Christmas already asks a lot of children who split the week, and of adults who are trying to be decent in two kitchens. A card cannot settle any of that. It can still look like the people who actually live in those houses. On Ottermagic you upload a photo everyone is willing to share, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, preview until it feels warm rather than political, then send a printed A5 or an e-card. Printed cards are A5 folded (148×210mm), 330gsm gloss, envelope included, made to order in the UK and posted with Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days, or sent by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. When the two addresses will not wait on the same post, the e-card is often the kinder object.
This is not a birthday card for a stepmum, and it is not a first Christmas without someone. Those are stepmum, stepmom and stepdad cards and thinking of you at Christmas.
Two homes, one December
Plenty of lists assume one fireplace. Plenty of families have two. Kids may open presents in one house on Christmas Eve and another on Christmas Day. Grandparents may only have one address on file. A partner may be sending to people they have only met twice.
You do not need a single “official” family portrait. You need a picture that is true for the people on the envelope.
Ideas that usually work:
- Style Swap of the children, if both households are happy for that photo to travel
- Two versions of the same look, one posted to each home, with a line that names where you will be
- Pet Swap of the animal that lives in one house, sent as a greeting from that house alone
- Face Swap of one willing adult into a gentle scene, not a joke at the other household’s expense
- Text Swap when a face on the front would pick a fight you do not need this year
If a photo includes someone who does not want to be on a card this December, crop them out or pick another picture. Do not “fix” a blended family with a crowded sofa shot that one adult never agreed to.
Who the card is from
Write the names you actually use. Some cards are from the kids. Some are from one parent and the children. Some are from a new partner who is still signing with a first name, not with “the Bloggs family”.
Christmas cards from the kids, the baby, or the bump is useful when the children are the voice. Keep this page for the two-address problem: who receives it, and which photo is fair.
A short inside line beats a paragraph of explanation. “Love from Maya and Jonah, and from this house” is enough. You do not have to narrate the timetable.
Photos that stay kind
Good:
- A recent picture of the children, lit, facing the camera, taken on an ordinary day
- The dog or cat who belongs to one home, large in the frame
- A parent with the kids, if that is the household sending the card
- A picture from a shared outing that nobody would mind seeing on a mantel in the other house
Skip:
- An old wedding photo from a marriage that has ended
- A crop that pointedly removes someone as a statement
- A Face Swap of an ex, even as a “funny” Action Figure
- A group shot from a day that was already tense
Style Swap is usually the safest mode, because it restyles a real picture rather than dropping a face into a costume. Watercolour, Sketch, Photobooth, and Classic Cartoon sit well on a fridge that more than one adult will see. Clay 3D, Brick, and Chibi are fine if that is already the children’s humour. Caricature and Bobblehead can feel like a poke. Save them for a household that already teases itself.
Live styles: Brick, Chibi, Emoji, Anime, Watercolour, Caricature, Cartoon, Classic Cartoon, Action Figure, Clay 3D, Retro Halftone, Retro Game, Royal Portrait, Pixel Art, Bobblehead, Sticker Sheet, Tarot Card, Photobooth, Sketch, Lucky Leprechaun. Lucky Leprechaun is a Face Swap look; use it only if it would be welcome in both sitting rooms, which is rare in year one.
When the e-card is the better object
Printed A5 is lovely when you have a stable address and the time: around 3–5 working days in the UK, around 2–3 weeks to the US. Two-household Christmas often fails those tests.
Use the e-card (hi-res, watermark-free after payment) when:
- The children move between addresses in the same week, and you are not sure which letterbox will be used
- One household lives in another country and should have it today, or is in the US with less than about three weeks to go
- You want both homes to have the picture on the same afternoon
- You left it late, and a file in a family chat is kinder than a card that arrives on the 29th
You can still order a printed card for grandparents who prefer paper, and send the file to the other parent. How to attach that file is in how to send an Ottermagic e-card.
US readers can have the printed A5 sent by airmail to a US address; allow about three weeks before Christmas, and use the e-card after that. Checkout is in pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
Posters and canvas are available if one home wants the portrait on a wall. Check live details on Ottermagic.com. Ask before you hang someone else’s child in a hallway that is not yours.
Two cards can be the peaceful version
It is allowed for each household to send its own Christmas card. They do not have to match. One Sketch of the kids from Mum’s house and one Pet Swap of the cat from Dad’s house is clearer than a composite nobody posed for.
If you are the relative watching this from outside (an aunt, a grandparent), send to both addresses when you can, or send the e-card and let them forward it. Do not demand a combined photo as the price of a greeting.
Family-and-pet Christmas cards in a single happy household are covered in family, pet, and first-Christmas cards. Use that when the story is simpler.
Ready when you are
Send a card that fits the houses you actually have. Upload a photo on Ottermagic that everyone in it is willing to share, try Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, and keep the preview that feels kind. Order the printed A5 (148×210mm, 330gsm gloss, envelope), or download the e-card when the addresses or the calendar will not wait. Start at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
Should blended families send one Christmas card or two?
Whichever causes less friction. Two honest cards are better than one photo that someone never agreed to. Ottermagic will print or download whatever you preview.
Can I put children from two households on one card?
Only with a photo those children (and the adults who care for them) are happy to share. If that picture does not exist, do not invent the family on the front.
What do I write inside?
Keep it short and specific to the relationship. You do not need to explain the arrangements. A Christmas wish and the names you use is enough.
We have different last names.
Use the names people will recognise. Text Swap can carry a first name on the front if a shared surname would be untrue.
One house is in the US and one is in the UK.
Order the UK card from the UK shop and the US card from the US shop (there is a UK/US switch in the site header). The UK one takes around 3–5 working days; the US one goes by airmail in around 2–3 weeks. If you want them to arrive together, or Christmas is close, send the e-card to both.
Is this the same as a card for my stepmum?
No. A card to a step-parent is a different piece of writing. See stepmum and stepdad Face Swap cards. This page is about Christmas greetings when the family sits in more than one home.
