Pet Holiday Cards

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Why Choose Pet Holiday Cards?

You might be thinking, “Animal Christmas cards are cute, but why would I choose to make one instead of a regular Christmas card?” There are lots of reasons why making a pet holiday card is a great move:

• If you’re a newlywed couple or a family without children, you might opt for a pet holiday card. By putting the spotlight on your precious pet, you simultaneously highlight a member of your family and one of your best friends!
• Let’s say you just adopted a new pet. Take advantage of the Christmas card season to announce this new addition to your family with bunny, cat or dog photo Christmas cards
• On the other hand, maybe your pet is a famous member of your family. Everyone always gets excited when they see you two going for walks down the street. Kids in the neighborhood know your pet by name and say hello every chance they get. If this is the case, showcase your renowned pet by selecting Christmas cards with dogs front and center in your photos.
• Did you enter your pet in a show this year? Whether they won first place or simply had a good time competing, celebrate this accomplishment by commemorating your furry entrant on a pet holiday card. Show everyone how proud you are to be their owner with their achievement featured on your dog photo Christmas cards.
• Because your pet is the cutest pet in the world, obviously! Rabbit, lizard, cat or dog Christmas photo cards show your pride while making your loved ones smile.
• Perhaps you didn’t have time to get everyone together for a family Christmas photo this year, and it’s already November. You don’t want to use a photo from last year, but you definitely want some kind of photo Christmas card. In that case, animal Christmas cards are a fantastic option.
• Maybe you just entered your kids in a new school district or just got a new job. You feel that there’s an expectation to send a holiday card to all of your new acquaintances even though you barely know them. If this situation feels a little bit awkward or uncomfortable, go with a pet holiday card. It’s customizable features will make it seem more personal than a generic non-photo Christmas card, and sending a photo of your pet may be less intimidating than sending a photo of your entire family.
• Pet holiday cards are not very common. If you want your card to stand out from the rest, pet Christmas cards are a great option.

Taking the Perfect Pet Photo

If you already have a festive photo of your pet, you might not need to take a new picture. However, if you don’t have a good dog photo on hand, you’ll want to take one for the front of your pet holiday card. There are many fun things you can do for a festive, holiday-card-worthy pet photo. Here are some of our favorite ideas:

• Dress up your pet! Put your pet in reindeer antlers, a Santa hat, a red or green scarf, a Christmas sweater, Christmas lights, holiday-themed tie, or some ribbon. If you have a large dog, you can even put a wreath around his or her neck – if you can get them to stay still for the picture!
• Taking this even further, buy your pet a holiday costume. This could be an elf costume, Santa costume, snowman costume, or anything else your imagination comes up with.
• Capture a shot of your pet poking out of a present box.
• Take a picture of your dog reading a book or an article online that says something like “How To Be a Good Boy,” or “How To Make The Nice List”
• Place your dog or cat under a decorated Christmas tree.
• Get a candid shot of your pet playing in the snow.
• Set your pet in front of the fireplace. This works extra well if you’ve already decorated the mantel for additional holiday detailing.
• Snap a shot of your pet sitting at the dinner table next to a plate of cookies and a glass of milk.
• If you can find Santa, get a picture of your pet on Santa’s lap.
• Pose your dog with lots of ripped apart wrapping paper for a funny picture.
• Wrap up your pet in a cozy holiday blanket.
• Get a picture of your cat playing with some holiday ribbon.
• Take a picture of your cat chasing a red light. Then, use a photo editing app to make it look like they’re actually chasing an elf or sleigh.
• If you find the perfect timing, capture a picture of your cat playing with a dangling ornament. Make sure it’s not an ornament that will easily break. To be safe, try this with a plastic ornament.
• Get a shot of your pet looking curiously up the chimney.
• Have your dog hold a piece of paper in their mouth that says “Christmas Wishlist,” and write some items like bones, balls, and treats.
• If you have multiple cats, dogs or other pets, give each of them signs with the names of Santa’s reindeer. You can choose names from this list: Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donner, Prancer, Rudolph and Vixen. To take this pet photoshoot idea further, if you have multiple dogs and only one cat or vice versa, give the name Rudolph the pet that stands out.
• Put a sign around your pet’s neck that says something like “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year!”

If you want a photo of members of your family with your pet, here are some more great photo ideas:

• Take a picture of your pet sitting on someone’s lap. This can be very wholesome with a small pet, or it can be a funny photo with a big pet.
• Hold your pet in your arms, as you would your child, to show the world how much you love them.
• Have everyone in the family, including your pet or pets, lay down side by side in a row.
• Have all of your family members huddle around your pet. This is a great way to include everyone in the photo while still making your pet the center of attention.
• Get matching outfits for everyone – including your pet! The clothes that work best for this are hats, scarves, and sweaters.
• Capture a candid photo of your children playing with your pet either inside or outdoors.
• Dress one person up as Santa Claus and everyone else as elves, humans and pets alike.

LET YOUR PET HOLIDAY CARDS GO OFF-LEASH

The best cat or dog Christmas cards reflect your furry friend’s unique personality. Just as with a photo Christmas card of your family, Minted offers many customizable options for you to create a flawless animal Christmas card. Utilize all these options to get started personalizing your holiday card.

• Have you finally taken an incredible photo of your pet, but don’t know which card to put them on? Minted offers a Find It Fast™ “Use My Photo” service to help you out. Simply upload one or more pictures of your pet. Then, see previews of all our unique designs featuring your photo. This will allow you to quickly skim through and see which designs stick out to you.
• Can’t decide between a holiday card, Christmas card, religious Christmas card, or New Year card! Luckily, Minted offers pet versions of all of these cards. Whether your intention is to wish everyone a happy holiday season, emphasize the Christmas holiday, or get your recipients excited for the New Year, you always have the option to include your pet.
• Minted offers holiday cards in nine different formats and sizes: postcard, petite, classic, grand, folded, vellum, ornament, all-in-one, and booklette. Consider sending out an ornament card with your pet’s photo so your friends and family can hang it on their Christmas trees.
• With many of these format options, you can also choose the Silhouette™ shape of your card, regardless if the orientation is vertical or horizontal. We have many distinct Silhouette™ options, such as curved frame, waved frame, and rounded corners, so that your personalized pet photo Christmas cards will be truly and completely unique.
• We offer six luxe paper options for you to choose from. Papers come in varying prices and finishes so that your cards can be affordable and beautiful. Experiment first with our Signature or Smooth Signature. These kinds of paper will be thicker and creamier than other paper you’re used to. If you’re environmentally conscious, our Recycled paper is a great option for you. It allows you to exercise sustainability without sacrificing quality. To finish your cards with a shimmer, try our Pearlescent paper for that extra elegant touch. For something even thicker, go with our DoubleThick or TripleThick™ paper so your recipients can easily prop up your card for show.
• Don’t forget that the back of our personalized pet photo Christmas cards are customizable too! Many Minted cards give you the option of adding one or more photos to the back of the card. This is a great option if you want your pet to be the highlight, but you still want to include a family photo. Additionally, you can add customizable text to the back of any card.
• Do you want a stylish Christmas card featuring an animal but don’t own a pet? (Or will your pet refuse to pose for a festive photo?) Minted offers a wide selection of non-photo holiday cards, many of which have animals. Choose anything from a deer wearing a wreath to a bear or penguin wearing a scarf.

What to Write

After designing your perfect card, your work isn’t over. Now you’ll have to decide what you want to write in your pet holiday card. Here is some inspiration to help your start your brainstorm:

• Funny puns: Many Minted pet holiday cards already have fun puns on them. Some of our favorite examples are “Happy howlidays,” “Unleash the joy,” “Have a howly jowly New Year,” “Let’s paws to celebrate the season,” and “Paw-la-la-la-la.” These playful puns can be enjoyed by people of all ages and pair perfectly with a dog-themed Christmas card.
• If you’ve adopted your pet in the past year, announce how old they are, what day you adopted them, and their name. Think of this as similar to aholiday birth announcement, but for your pet. Start with something like, “Please welcome the newest addition to our family…”
• Maybe you’d prefer to handwrite on the inside or on the back of each card. If that’s the case, leave some blank space when designing your card. Then, you can write something personal on the inside when you receive your cards in the mail.
• To take this even further, let your pet sign each card by making a paw print on the inside or the back!

The Finishing Touches

Our motto reads: “Our purpose in life is to uncover exceptional design from all over the world and bring it to savvy consumers who won't accept anything else.” At Minted, we are devoted to delivering perfection and nothing less. We want you to be happy and proud about the cards you create. For that reason, you can use our Address Collection service so that sending Christmas cards is more effortless than ever before. Address Collection only requires two steps from you. In your Minted account, click “Request Addresses” or “Request Update” if you’ve done this before. Then, submit the emails of your contacts. You’re done! After that, all you’ll have to do is wait for your contacts to send in their address info.

We also offer free custom envelopes and free recipient addressing to provide you with a flawless holiday card shopping experience. Free recipient addressing has never been easier. After uploading your addresses or using our Address Collection service, your envelopes will arrive professionally addressed and ready to send. Choose from unique envelope designs and different fonts. We want you to love your envelopes as much as your holiday card. For even more personalization, you can go with custom envelope liners or exclusive holiday-themed custom Skinnywrap™ address labels.

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