My husband says when your Christmas card requires multiple trips to Home Depot, you may be over-doing it. I'm not ready to admit this, mostly because I think he secretly likes going to Home Depot. But this is beside the point.

I like plotting, scheming, and thinking differently about our ridiculous card.

I can't see the process as anything more than an exercise in creativity. And, if you know me, I'm MOST creative when I work in a team. (See the posts for our 2012 and 2013 cards for proof!)

This year's process was similar to last year's. It started when my friend Mandy sent me an image she found on Pinterest and said, "I can see you doing this." Oh yes!!

I loved this idea and used it as inspiration. However, in the example above, the family used a cardboard box. Billy didn't think a box would hold up very well with our crew (mostly the dog), so he decided on building a box. (This may or may not be part of why I think he likes Home Depot!)

He ended up using particle board that was made of lead. Seriously.

The boards were so heavy, he had to construct it in the room we shot in (our basement). First, of course, we had to move the furniture.

Our photographer, Joy Cannis, set up the white screen background, and we adjusted the box placement as if we were moving a patient in a hospital bed. The box was a beast!

Joy was some sort of saint working with us, our props, and our dog Mack. Animals are always tricky, fortunately, Mack is very focused on treats.Joy got all of the lighting in place and took her shots from the best (re: most uncomfortable) position ever. We were impressed with her work, capturing each of us individually

And as a group.Joy even captured the personality of our big yellow dog.The heavy duty box (I mentioned it weighed a ton, right?) fit our rowdy family at one time. However, Mack was done at this stage so smushed face was as good as it got!We used assorted props, but somehow conveniently avoided using the glitter that Joy brought (you know how I feel about glitter, right?). Maybe next year...Next I sent the proofs off to Lisa Hovis at PhotosynthesisIA.com for her to work her magic. Lisa has been doing our cards since Josh's birth announcement, and she's absolutely THE BEST at custom design work.

We decided to do the best pictures on the front.And the "outtakes" on the back.Our letter and a handful of additional pictures are inside the card, but you get the drift...we may overdo our card.

Oh well.

I'm just happy Billy plays along!

Have a Merry Christmas all!!

Anatomy of a Christmas card - 2014