Holiday guide
A house Christmas card: your home in the snow, on a card you make
Updated November 15, 2026
A picture of your house makes a warm Christmas card, especially in a year you moved in, renovated or are about to say goodbye to a family home. Here is how to get the picture, what to write and how to turn it into a card you print or send yourself.
Getting the picture
- A real photo in the snow or at dusk. If you get snow, go out early before it’s trampled. At dusk, with the lights on inside and the outdoor lights lit, the windows glow and the sky turns deep blue. A phone on something steady, such as a car roof, keeps it sharp.
- A wreath and lights in the shot. Hang the wreath and string lights before you take it, and move the car and bins out of frame.
- A drawing or painting. Draw the house yourself, ask an artist well ahead of the holidays, or have an AI paint a snowy version from a photo you already have, even a summer one.
What to write
- A new home: “Home for Christmas on Maple Street” or “New address, same us”, with the address on the back for people to update.
- A family home: “Christmas at Grandma’s, as always”, or a line about the years the family has gathered there.
- A simple greeting: “Merry Christmas from our house to yours” or “Warm wishes from all of us at home”.
Sign it with every name in the house. A short handwritten note inside a printed card is what people keep.
Designing the card
- Let the picture fill the front, with the greeting in a plain band above or below so it doesn’t cover the house.
- A square picture fits a square card, or sits in the middle of a portrait card with white space around it.
- Free design tools and most photo printing sites have card templates where you drop in a picture and type the greeting.
Printing or sending it
- At home: print on matte card stock and fold, or glue a print onto a blank folded card.
- At a print shop or photo printing site: upload the picture to a card template, order the quantity you need, and check their ordering cut-off for delivery before Christmas.
- As a picture: send it by message or email, or post it, for people you won’t mail a card to.
We don’t print or mail cards: House Portrait gives you the picture as a file, and the card is yours to make.