Pet Holiday Cards and Wording Ideas to Spread Cheer This Season

‘Tis the season to be adorable! If you have a furry best friend, sending delightful pet holiday cards to your nearest and dearest will surely spread plenty of cheer. To make the most of your pawliday greetings this year, check out these photo shoot ideas, wording inspiration, and digital card designs.

Adorable Photo Ideas for Your Pet Holiday Cards

Design: Jen Montgomery

A festive photo is a key element of most pet holiday cards (like this cute Paws & Plaid design). Not only are holiday pet photos ideal for your Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas photo card, but you can also use them for other fun stationery too — like notecards, stickers, photo books, and thank you card sets. Here are some of our favorite photo shoot ideas for pet holiday cards. 

Dress Your Pet in Festive Accessories

Gather your furry friend(s) and find the purrfect festive outfits or accessories for them. Dogs in Christmas sweaters and cats in antlers are always adorable, but you can experiment with other festive pet accessories like bow ties, holiday jumpers, collars, and Santa hats.

Take a Family Holiday Photo

People host family photo shoots all the time, so why not plan one with your pets? Have a little fun and stage images for your photo holiday card holding your pet like a baby, or where you’re all jumping in the snow or sitting by the fireplace.

Capture Mischief Around the Christmas Tree

Whose pet hasn’t caused some kind of trouble with the Christmas tree or festive decorations? If you can capture it in the moment, take a snap and share it with your loved ones for a funny pet holiday card. If not, stage something similar and have fun with your pet while you capture a moment of mischief.

Showcase a Pet Paw Print

If your pet is a little camera shy and doesn’t want to be in the frame, you can still share some of their magic by using their paw prints instead. Color their paws with pet-friendly paints and stamp them onto your cards, or take a photo of their paw prints in the sand, mud, or snow. This is a great idea for a cat or dog photo, but you can also adapt it to capture smaller pet paw prints from a hamster or guinea pig.

Pay a Visit to Santa

Kids love visiting Santa, but they’re not the only ones. If there’s a pet-friendly holiday event nearby, see if you can take a photo of your four-legged friend with Santa himself. If that’s not an option, you can always dress up as the big man yourself and capture a photo at home.

Wear Matching Outfits

Another family photo favorite is to show up in matching sweaters or festive outfits, and there’s no reason you can’t recreate this with your beloved pet(s) too. Create a dreamy dog holiday card or a festive family snap with your cats in colors or patterns that match your own outfits.

Greetings for Your Pet Holiday Cards

Design: Jessie Steury

Along with a festive photo of your furry BFFs, capture the holiday spirit with a fun message in your holiday greeting cards — like “Peace, love, and belly rubs” on this Belly Rubs holiday card.

Here are other wording ideas to give you a dose of inspiration:

• Happy howlidays from all of us!
• Meow! [Pet name] hopes you have a magical holiday season.
• Wishing you a merry Christmas from [Pet name] and the rest of the family!
• Woof woof! Happy holidays!
• Have a wonderful festive season, from your furry best friends (and me!)
• We wish you a meowy Christmas!
• Happy pawlidays from the [Surname] family.
• You’re totes tops! Happy pawlidays from [Pet name] and the rest of the pack!

Depending on the design, you can add a holiday card message on the front of your card alongside your pet’s holiday photos or add heartwarming words inside the card instead.

8 Pet Holiday Cards You Can Customize Now

Whether you’re looking for a dog Christmas card, cat Christmas card, Hanukkah card, Kwanzaa card, or even New Year card, there are plenty of options to showcase your beloved pets and spread holiday cheer.

At Greenvelope, our beautiful collection of online cards offers something for every style and personality. Browse through photo cards with space for your favorite photo or greeting cards with adorable illustrations of dogs or cats instead.

Every design can be customized, so you can turn any template into a perfectly personalized holiday card. Add your own photo, change the fonts and colors, and add your own wording to send your holiday wishes in style.

Ready to explore the collection? Here’s a handful of our favorite designs for the holidays.

1. Cold Noses Warm Wishes Holiday Card

Design: Claudia Owen

How sweet is this holiday card for dog lovers? Swap the photo for one of your own and either keep the “cold noses warm wishes” wording or work with our design team to add your own personal greeting instead.

2. Painterly Wreath Holiday Card

Design: Holly Whitcomb

We love the way this wreath-themed holiday card makes it look like your beloved pets are part of their own personalized holiday decoration. Fill the wreath with your favorite photo to put a smile on the recipient’s face.

3. Happy Howliday Rudolph Holiday Card

Design: Kid Collective

If you’re looking for a simple holiday card that still celebrates your love of pets, this illustrated Rudolph-themed card is the perfect match. Along with a sweet illustration on your choice of colored cardstock, there’s plenty of space on the reverse for a long and thoughtful holiday greeting.

4. Handwritten Shalom Card

Design: Signature Greenvelope (photo courtesy of Julia Kinnunen Photography)

We love that there’s so much space on this photo Hanukkah card for a family photo — including your pets! Include a short greeting on the front and enjoy all the room on the back for a longer holiday message.

5. Happy Pawlidays Holiday Card

Design: EW Couture

Share a photo of your beloved furry friend on this fun festive pawprint card. It’s available in various contemporary color options, but you can always add your own favorite colors with the help of our design team. What’s special about this template is that there’s room on the reverse for even more photos of your adorable pets.

6. Elegant Kwanzaa Card

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Send your loved ones a special card this year with this sophisticated Kwanzaa card that offers space for a family photo. Add your beautiful pets to your annual family holiday card photos or include a sweet message on the back that includes them saying “Woof!” or “Meow!”

7. Meowy Christmas Holiday Card

Design: Patrice Horvath Design

Celebrate those curious and cute felines in your family with this cat-themed holiday card. On the front, you have these gorgeous festive cat illustrations, and on the backside, there’s room for plenty of cat-tastic holiday greetings.

8. Fashion Humiliation Holiday Card

Design: 2birdstone

Showcase your pet’s favorite festive sweater with this funny pet holiday card and enjoy all the “awws” and laughter when it reaches your friends and family members.

Make the Season Bright with These Pet Holiday Cards

It’s always lovely to send and receive holiday cards and a pet Christmas card feels even sweeter. Grab your camera, take some festive photos, and customize your own pet holiday cards this year to make your loved ones smile.

When you’re all set with your photos, choose one of our pet holiday cards as the backdrop for the star of the show. Choose a design, personalize it, and then send it in moments via email or text. Happy holidays!