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50 Hilarious Family Christmas Photos Shared By People Who Still Cringe At Them Today
Interview
The holiday season isn’t complete without a few essential things. Baking some gingerbread cookies for Santa. Eating a neverending cascade of delicious meals that leave you barely able to move (unless you’re willing to wobble and roll around). Some fiery drama with your relatives over nothing in particular. And, of course, an awkward family photo that you can proudly put on a Christmas card or hide in the deepest, darkest recesses of your album.
Weird hairstyles. Strange clothing. Peculiar expressions. Odds are that you’ve got a photo exactly like this, having posed with your relatives for a seasonal snapshot, whether at home or at a professional studio.
Awkwardness is one of those universal things that can make people facepalm and cringe no matter what part of the world they’re from. And we’re serving a healthy dose of that to you today, in the form of awkward family Christmas photos, as shared by the delightfully goofy Awkward Family Photos project, as well as the separate but also incredibly fun r/awkwardfamilyphotos subreddit. Upvote your fave pics, tell us which ones you loved the most, and share your own pics in the comments, dear Pandas.
Bored Panda got in touch with Mike Bender, the co-founder of Awkward Family Photos and a bestselling NYT author. We also reached out to professional photographer Dominic Sberna. You'll find both interviews below.
Hope you’re ready for some secondhand embarrassment! And remember—it’s fun to be silly. So embrace it.
More info: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com | Board Game
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
About 7 Months Ago, A Tiny Kitten Showed Up In The Parking Lot At My Office. He Turned Out To Be The Chillest Kitty Ever. Happy Holidays From Me And Little Marshall Meowthers!
RELATED:
#2
So, My Dog Met Santa Claus
#3
We Took The Same Christmas Photo 18 Years Later
#4
Sometimes Life Gives You A Puppy And Sometimes It Gives You Socks. Christmas 2016
#5
It Is A Rare Occasion When We Can Gather All Grown Children, Significant Others, Grandkids And Dogs For A Family Picture. We Did It! Sort Of
#6
My Friend Has A Fantastic Baby Photo
#7
It’s Been Just My Son And Me For Years. Every Christmas, We Take An Intentionally Awkward Family Christmas Photo. He’s 18 Now, And We Still Do It. This Was Xmas ‘20
#8
It's Been Eleven Years And This Is Still The Best Christmas Photo My Family Has Ever Taken
#9
The Santa Meet And Greet Was On The Same Day As Comic-Con
#10
We’ll Have What They’re Having
#11
My Friend's Fantastic Christmas Card
#12
My Grandma Got So Smashed At Dinner That She Fell Into The Christmas Tree
#13
In Yugoslavia We Had Very Scary Santas In The 1980s
#14
Christmas, 1997. My Baby Sister Was Being Held Up By My Dad Through A Hole Cut In The Sheet And He Was Shouting At My Mom To Take The Picture
#15
Interesting Prop For The Christmas Pageant, Johnny
#16
Last Year They Were Inspired By The Elf On The Shelf And Took This Little Gem
#17
My Father And I Christmas Morning Circa 1982. Mom Said He Was Probably Hung Over
#18
Every Year I Send Out A Poorly Photoshopped Christmas Card That Reminds People Im Single
#19
We Played A Game Where The Kids Had To Decorate One Of Their Parents Like A Christmas Tree
#20
I Was Five And My Brother Was 18 Months Old And He Thought Candles Were Probably Something Interesting To Eat
#21
For The Family Christmas Photo, Everyone Had To Make A Sign With Their Relationship Status
#22
Is It A Problem When You're 10 Months Away And You Already Have Anxiety Over What To Do Next Christmas
#23
Our ‘Baby Jesus’ Was Not Happy About It And Growled As She Was Being Wrapped In Swaddling Clothes
#24
My Friend And I Took Our Babies To See Santa And This Was The Result
#25
My Brother Put All He Had On The Dance Floor The Night Of My Parents’ 1987 Christmas Party
Echidna learns extreme ironing 3 years ago (edited)
Reminds of the sleeping snow owl in an earlier BP post - https://www.boredpanda.com/adorable-sleeping-animals/?media_id=4442629
#26
This Is My Brother And I At Christmas, 1965. I Was Only 6 Months Old And My Brother Obviously Thought I Was Annoying, If Not Repulsive
#27
That One Christmas When A Champagne Cork Hit Me In The Eye
#28
I Can't Stop Laughing At This!!🤣
#29
My Christmas Card With My Cat Was Deemed ‘Sacrilegious’
pink_panda 3 years ago
Why on earth would it be sacrilegious to recreate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Gray Cat?
#30
I Told My 2-Year-Old That Santa Was Tired Of Milk And Cookies
#31
I Hated Taking Pictures When I Was Little, Especially Ones Where We Had To Dress Up. I Told My Mom I Was Done And She Didn’t Believe Me. I Didn’t Mean To Make This Face. It Just Sort Of Happened On Its Own. So This Is The Christmas Card She Got
#32
This Is Me In 1970 When I Was 5 And Meeting A Santa Who Had Face-Boobs
#33
For My Slightly Belated Birthday, I Present The Christmas Gift My Granddad Undoubtedly Regretted Most
#34
My Christmas Was Scary In Yugoslavia
#35
A Fitting 2020 Christmas Card From Our Family To Yours
#36
Has To Be One Of The Most Cringeworthy Christmas Cards I’ve Ever Seen. That Is My Parents In Front Of Their Own Gravestones They Purchased This Year
#37
Resentment At It’s Finest…not Sure If It’s From The Elf Costume Or For Us Bringing Home This Baby!
#38
The Kids Loved Meeting Santa A Few Years Ago. He’s Thrilled Too
#39
Stephanie Is Photoshopped In, As She Was In Peru
#40
I Think I Wanna Bring Back My Classic "Polo Tucked Into My Tightie Whities" Look
#41
Surprisingly, Not Much Has Changed In The Family Dynamic Since Then. Mom Still Favors The Family Cat Over Dad, I Still Take Horrible Photos
#42
My Parents Just Got A Hot Tub And Were Very Excited About It. For Some Reason They Posed With Wine And Candles Even Though The Children Were Not Old Enough To Drink
“My parents just got a hot tub and were very excited about it. Therefore, my grandma hired a professional photographer to take a family photo in the hot tub. For some reason they posed with wine and candles even though the children were not old enough to drink… and sent it out to 150 plus friends as a Christmas card.”
#43
This Is Me With Santa In 1975. I Can’t Tell Who Is More Unhappy, Me Or Him
#44
My Son Was Super Attached To Me For The First Few Years Of His Life. You Can See The Rage In Both His Face And Pointer Finger As I Stepped Away And Left Him With Jolly ‘Ol St. Nick
Mike Fitzpatrick 3 years ago
And Jolly Old St Nick looked like he was ready to lay on a railroad track.
#46
New Puppy And 1 Year Old. All Is Calm, All Is Bright
#47
Well, It Is Green
#48
This Particular Year, We Chose To Pull From The Story Of The Grinch
#49
The Time My Brother Was Given A New Bicycle, And I Got A Tricycle
Echidna learns extreme ironing 3 years ago (edited)
In just a few years, she'll be getting the socks! https://www.boredpanda.com/awkward-funny-family-christmas-photos/?media_id=4645280
#50
In The 1950s, My Dad’s Relatives Would Take Turns Each Christmas Dressing Up As Santa Claus To Surprise The Kids, Complete With This Not-So-Jolly Rubber Santa Mask
#51
My 80lb Beast Of A Dog Layla And I Really Went To Town For Christmas 2017
#52
My Brother Drowning In Santa’s Pants
#53
This Is A Family Pic From When Were Kids. We Were The Cool Family On The Block
#55
My Little Sister Took A Christmas Photo With A Questionable Bear, London 1976
#56
My Mom Was Very Excited To Be Receiving A Toilet Seat For A Christmas Present In 1981
#58
The Photographer Asked Us To Kiss And For The Kids To Act Grossed Out
#59
Perhaps The Chimney Isn’t The Best Way To Enter
#60
Their Holiday Cheer Is Electric
#61
Our 2020 Christmas Card
#62
This Is A Photo Of My Younger Sister And I On Christmas In 1996. I’m The One With The Triumphant Look On My Face Holding The Cards And Mashing My Hand In My Sister’s Face
#63
"Oh Roger, Grab The Kids! I Know A Great Way We Can Use Up All Those Bargain Deal Decorations I Found At The Local Dollar Store!"
#64
My Mom Thought It Would Be A Good Idea To Pose Us As Angels For The Annual Family Christmas Card
Eloise_Is_Weird 3 years ago
Nothings wrong here right? Or is it just time for me to go to sleep
#65
My Grandfather’s Christmas Tree About 30 Years Ago
#66
This Is What Happens When Your Parents Pick Your Costume
#67
Growing Up, I Did Ballet And I Performed In The Nutcracker More Times Than I Can Remember. The Photographer Insisted That I Caress The Nutcracker Doll, Resulting In This Creepy, Borderline Objectophilia Gem
#68
Our Family Christmas Card 2022
#69
My Parents With My Mom's Younger Sister, Christmas 1985
#70
My Parents Like To Make Our Christmas Cards ‘One To Remember,’ So They Came Up With This Idea
#71
Cyber Corn
#72
We Lived In Alaska At The Time, So I Guess My Parents Thought Our Relatives Would Like To See Us Like This
#73
When I Was A Kid, My Mom, Who Is A Seamstress, Would Make Funky Gifts Every Year For Christmas. Some Time In The Late 80s, She Got Her Hands On Some Giant Men’s Underwear And Made Sports Bra’s Out Of Them
#74
Apparently My Mom’s Grandmother, Who Took The Photo, Always Took Pictures Where The People Were Not Centered Or Heads Were Cut Off
#75
He Can’t Quite Read Yet. They Told Him It Says 'Merry Christmas'
#76
This Photo Was Taken By My Babysitter And Her Husband. I Did Not Enjoy It, As You Can Tell
#78
When I Was A Little Kid, My Mom Had The Idea To Style My Cousin Into Santa Claus One Year. The Experiment Went Wrong
#79
Growing Up, We Celebrated Christmas Eve At My Grandmother’s House And Santa Always Showed Up. I Remember Thinking How Odd He Seemed
#80
This Is A Photo Of Me And My Family Celebrating The Holidays In 1987
#81
Every Year We Would Cut Down A Tree Together. My Dad Would Let Each Of Us Take Turns Using The Saw
#82
I Was Less Than Enthusiastic About Christmas 1998
#83
The Day I Stopped Believing In Santa Claus
#84
A Christmas Card My Grandma Received
#85
My Mom Had The Idea To Photoshop Us All On A ‘Mushroom Log’ One Year, Which Required A Lot Of Green Screen Editing. We Sent This Out For Our Christmas Card That Year
#86
My Brother Had His Arms Around Us, Making It Look Like He Has No Arms
#87
My Daughter’s Father Gave His Whole Family Space Outfits For Christmas In Hopes To Get The Family Together For A Photo Session
#88
Merry Christmas, Hope You Spend This Holiday Season With Someone Deer To You
#89
I Put On A Smile, But I Have Always Hated This Photo As We Looked Like Giants In This Teeny Little Sleigh
#90
Just A Couple Of Newlyweds Enjoying Their First Christmas Together
Jesus Ortiz 3 years ago
This is quite funny, they seem to enjoy it, don't really understand why some people poopooed on this image.
#91
Meme This
#92
This Is A 1987 Christmas Morning Aftermath With Me, My 6-Month-Old Son Nathan, My 12-Year-Old Son Justin And My 17-Year-Old Stepson Damond. Damond Looks Thrilled With His Present Of A New Heater/Fan
DonnerDinnerParty 3 years ago
But why did the biological children get so much and the stepson so little? That seems very selective and unfair
Add New Image
What do you think ?
rumple slunkskin 3 years ago
I have one a friend made for me where she took an old christmas photo, photoshopped in my sis, my brother in law and covered my ex with my current spouse and put raptor Jesus in behind us all. It's a sight to behold😆
rumple slunkskin 3 years ago
I have one a friend made for me where she took an old christmas photo, photoshopped in my sis, my brother in law and covered my ex with my current spouse and put raptor Jesus in behind us all. It's a sight to behold😆
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