They say the days are long and the years are fast. Can you believe it’s nearly baby’s first Christmas already? You’ll want to make sure you make lots of memories of the day and I often find that the moments I remember clearest are the ones where I’ve got photos to jog my memory.
Why not have a fun, at-home, baby’s first Christmas photo shoot and preserve those precious memories?
You don’t need to go to an extreme to get some great pictures. And you don’t need to get them all on one day – it’ll actually be easier to spread it out over the month of December.
At the end of the month you can upload all your photos into your favorite photo book site / software (mine’s Chatbooks!) and have a gorgeous photo book of your baby’s first Christmas!
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Must Have Props For Baby’s First Christmas Photos
You don’t need any special props to take some great photos for baby’s first Christmas… but you can certainly set a great scene if you add a couple of these:
- Santa Hat – a Santa hat gives an excellent, instantly Christmassy vibe.
- Cute Christmas outfit/s and pyjamas
- Gift box large enough for baby to sit inside – or simply gift wrap a large box you have on hand.
- Christmas Fairy Lights
- Christmas tree and decorations
- white fluffy blanket (makes a great background)
- Christmas themed cushions
- Christmas themed soft toy
Photos to Take for Baby’s First Christmas
The Santa hat is a great accessory to any or all of these photos, as is a super cute Christmas themed outfit (though you don’t have to have only Christmas themed stuff!)
- The Perfect Gift – take a photo of baby sitting in a gift box, or gift wrapped box. If baby is too young to sit, take a photo of them sleeping in a long, shallow gift box.
- Decorating the Tree – baby is too young to help just yet… but you can take a really cute photo of baby with Christmas baubles scattered around on a white fluffy blanket. Choose sitting (holding a bauble), tummy time or lying depending on the age of your baby.
- Fairy Lights – take a photo of your baby surrounded by fairy lights. They’ll likely be fascinated by the lights and you’ll get some seriously cute expressions!
- Reading a Book – books are a great prop to use for photos. Get your favorite kids Christmas book and position your baby so he seems to be reading it – this one is especially adorable if you put your baby on his tummy or if he is sitting and holding the book. You can also do this one on the bed, especially with siblings! For a very young baby, you can open the book and position them asleep on it.
- Asleep In A Stocking – if your baby is very young this Christmas, take a photo of them asleep under or inside their Christmas stocking! Make it cuter by adding a Santa hat and a candy cane in their hand.
- Asleep in Front of the Christmas Tree – take a photo of your little one asleep beside the Christmas tree with the fairy lights on.
- Waiting for Santa – if your baby is old enough to sit and you have a chimney, position them in front of it looking up as if they’re watching for Santa to come down.
- Watching the Tree – position your baby sitting looking at the Christmas tree with their Santa hat on. Get your dog to sit beside your baby in his Christmas best too!
- A Photo from Above – get your white fluffy blanket and lay baby on it very close to the Christmas tree. Take a photo from above, making sure you get the tree branches and baubles in the shot (you might need a chair to get high enough for a good shot.)
- Bassinet By the Tree – if you have a Moses basket or a bassinet that is easy to move around, position it by the tree and take a photo.
- With Santa – you could go get your baby’s photo taken with Santa… or you could convince a family member to dress up as Santa and take a photo of them with baby at home. For newborns, take a photo of Santa with baby draped over his arm or cradled close in front of the tree. For older babies, you can have baby sitting on Santa’s lap, held up in the air, looking at Santa, sitting in front of Santa’s boots… so many options!
- With a Christmas Toy – have you got a cute Christmas soft toy for your baby? Such a simple photo prop idea!
- It’s All About the Outfit – you don’t need to get complicated, so many Christmas photos are all about the baby and her cute outfit. Set up a simple backdrop – white fluffy rug plus a few Christmas baubles, or fairy lights, Christmas-themed cushions or stuffed toys, or wrapped gifts – add a sweet little baby in a Christmas or winter outfit with a Santa hat or a bow and you’ve got Christmas photo magic! You can make this one however many ways you like with different outfits and backdrop combos.
What to Do With All These Photos?
Now that you’ve taken loads of photos for baby’s first Christmas, what are you going to do with them all? Here are some ideas!
- make a photo book just for baby’s first Christmas using Chatbooks
- get your favorites printed out onto canvas and hang on the wall
- use your favorite in a Christmas card for family
