Your holiday "wow" moments, powered by AI
Five practical AI-powered ideas for the holidays: a digital holiday card, personalized storybooks, family trivia, coloring sheets, and silly family videos.
By Mollie Amkraut Mueller · · 2 min read
This week: my favorite ways to use AI to make the holidays less stressful and more fun.
#1 The digital holiday card
I love holiday traditions. I do not love holiday logistics.
This year, I couldn't face a physical holiday card. Designing, printing, addressing, mailing, return-to-senders, it was all time and money I didn't want to spend.
So I tried a different approach: I made our family holiday card as a tiny website, with my favorite AI website builder, Lovable.
Card link: mueller-family-holiday-card.lovable.app
Here's the workflow I used:
- Started in ChatGPT - Brain dumped ideas for what I wanted to include, the vibe, colors, etc. and asked ChatGPT for more ideas (it delivered!)
- Asked ChatGPT to generate one thorough prompt that I could paste into Lovable
- Moved to Lovable - Pasted prompt, got a full first draft
- Refined & personalized - Tweaked spacing/colors/flow, swapped in real photos & details, added a few fun sections
- Published + shared - I used the default Lovable link (fast, easy, free) and dropped it into an email to our family list
If you want to copy my card or make your own, here's the full guide including links: Lovable Holiday Card Guide
If you build one, hit reply and send it to me. I'd love to see what you make!
#2 Storybooks as gifts
Quick recap from last week, because it fits perfectly here: you can use an image model (I used Nano Banana) to create a personalized storybook starring your kid, your niece, your best friend's dog, whoever!
I made one for my daughter's neighborhood friend group. More details here and here.
#3 Family trivia night
This is my favorite "pass the time" use case.
Prompt: "I need trivia questions to play a fun trivia game with my family."
Then iterate a few times as needed:
- "These are too easy. Make them harder."
- "Ages are: [X, Y, Z]. Interests: [sports, pop culture, history, Disney, etc.]"
#4 Coloring sheets for the kids' table
Another easy win with an image model (Nano Banana or the new ChatGPT image generator).
Two ways to do it:
- Photo-based: Upload a photo of your kid and prompt: "Turn this into a clean black-and-white coloring page with simple outlines, kid-friendly, lots of open space, no shading."
- Interest-based: "Create a coloring page of a kid building a gingerbread house with a golden retriever. Simple outlines, lots of open space, no shading."
Print a stack. Put out crayons. Buy yourself a few minutes.
#5 Ridiculous family videos
For pure entertainment: open Sora or Veo3 (the video creator tools from ChatGPT and Google), give it a photo of someone in the family, and prompt a silly scenario:
- "Turn grandpa into a rapper performing on a tiny stage in the living room."
- "Make dad sing opera while cooking a turkey."
- "Make my sister narrate a dramatic movie trailer about opening presents."
Do a few rounds and you'll end up with a full set of absurd clips that makes everyone laugh.
I hope these ideas bring some joy to your holiday season. If you try any of these, hit reply and tell me what you made.
Wishing you very happy holidays,
Mollie