It’s that time of year again. Twinkly lights, candles, angels, and gifts are on the horizon. It’s the holiday season, and that means that it’s time to start thinking about holiday cards. Sure, you spend all year posting entire albums and hours of video on social media, but now it’s time to get serious. Which favorite photos are the right ones to feature on your holiday card? Is it one of you and your dog snuggling in bed? Or maybe it’s the one that you and your partner took on a road-trip back in January before we all had to start staying home full time.
To be honest, it’s likely that none of the individual photos will be right for this purpose. After all, you want something that sums up the year for all of your family members, and this year has included plenty of special days—weddings, birthdays, and other precious memories. It’s hard to know where to start when you’re trying to summarize a whole year.
If you really want to choose individual photos from the ones you’ve taken this year, it’s probably wise to invest in a smart photo manager, if you don’t already have one. By investing in a cloud service where you can organize all your favorite photos and your many hours of video in folders, you’ll be doing yourself a favor for both this year and next. For example, ibi is a great smart photo manager to try, especially since the ibi app makes all your favorite photos readily available and organized both on your web browser and on your mobile device, whether it’s an iPhone or an Android device. If you haven’t already, it’s time to meet ibi and get your photos on the cloud service with the best customer service and discounts. There’s a reason that ibi is the most popular cloud service for photo storage.
Besides organizing your photos in folders, though, there are plenty of fun ideas to try for your holiday photo setup. Check out some of these ideas to make your holiday photos the best so that you can send them to family members and your closest friends.
Play dress up and add accessories.
This year hasn’t really provided many opportunities to dress up. Actually, for most of the calendar year, we’ve all been stuck in our homes, wishing for a reason to change out of our pajamas. Well, taking your own photos for a holiday card to send to your family members is exactly that excuse.
The thing about being stuck at home is that you can get the best deals on clothes anywhere in the United States (and the world) since you’re ordering from home. So you can give yourself the gift making the most of free shipping and a great return policy, and buy a dress (or three) to take your own photos in. After all, your favorite people will be seeing these gift cards and you want to look your best, don’t you?
So check out your local store, but then don’t be shy about perusing a clothing store in Portland, OR as well. Throw a jacket and some accessories in your cart as well, and wait for your family members and closest friends to notice your new look.
Try out fun jewelry and masks.
So, we’ve already noted that 2020 has been a bit of a different year. For example, you may not have done as much in the way of travel as you’d hoped to. You may have been more buys with the cancellation of any airline tickets than actually taking flights to new destinations.
Still, it’s been novel in plenty of ways, and your holiday photos are just the time to celebrate that. Do a 2020 theme, by taking photos with and without masks. Maybe get specially themed masks, printed with your own photos. Or maybe throw on some quirky jewelry that you wouldn’t otherwise use. The point is, take a moment to make these photos silly instead of more of the seriousness we’ve seen unfold this year. If you’re looking to buy some crazy accessories for your photos but don’t want to break the bank, there are sites that show you the best holiday coupons and deals 2020 so you can find special offers at relevant retail stores. And remember—Black Friday is coming up in the U.S. and that’s the best time to get the best deals and coupons around on accessories for your holiday photos. Once you’ve used coupons to get add-ons and taken the photos, you can curate them on a scale of one to silly.
Don’t stop at just a gift card.
This may be the year to take things to the next level. After all, we could all use an extra ounce of joy, right? Maybe this is the year to invest in a photo book to send to your inner circle, with photos of you and your family members. Photo books or canvas prints are a fun, meaningful, and nostalgic way to think back and reminisce about the year that was, and dream about the year that’s just beginning. Plenty of photo book services have exclusive savings this time of year and can get them to you with free shipping in just a few business days, so that could be a solid idea. Or maybe you have a strict personal privacy policy and want to be able to share your JPEGs with your inner circle throughout the year, but you have pictures you’d rather didn’t end up on a social network.
If this is the case, it’s time to head back to ibi. Their photo app is a one-stop-shop that gives you a private space to invite others to join, wherever they are in the United States. That way, anyone in your inner circle who has Wi-Fi and a laptop or tablet can know what’s going on with you and yours. It’s like a cross between a photo book and a hard drive, and you can update your ibi all the time from the mobile app. Like a next-level holiday card.
Whatever you do this holiday season, whether you’re lamenting the travel you never did, trying on crazy jewelry, dresses, jackets, and masks, or uploading all of those JPEGs into individual folders and curating them in a gallery app, remember that there is limited time for celebration these days. Make the most of the holiday season.
Reach out to loved ones around the United States and the world. Invite others to watch a movie together on Apple TV or Netflix. Spend some time with the individuals who mean the most to you. Don’t sweat the extra cost of an Amazon gift card for your sister, brother, or best friend. Even though it may seem like a drag to spend so much money during the holidays, and you’re stressed about money at the time of purchase, the truth is that the precious memories are worth so much more than dollars and cents. So post photos (even screenshots of a Zoom family hang) to remind you of the good times. As long as you have a WiFi connection you can have a good time with your family members, wherever they are in the United States.
