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family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

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post contains affiliate links

 

 

busy mom trick for making yearly photo books | teachmama.com

Growing up, I loved more than anything looking at our family’s photo albums, listening to stories and recalling vacations, events, and milestones.

I vowed at a very young age that I was going to do the same for my own kids.

But man.

Maaaaaan.

Between school, work, activities, and events, I’ve found it’s really, really difficult to do anything in terms of chronicling my kids’ lives much beyond uploading photos to Facebook now and again.  

It’s awful.

And embarrassing.

But it’s probably more the norm than I think, right?

And poor Cora?  Typical third child blank baby book. At least Owen has a few pictures and that one lock of baby hair taped to the inside cover.

So here it is. I have a way that makes keeping track of things easier for me and awesome for my family. One busy mom trick that will make you wanna dance.

Kind of.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Family Photo Books–Easy, Quick, and Affordable for Super-Busy Moms:

For me, it’s all about maintaining.

So my one superstar trick is this: start NOW for next year. And use the folders in your photo program.

busy mom trick for making yearly photo books | teachmama.com

Here’s what I mean:

Create a folder called ‘family snapshot 2014’ and then month by month as you upload photos, drag one or two photos from each event into the folder. 

And then, around holiday time, when awesome photo services start rolling out awesome deals, all you have to do is upload the entire folder to the site, let the photos auto-populate in a photo book, and order it.

You’re finished.family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

 

Remember, even if you’re super far behind, be kind to yourself.  Unless we take an entire weekend to catch up on something like this, you’ll never get totally caught up. Be good with it.

  • So create a folder for this year–no matter what year you’re in–and then go back to the beginning of that year and start dragging photos over to the folder. Set a timer. Give yourself 30 minutes.
  • Then choose a platform: Shutterfly Photo Books or Blurb or TargetPhoto.com or Mixbook.com or www.montagebook.com.
  • And upload that folder to the site.
  • Let the photos auto propagate. That means, let the photos auto-arrange into a book.  It’ll be fine. Let. It. Go. Let it gooooooo.
  • Make a few changes–like the covers–and then add maybe one or two captions.  Repeat after me: all you need are the photos. It’s fine.
  • Then order it.
  • Order one for each set of grandparents. They’d appreciate it.
  • And bam. You’re a star.

(Or you will be one when they open it and love you for it.)

Tiny Prints Black Friday
I try to have one book for the kids to open at Christmas full of the previous year’s events. So each year kind of starts around holiday time from the last year and goes through about early fall or Thanksgiving, depending on when I get my act together.

It’s all good. They don’t have to be totally perfect and flawless. Nothing really is, anyway.

family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms
family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms
It honestly takes all of one hour–max–and I mean maximum if you keep it up.

Sure, you may want to run through the folder first and delete any photos that you don’t want included, but that’s easy. Super easy.

And do the same for all of your other events, too.  Family goes to Disney? Create a folder. Drag all of the awesome photos into the folder, and then it’s ready for a photo book come holiday season.

family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

 

Do the same for the beach, a house renovation, a special event, fundraiser, or school event.

I’ve created photo books for just about everything I can over the past few years, and not only do they make rockstar fabulous gifts, they help to chronicle our family’s little life. They love it, and I love it.

We keep all of the photo books under our coffee table in the living room, and we actually look at them. They’re pulled out, opened, and enjoyed more often than not. I love it. And the great thing is that if something happens to them, they’re all stored in one happy cloud on the site that I purchased them from, ready for a re-order if need be.

family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

 

family photo books: easy, quick, and affordable for super-busy moms

 

Here are some super awesome deals that I’m taking advantage of and you can, too: (click the image!)

 

Tiny Prints - Holiday Offer
50 Free Prints 300 x 250
300x250 banner-1

Shop Personalized Holiday Cards
Though I’m not totally, 100% caught up with chronicling my kids’ lives, I have figured out that this trick helps me to kind of maintain memories for my family.

One super-simple way that, thanks to modern technology and some great websites and coupons, has made it easy, quick, and affordable for me to create family photo books.

And you can do it, too.

What works for you? I’d love to know how you keep track of photos for your family! 

 

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”  For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy. 

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro · http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post: « must-have gifts for kids (and families!): teachmama.com must-have gifts for kids (and families!): 2014
Next Post: something has to change and it must start here–with you and with me if we want change to happen it must start here | teachmama.com »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chloe

    November 19, 2014 at 4:25 pm

    All great options Amy – and don’t forget Artkive for storing kids’ art throughout the year. Ordering a book takes literally 1 or 2 minutes come holiday time and is a stunning keepsake of a child’s creativity.

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      November 19, 2014 at 7:16 pm

      you bet, Chloe! if you have any special deals or promos going on, please email me: [email protected] and I will share them if possible!

      Reply
  2. steph dillard

    August 3, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    best picture album organizing idea yet! i get overwhelmed with the amount of pictures, and with the bulky albums i create! thanks for this!!

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      August 6, 2017 at 2:58 pm

      Steph!! SO happy it’s helpful for you! Let me know how it goes, friend!

      Reply
  3. Stephanie Olenoski

    September 14, 2018 at 11:20 am

    HOW DO YOU INCLUDE SPECIAL KEEPSAKE ITEMS LIKE TICKET STUBS OR PROGRAMS?

    Reply
    • amy mascott

      September 21, 2018 at 8:39 am

      Take a picture of them! Do you really need them? OR. . . put them in an envelope and include the envelope in the book. I’m not a keeper of things any longer. . I take photos and include the photos!

      Reply

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