Animoto is one of those services I’ve been using for years and have been in love with and always recommended, so when asked if I’d like to talk about them here on Blissfully Domestic my answer was a giddy “YES!” My family lives 800 miles away and most of the time we don’t get to spend the holidays with them. In fact, we may only see them two or three times a year, so I try to send lots of photos and videos, and on special occasions, I use Animoto to send beautiful video greetings!

What is Animoto? I’m so glad you asked! Animoto is a super cool, very easy to use video slideshow service. Upload your pictures and videos, pick a style, add text and music – and that’s it…. Animoto does the rest. Everything’s online online so there’s nothing to download, and for short videos (up to 30 seconds) it’s FREE! I’ve used the free service for the past few years to make gorgeous videos using my own photos and music (though Animoto has a free library of over 1,000 tracks already). I did one after photographing a friend’s wedding, made one for my mom for mother’s day, and more!

To make a video on Animoto, simply register an account, login, and get started! You can add pictures from your computer, from Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, or Photo Bucket. You can even add video clips! Select which images and videos you want, drag and drop to sort, add text and then choose your music. You click “Publish” and wait a minute or two, and bam! The video is done! You can then email it, share it on Facebook or Twitter, upload it to YouTube, or embed it on your blog.

Right now, Animoto has some adorable Holiday themed templates you can use. Of course, you still have the everyday styles to choose from, but I personally love this snowflake theme! I also love how Animoto paces everything to whichever song I select so everything flows smoothly.

Check out my finished video! This took less than ten minutes to create and it’s stored in my Animoto account so I can edit or add to it, share it, or look back on it later and smile…

Get a month of Animoto Plus, FREE!

Animoto is offering Blissfully Domestic readers one month of Animoto Plus, FREE. Simply register a free account by clicking this link and you’ll automatically be credited one month of free access. You’ll be able to create, share, and download as many full-length videos as you want! Make sure to sign up before this deal expires on December 31st.