If you’ve been following Leckerlee for a while, you probably know that Christmas starts pretty early around here.
While most people are thinking about sunshine, gardening, and summer vacations, we’re pulling out the Christmas tree and holiday decor to create a winter wonderland for our annual holiday photo shoot.
This year, we had a new member of the team helping out with the shoot. We adopted him at the start of our off-season, and he’s quickly made himself at home.
Meet Cosmo the cat:
PREPARING FOR THE SHOOT
Every year, we devote several days to our photo shoot. First comes the planning, when we work with our prop stylist Emily Park to conceptualize cozy tablescapes and holiday vignettes.
For each new tin design, we like to create a setting that brings its theme to life. This usually involves hand-picked props, complementary surfaces, linens, vintage dishes, fresh greenery, and whatever little treasures might help create the feeling we want each photo to evoke.
Next, we shop for props to help fill out the scenes we’ve dreamed up.
On this year’s wish list (here come a few hints about our 2026 tin designs!): Bavarian folk keepsakes, alpine flowers, anything snow-related (mittens, beanies, even fake snow), fairy tale novelties, graphic wrapping paper, and pink and green bulb ornaments.
Score! I found most of these specialty papers at a local independent bookstore, and they worked perfectly for the “gift wrapping party” scene we had in mind.
Cosmo getting ready to crash the gift wrapping party and pounce on some lebkuchen:
STYLING THE SCENES
On the day of the shoot, Emily works her styling magic and puts every element in its place for each scene. Cookies, plates, cups, linens, and tins are moved around approximately one million times until everything looks just right.
If you look closely, you may spot something new...
Yes, it’s one of our new 2026 tins!
We’ll be sharing more of the new designs right after Labor Day, but we couldn’t resist giving you the first peek at one of them.
LIGHTS, CAMERA...CHRISTMAS!
Once the setup for a shot looks perfect, Emma (the first assistant on the shoot) perfects the lighting and our photographer Rebecca Stumpf starts shooting away.
Here we have Cosmo art directing a Christmas cookie scene from his perch.
And apparently, watching from above wasn’t enough. Cosmo managed to insert himself into many scenes that day 😂
EVERYTHING COMES TOGETHER
One of the things I love most about this time of year at Leckerlee is finally seeing the vision come to life.
What started in January as sketches and ideas with our design partners Strohl eventually becomes a real tin. Then the tin becomes part of a styled scene, surrounded by all the little details that make it feel like the holidays.
And soon, those photographs will make their way onto our website and into your inboxes, where hopefully they’ll give you that same feeling we had while creating them: Christmas is coming!
It may only be early August, but around here, the holidays have already begun.
** Pre-orders for our 2026 season are now live! ** We are 5 weeks out from our first bake of the season!
