Why I Gift Photo Books – And Why You Should, Too!

Let’s face it, in this digital age, we scarcely take the time to print pictures these days.  My kids get printed school pictures, and any photos grandparents print some out.  Otherwise, I consistently FAIL to print pictures.  So, this, honestly, is why I gift photo books.  I have found great satisfaction in compiling photo books for my kids from various occasions, like vacations or special events.  Two years ago, I even did utilized Shutterfly’s photo book option to “publish” the book my then 5 year old daughter and I wrote.

Now is a great time to put together photo books, they make a great class gift idea for teachers, but also for a wide variety of other people in your life.  We created a photo book as part of our keepsake for my daughter’s first trip to Disney World when she was younger.  My sister-in-law created a photo book a few years ago for my in-laws to remember the family cruise we went on – we all still enjoy thumbing through it to remember how much we enjoyed the cruise!

Gift Ideas for Photo Books:

• to remember a favorite trip, like a family summer vacation, a girlfriends weekend, or maybe even a Scout outing;
• a memorable milestone, such as graduating from high school, retirement, or -in my daughter’s case- first communion;
• to commemorate a school year: create a photo book for your child for each school year, adding your own personal touches and commentary to your child’s life that a general yearbook simply can’t capture;
• to catalog your child’s life; some families I know make a photo book for age for their children;
• a sporting season: did your kids have an incredible swim team season you’d love to capture?  what about the season your daughter’s soccer team won the playoffs?  A photo book is a great way to capture the hard-work and excitement of the season, not just for the kids, but for the coaches as well.
• to compile personalized thank you notes.  For a few years in a row, I helped collect hand-created cards from my daughter’s preschool class, which I then scanned and made in to a photo book.  Each teacher got personal notes from each child, along with colorful hand-drawn pictures from each kid, as well as images the teachers captured throughout the year and placed on the class Shutterfly site.  These were incredibly personal keepsake photo books that became a big hit with the kids and the teachers.

What other gift ideas do YOU have for photo books?  How do you utilize photo books for your self or for others?