Seasons Greetings: Off-Beat Holiday Cards Go Viral

Some unconventional Christmas cards, including a video card from the Holderness family, have gone viral

Does sending a Hallmark greeting card or a family photo in matching sweaters this holiday feel a bit dated? You may want to take cues from families who thought outside the box this season and made some unconventional Christmas cards.

The Holderness family of Raleigh, N.C., created a video card, called “Christmas Jammies,” complete with its own hashtag, #XMASJAMMIES, that has gone viral. The video is set to Will Smith’s “Miami” and features the family of four-- dad Penn, wife Kim, six-year-old daughter Lola, and 4-year-old son Penn Charles-- wearing matching pajamas and rapping about each family member’s individual accomplishments this past year.

There are usual updates – new family car, mom and daughter competing in a triathlon, son playing an Indian chief in a recital – but personal details make the cut too.

“There’s room for child number three,” Penn sings, pointing to a stroller. “But I can’t. I just had a vasectomy.”

Penn, who has worked as an anchor for WNCN, also announces mid-video that he’s quitting his job to launch a new marketing and media company with his wife, who has experience in the entertainment industry.

“Going to quit his job and come work with his wife,” Kim raps.

The video now leads the family's new media site.

The Holdernesses are not the only ones showing off their Christmas spirit in a quirky way. A family in Marshfield, Wis., decided to recreate the nativity scene for their Christmas card. Their version included the family dogs, a llama and a cow.

On Thanksgiving, the Bymers dressed up as angels, shepherds, wise men, and Mary and Joseph and used sheets from a thrift store, Halloween angel wings and aluminum foil for their costumes, according to WAOW.com.

Nancy Bymers said she hoped the family card reminded people of two things that matter the most during the Holidays: family and the true meaning of Christmas.

But what kind of card should you send if your loved one didn't celebrate Christmas? One couple found a perfect solution.

Photographers Scott Burry and Dani Vernon have been dating for four years and decided that it’s time to send out their first holiday card as a couple. Burry celebrates Christmas while Dani celebrates Hanukkah, so for their card they turned their studio into a half-Christmas, half-Hanukkah scene. The quirky card idea went viral.

“We really did it to have some fun with our family and friends,” Burry said. “It shows that we both come from different backgrounds, but in the end, we celebrate the holiday season together with our families and enjoy the traditions on both sides.”

Another holiday card going viral this year is from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. The card includes a panoramic view with Dimon, his wife and three daughters, a dog and a young man playing indoor tennis in an opulent apartment. It comes after the Wall Street bank resolved its impasse with the U.S. government, after incurring a huge fine.

"All you need is love" reads the back of Dimon's card, according to Quartz.

But no one does a more over the top Christmas card than the Kardashian-Jenner clan. For years the family has dressed up in coordinating designer duds and struck fierce poses in one glamorous shot.

This year’s card, however, has an odd Casino Hollywood-theme and was missing Rob Kardashian, Scott Disick as well as Khloe’s soon to be ex-husband Lamar Odom. Kim’s fiancé Kanye West and their daughter North were not included either. Bruce Jenner, who is now separated from momager Kris, appears trapped in a glass case. 

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