I’m sharing how to take your own awesome family holiday photo! This post was sponsored by Faux Real. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hooray! It’s the most wonderful time of the year, right? Well, actually it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, we’re still a couple of weeks away from carving up the turkey but people are alllllll over Christmas this year. Christmas lights are up on houses already, the storefronts are all decked out and looking festive, we’re even doing our first Santa visit this Friday! I think everyone is so sick and tired of the election stuff they just want to turn off the political parade and turn up some happy holiday spirit.

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

Time to start working on your family holiday photo. The perfect family portrait, one you can slap on a holiday card and send out to all your friends and family. Or wait till it’s too late and ditch the mail altogether, just post a pic on Facebook. Who still does the snail mail thing anymore anyway?

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

Every year around this time I mention to my husband that I would really love to have our family picture taken, like by a real photographer. Not our neighbor snapping a couple of shots of us on the doorstep in his pajamas holding a cup of coffee. And not like the five-minute photo places in the mall, both suggestions he throws out every time I bring it up. Along with:

“Why can’t you just take the picture? You’re good at that stuff?” Because I would like to be in the family picture honey.

“Why can’t we just use that picture from when we went to that amusement park and they had photographers. That’s a good one?”  Because you’re eating a corndog and Brady is wearing the poop emoji hat you spent fifty dollars trying to win.

“Well, why can’t we just try to take it ourselves first?”

Why are men so afraid of taking pictures? Can’t you just dress up in the cheesy outfits we pick and let us drag you around somewhere scenic, smile unnaturally big and pretend to be happy like that time your team won the World Series, just for a few freaking hours!

But I caved and decided we’d give it a try ourselves first. What could go wrong? Here is the rundown…

How to DIY your own Awesome Family Holiday Photo

Pick out festive holiday attire. I thought it would be cute to wear ugly Christmas sweaters for our pic and I found some really awesome ones online at this site fauxrealshirt.com. They make shirts and tees with prints that look like ugly Christmas sweaters. You’ve got to see some of the crazy designs they have, it’s pretty cool.

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

Go to fauxrealshirt.com to order and use Discount Code: 103AmpFauxReal16 for 25% off 

ugly-christmas-sweater-shirts-party-ideas-inspiration-frostedmoms-47

Set the scene. Give your pics that extra festive holiday feel by dragging out all your Christmas knick knacks and piling them in one space. This is actually only 1% of the holiday decorations we own but I could not climb through the pile of Halloween decorations that are taking up the other half of our two-car garage we can no longer park cars in to get to the Christmas crap.

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

I did find some tinsel and Brady thought it would be fun to tie it around my head. Tinsel should come with parental strangulation warnings.

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

Set up your camera. You get to pull out the big expensive camera. You know, the one you really had to have before your child was born because you were gonna take photography lessons and learn how to use a fancy DSLR (right, or is it DLSR… or maybe DRSS..) And when your husband comments on how expensive the camera was and oh, how are those classes you never took going by the way….. sweetly remind him that you’d have lots more time for those kinds of things if he wants to give up golfing on the weekends to stay home.

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

TIP: Be sure to set the camera far back enough to take a wide family shot. 

Now everybody say cheese. Use the timer or a remote to take your photo. Now check it. Re-arrange everyone. Take the photo again. Reset the camera. Oh, the camera battery just died. AWESOME! 15 minute break

TIP: This would be a fabulous time to drink a glass of wine. 

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

Be sure to take a few shots to get the perfect one. Or more like one hundred. Take atleast 100 shots
Noooooo! Not shots of alcohol!
Repeat the process above and take a few dozen shots to make sure you get a great pic, with everyone looking at the camera and smiling cheerfully.

Edit your pics and choose the best one! Hooray, you pulled it off and now you’re so excited to see the pics you took. Pour yourself a celebratory glass of wine, pop in the SD card and scroll through your shots. It may be hard to choose just one as you start to realize they are all…….. AWFUL! Completely freaking awful. WTF!

Where is your husband looking? What is your child doing? Oh my gahhhhhhh, you people can’t just make a decent face for ten seconds.

TIP: Skip all the steps above. Save yourself some sanity and HIRE A FREAKING PHOTOGRAPHER

How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom

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How to DIY the Perfect Family Holiday Photo via Misty Nelson @frostedevents frostedmomscom Ugly Christmas Sweaters from fauxrealshirtcom