Our family’s youngest art director, my niece (then 12, now 22), asked everyone to send outfit photos so she could check the color palette for our coordinated group picture. I styled ours with no one in them, which made her laugh. The cat added herself.
When work, health, or other obligations keep us apart, a little planning can still make it feel like one celebration.
Do Something Together, Apart
Hold a photo scavenger hunt. Before the day, send everyone the same short list of things to photograph, wherever they are: coats piled by the door, hands busy in the kitchen, someone sneaking a taste, the oldest and youngest together, someone telling a story, the first slice of pie, someone napping, and the aftermath of piled-high dishes. Set up a shared album (Google Photos works on any phone) or just use the family group chat, and add photos as the day goes on. By evening, you'll have the whole holiday from every kitchen at once. Download the free printable photo hunt card here.
Same theme, different locales. One year when our family couldn't all be at the same table, I sent everyone a shirt printed with a Thanksgiving dish: turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole. My dad was the turkey, by unanimous decision, and he wore it proudly. The grandkids were the sides, my sisters and their husbands were the other main dishes, and my mom got two, cranberry sauce and apple pie, because those are the two you can't do without (and she loves red!). On the day, everyone put on their dish and sent a picture to the group chat. Put together, we made a whole Thanksgiving dinner. It doesn’t have to be shirts. Everyone could wear the same color palette, mix the same signature cocktail or mocktail, cue up a shared family playlist, or hang the same ornament on every tree. Whatever you choose, the point is a shared experience, wherever everyone happens to be.
A few more ideas:
Cook from the same recipe card. Print a copy of Nana’s pea dish (every family has one) for every household, then compare results on a call.
Light the same candle. Mail everyone the same scent and light it when dinner starts, so every house smells the same.
Send a toast ahead. Record a short one on your phone so it can be played at each table whenever dinner happens.
Watch the same holiday movie. Everyone watches it whenever their day allows, then trades favorite lines in the group chat.
Open a Window Together
With a few clicks, you can email an entire Christmas experience to the people you love. My favorite is the Jacquie Lawson advent calendar, from the British illustrator known for her animated e-cards. This recommendation isn't sponsored, and I don't earn anything from it; I just love it, and so do the people I give it to. I send it at Thanksgiving, so everyone can settle in before December 1.
Once they open it, a beautifully illustrated little world appears on their phone, and it comes alive in the smallest details. It keeps time with theirs, so when the sun comes up where they are, it rises in the calendar too. Snow often drifts past the windows, birds and wildlife wander the woods, and villagers and cars go about their day. Inside, the fire flickers, and the cats and dogs bark, meow, and beg for treats.
It isn't a video game, and there's nothing to learn. You just tap around: choose the fabrics, trim the tree, light the fire. It's simple enough for anyone, yet packed with old-fashioned holiday delights, and every day of Advent brings a new surprise to discover and enjoy, along with an elf hiding somewhere, inside or out. It's the one screen that makes me watch less TV in December.
For something to share at the table itself, Christmas crackers travel well, too. Mail a box ahead, and everyone can pull them at their own table, wherever they are. You'll find my favorites in For the Gathering Season, this month's piece in The Edit.