Mariah Carey posing with her Jack Russell terrier for her 2005 Christmas cards

The other day I was browsing through one of those celebrity gossip magazines, which is a guilty pleasure I indulge in from time to time. The magazine had an article on holiday gift giving ideas from your favorite celebrities. One was the photo Christmas cards Mariah Carey had made for her family and friends.

The Christmas cards design showed her holiday spirit for all mankind and their favorite pets. The card featured Mariah and her pet dog Jack, who of course is a Jack Russell terrier. I though to myself, “Couldn’t she come up with a more original name than Jack?” Anyway, Mariah was a vision of Christmas cheer with her Santa hat placed perfectly atop her head, posing in just the right angle for the camera so she wasn’t showing too much skin (which is a first for Mariah if you know what I mean). She had the perfect smile and rosy cheeks that gave her a wintery glow.

You could tell Mariah primped for hours in front of the mirror for that perfect look for her Christmas cards, cuddling her Jack with his cute puppy smile. The only thing that was missing from the card was the reindeer antlers on Jack’s head, but I don’t think that was the look Mariah was going for.

I must say Mariah pulled off a nice looking Christmas card that her family and friends would be proud to display on their decorated mantles at home. The card was done in good taste, which is the opposite of how she portrays herself in most pictures and videos. We know Mariah Carey can be a bit over the top, leave nothing to the imagination. She lets it all hang out – the tighter the better diva – but her Christmas cards were just as beautiful as the songs she sings.

2008 Christmas cards sent by Hugh Hefner featuring himself and his twin girlfriends, Karissa and Kristina Shannon

Hugh Hefner says happy holidays quite like no other. Hefner sent out his Christmas cards this year with a sense of style and grace only befitting a pornography entrepreneur. The cards featured his two new girlfriends Karissa and Kristina Shannon on the front in short-shorts and not much else. The 19-year-old twins’ tops were covered with none other then festive body paint. Situated between the two gorgeous blondes was 85-year-old Hugh Hefner, in his signature robe. The inside of the Christmas cards featured pink writing simply stating one word – “Hef.”

Karissa and Kristina Shannon are definitely no angels. The two were charged in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2008 with aggravated assault. The beautiful models were put on probation and required to pay restitution. As for Hugh Hefner, this past year has seen him lose all the Girls Next Door. Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson, former girlfriends of Hefner featured in the popular television show, all moved on from Hugh this past year into other relationships (good thinking).

Hefner’s magazine Playboy has been in circulation for over 50 years and was founded in Chicago, Illinois. Hefner started his career as a copywriter for Esquire where he reportedly walked out on after being denied a $5 raise. The story goes that he then went out and found 45 investors to start up his now famous magazine, which has turned into an empire over the years. Playboy has branched out into TV, film, and the Internet, although reportedly Hefner has had to start selling tickets to his famous penthouse parties to help bring in more money. Here’s an idea for Hef – sell your Christmas cards on eBay. I’m sure they’d make a ton of money!

Holiday cards designed by Hank Azaria for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundations

With its canvas, seemingly of white construction paper and a color palette in line with your basic box of Crayola washable markers, a person could easily dismiss Hank Azaria’s holiday cards as horribly amateur for an adult celebrity. Please try to remember that while his resume includes 20 years of voicing cartoons like The Simpsons, it doesn’t list drawing them.

The holiday card that Azaria created for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has childlike simplicity. Multi-colored smiling faces and a scribbled heart with outpouring lines adorn the card and resemble another piece of charitable art from Christmases past, the LP album series, A Very Special Christmas. Azaria’s holiday card design is deliberate though, meant to evoke that most simple of times – childhood during the holiday season.

Children, as you might expect, aren’t well-known for giving lavish or extravagant gifts. Some celebutante, trust-fund babies might give outlandish gifts, but I digress. Instead, children only have a few things to give the people in their lives for the holidays. They give their imagination and talents…and they give simply from the heart. Could there be anything more heartwarming than something handmade from your child? The charming, almost-shy presentation to you is so endearingly filled with their hopes of you loving it after all their hard work… making it personalized just for you.

Hank Azaria

It should be no surprise that Hank Azaria’s holiday cards aren’t about something that doesn’t require assembly by an adult and isn’t a medium-sized pair of slipper-socks without a receipt. Hank Azaria’s holiday card is about something that’s simple and touching…the effortless and kind act of giving both genuinely and generously from the heart.

And although his heart and soul is forever in The Simpsons, Azaria’s live-action roles have been dotted throughout a typically animated career. I (like most people might) recall Hank Azaria’s face as Agador Spartacus in The Birdcage, but the voice-over actor has also been in several other comedic movies of note like the Ben Stiller vehicle, Dodgeball, and Grosse Pointe Blank.

And just as he leaves us smiling after watching him in one of his funny roles, children with HIV/AIDS and their families will be smiling from the help that he brings to them through the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Hank – keep up the good work!

Carmen Electra posing with her pooch for her holiday cards

I am always curious what kind of holiday cards are out there…especially ones sent out by celebrities. Since I have a bit of a crush on Carmen Electra, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find out if holiday cards sent out by her might be floating around somewhere on the Internet. So after a long googling session, lo and behold, I was able to find it, and boy was I surprised!

Not knowing what to expect (but looking forward to something fairly sexy), I was amazed at how conservative Carmen looked on her holiday cards. Wearing a Santa hat, a thin fleece top, spandex pants, and winter boots and holding her dog, Carmen looked as pretty as she always appears in the movies or on television.

And then I thought, the times I have seen her being interviewed, she comes across as a decent, perhaps quiet person, with definite religious and moral values. Because of her obvious beauty, she uses that to her advantage to further her show business career, but rarely straying into what could be called “tastelessness” (her recent Playboy appearance notwithstanding).

I think she made the right choice for the holiday cards she sent out. After all, one does not want to offend during what is considered the most religious time of year for those who celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Cards from Nancy Grace in 2008

Outspoken news anchor and former prosecutor, Nancy Grace, released her 2008 Christmas photo cards to the public. Nancy is pictured with her husband, David Linch, and their 13-month-old twins, Lucy Elizabeth and John David. The happy family posed for the center picture, with mom and dad holding the twins. This picture is flanked on either side with a close-up of each baby. The children are both dressed in red and white and are seated in front of an elegant black and white filigree background. A few short words above the Christmas photos reference Nancy’s difficult and unlikely pregnancy last year and the birth of her “miracle twins.”

Grace married her husband in April, 2007 and announced her pregnancy shortly thereafter. She was 48 years old when she was carrying the twins and had a difficult pregnancy that resulted in an early C-section in November. The babies were born small, but appear healthy as ever in their Christmas card.

Nancy Grace has had a tumultuous career as a former prosecutor and news anchor for both CourtTV and CNN. Grace had aspirations of becoming an English professor when she was in college, but quickly changed her career path after the murder of her fiancée. She was only 19 when she endured that sudden loss, and decided to enroll in law school and become a victims’ rights advocate. Her outspokenness often got her in trouble in the courtroom, but it grabbed the attention of network news bigwigs. She was eventually given her own show on CNN Headline News. Her aggressive interviewing style was scrutinized following the apparent suicide of Melinda Duckett, an interviewee who was hard-pressed by Grace. She also famously proclaimed the guilt of the Duke Lacrosse team to an incessant degree before the boys’ names were cleared and North Carolina prosecutor Mike Nifong was disbarred for his sloppy conduct during the investigation.

Regardless of Nancy Grace’s career blemishes, she seems happy as ever with her new role as mom. She has two babies to care for and she will put them first. One thing is for sure – if she is as outspoken at home as she is in the newsroom, her children will never get out of line!