HOW I CREATED OUR CHRISTMAS CARD USING PHOTOSHOP AND AN IPHONE

Usually, when Christmas rolls around, I come to my wife and kids with a concept ready to go. This year, I decided to shake things up and let my 6 and 4-year-old daughters join the brainstorming session. When I asked them what we should include in the card, their enthusiastic answer was, “A monster!”

Well, I can do monsters.

For the past 10 years, our cards always featured us dressed up as elves—it became our tradition. But this year, we ditched the elf costumes for good and took a completely new direction. Inspired by 1980s slasher films (yep, horror movies for a Christmas card), I ran with it and try to set the tone for our “monster” concept.

The monster I chose? Bumble, the Abominable Snowman from the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It’s the most iconic holiday monster of all time, and I felt it was the obvious choice. Since the movie was made nearly 60 years ago, finding high-resolution images of Bumble was impossible. So, I figured I’d have to get creative—eBay to the rescue! Finding a 24 year old stuffed Bumble toy, I shot a few photos with a flashlight and an iPhone, and it worked perfectly!

Of course, pulling off these cards is always a gamble, especially when it involves convincing a 4 and 6-year-old to cooperate during a photoshoot. But this year? Everything went flawlessly. The girls stayed engaged, we got the shots we needed, and we ended the shoot with big smiles—a first in our Christmas card history!

This video is a timelapse of the entire process, from taking a few simple photos to turning my kids’ vision into reality. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Keepin’ Christmas Scrappy,