Photo Memories

I take A LOT of photos.  Like a lot a lot.  The struggle I sometimes have is getting them off of my phone/memory card and into print because there's NOTHING better than flipping through printed photos.

The easiest way I've found to get photos printed quickly and consistently is using Chatbooks.  I wrote a post HERE about the ins and outs of using the app but essentially I'm subscribed to a $20/month plan for their "Monthbooks" where I create a monthly book using my phone and they ship it to me.  In the photo below those books are all of these little black books...

There are really minimal 'layouts' for you to choose from, but that honestly makes things simpler and less stress for me.  I like to do full pages...

... but for landscape photos (and to get more photos in the book since the number of pages is limited) I often use the two-photo layout.

The print quality is great and these are one of my kids favorite things to flip through.  I think I started in 2023 and have since gone back to "catch up" on years and have 2018 - current. 

 

Highly recommend checking those out for quick and easy photo books!

Next up I have these 12x12 books that I used to make when I was way into digital scrapbooking.

Back when the boys were super little I'd put them to bed and then settle in at my computer to create these designs and it was like therapy for me. It was creative but not messy (since everything was digital) and it actually turned into a little business where I used to make birth announcements, Christmas cards and even blog designs for people ;) 

I absolutely treasure these books!

Next up - polaroids ;)  We got an instax mini camera last summer and LOVED using it on vacation to snap pics of the trip.  They're old school and finnicky and I LOVE THEM.

I put them in this glass box and got them out again this summer and they're super nostalgic and fun to look through.  I just ordered another box so that I can have a place to put the polaroids form our summer trip this year.  The downside is that the film can be EXPENSIVE so if you ever see it on sale make sure you grab it.  

Next up - my most recent photobooks. I have thought about making these for YEARS and when my kids were all at church camp, I was at home all by myself and I saw that Shutterfly was doing FREE unlimited pages I jumped on it.  The extra pages add up SO QUICK and so by waiting for the sale I ended up spending about $110/book instead of the $400+ they would have normally been.  I ordered the 10x10 lay flat book in a matte finish and was SO PLEASED with how they printed.

I did a book from our Washington 2024 trip, California 2023 and then "Summer of 2022" where we went to NYC and family camp.  

The books are STUNNING...

... and the layouts were easy to play with and work for what I wanted.  I chose the "simple" template for mine with only white/gray backgrounds and no embellishments (quite a stretch from my digital scrapbooking days).  

I love the layflat upgrade...

... and LOVE that I got to create these huge books for a bargain.

So... here's where I messed up.  The free pages sale was only going on through Memorial Day so I was in a time crunch to get these done.  Sorting through HUNDREDS of vacation pics, uploading them and then making sure I got them all in the books was A LOT (times three!).  In a way it was a blessing because I couldn't stress too much over making everything perfect but I also ended up with a couple of duplicate photos...

... and my biggest mess-up of all LITERALLY EVERY ONE OF THE BINDINGS OF MY BOOKS IS WRONG. Like... I misspelled California wrong.  And the other two books have the literal wrong years on them.  MY GOSH THIS WILL HAUNT ME FOREVER! hahahaha. 

When I typed the covers originally I just put in place holder names and it auto-generated the spines.  When I changed the covers it did not change the spine and I never went back to check.  THIS IS TOTALLY USER ERROR ON MY END and it kind of makes me giggle but it also kind of makes my eye twitch. 

Moving forward, my plan is to start working on, drafting and saving these books when I'm not rushed and then waiting for another free unlimited pages sale and just being able to add to cart and print without the rush.  That would have been smarter on my part, but I'm going to blame this on post-school brain ;). Either way I'm SO PLEASED with the books and am so glad that I have these memories in print forever!

Last summer Luke and I went to DC and I made an 8x8 (not lay flat) book just for that little trip which I also love.  I made this last Fall I think.

In hindsight I wish I'd upgraded to the nicer "lay flat" option but it's still beautiful.

Last, but not least - Inkifi Retro Prints.  I do these for "summer", Halloween and Christmas and essentially I just upload photos to their site and have them printed...

... and they look like this.  They're on HEAVY paper and the quality is awesome.

I like keeping them in little vintage dishes/containers and changing them out seasonally for everyone to flip through.

For summer I have pics from trips, days at home, pool days, etc. and they're just the sweetest! 

Phew! That was a DOOZY of a post! I hope that you gleaned an idea or two for getting pics off the cloud and into your family's hands because I really don't think there's anything sweeter.  

HAPPY TUESDAY, friends!!!