Christmas 2019 has come and gone. We are all relieved that the holidays are over, our Christmas decor is packed away in tubs ready for next year. 2020 is now here and we have about 350 days until we get to do it all over again.
I am going to bring Christmas back for this post, just because it was a project I had started during the holiday season, but didn’t have a chance to finish until now. This post is about what to do with those adorable Santa photos we wait in line for every year. The long wait to see our kids faces (delighted to see St. Nick himself, or terrified to see his belly shake like a bowl full of jelly) as they anxiously wait for a turn to tell Santa their Christmas wish. Then we purchase the photo package (usually quite expensive) and go on our merry way. The photo may sit on the fridge for the season but then will get packed away, in a box and likely to never be seen again.
This holiday, I decided what I wanted to do with our Santa photos. Actually, as of two Christmas’s ago, we started doing Santa photos at home with our own Santa. Santa Papa actually. I got my Dad a Santa costume for Christmas last year. The year before (when Aaron was still an only chid) my Mom and I waited in line with him to see Santa and he hated it. Now, I realize that a lot of kids go thru this for a Christmas or two and then they generally enjoy the experience. But I decided that I would stage my own Santa photos in the comfort of our own home and make it even more special with Santa Papa. My Dad loved the idea. This last Christmas (2019), he even grew his beard out just for the photos. Needless to say, these photos are very special to me and I wanted to find a way to display them and cherish them every Christmas season.
First, I had to find all of our Santa photos from the past four Christmas’s. It was hard to locate the one of Aaron from 2017, which is why I would recommend doing this project sooner than later. When the holidays roll around, I’m not thinking about staying organized and keeping things in proper place so I can find them again year after year. When the holidays are over, everything gets shoved in a box and forgotten about for 12 months. But alas, I found all four photos and printed 3 copies of each. I used my own printer and photo paper, but you could have the photos printed at the store just as easy and affordably.
Why would anyone need three copies of a Santa photo? Well, I don’t. But I decided that my kids might enjoy looking back on these when they have families of their own. I purchased little flimsy-clear-plastic 4×6 inch photo albums from Amazon.com with 24 slots for photos. I will keep a photo album for each of my boys and add to it a new Santa photo every year. Hopefully they will let me collect at least 18!
The third copy is for me. I decided that I would frame a 4×6 print from each year for myself and display them around the house at Christmas time. I have some Christmas decor, but not a lot. I think we have two large tubs full, mostly ornaments and lights. So these will be a much needed addition to our Christmas decor, plus it is personalized and nostalgic for years to come.
I chose to thrift four 4×6 photo frames, but you could easily find new frames and pay a little more. I painted the thrifted frames white to match with all decor throughout the years. Each frame is different, as they will be in the future as well. When Christmas 2020 rolls around, and you start unpacking your Christmas decorations and find your children’s past Santa photos… you can take a trip down memory lane. All you need to do to display them is temporarily replace your other framed photos with these festive gems for a month or so. You can display them all around the house, make a wall collage or line them up on the mantle. And when we do our next Santa photo shoot, all I need to do is have a white frame ready to join in on the fun!
Feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you do with your Santa photos year after year. Please follow @meetthebarnes on Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to this blog!
