk sheaths would be ideal. Choose ones with a gathered bustline and wide straps, like something from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s. Big sparkly crystal jewelry will complete their look perfectly. If you want to up the drama factor, your bridesmaids could wear little maribou stoles over their dresses for the ceremony.

Christmas Eve

The bride at a New Year's Eve wedding needs a really striking gown. An incredible look is a fluid sheath gown covered from head to toe in tiny crystals or sequins. This has been a very hot look on the red carpet this year, and looks simply unbelievable when you move. Such a glam gown calls for dramatic crystal bridal jewelry, and plenty of it. If you wish to define the waist, a black sash with a jeweled brooch would be great with the black, white, and silver theme. Because the silhouette of a sheath is so simple, you can get away with really bold crystal bridal jewelry.

Then there are the flowers! Accent white flowers with silvery elements to incorporate the color scheme into the bouquet. Silvery dusty miller or lamb's ear leaves are wonderful natural accents to ruffly white parrot tulips or lovely white camellias. Another idea is to use silver metal leaves or tiny metallic silver balls to mix into the white blossoms. Being New Year's Eve, you could even get away with glittery silver curly branches mixed into the bouquets or centerpieces. Tie the bouquets with black velvet ribbons to complete the effect. The centerpieces will be very striking arranged in black vases. Either use fluted footed black vases for a vintage flair, or tall sleek rectangular black vessels for a sleek modern look.

To bring your black, white, and silver color scheme to life at your New Year's Eve wedding, special table linens are a must. I personally do not care for black table linens (they never feel clean to me), but silver would look amazing. Shimmery silver organza toppers can be used over standard white tablecloths, or if budget permits, rent silver silk dupioni linens with a chic quilted stitching (like a Chanel handbag). Since the centerpieces will be primarily black and white, the whole elegant color theme will come together beautifully.

Every wedding needs a big finish, and for New Year's Eve, fireworks would be spectacular. Treat your guests to a grand finale as the clock strikes midnight. You can welcome in the New Year and your new married life at the same time - what a perfect way to start the year!

A Black, White, and Silver New Year's Eve Wedding