I love feeling caught up, but as a working mom of a 3-year-old, that rarely ever happens in ANY part of our life. I don’t let it get to me most of the time because I’m trying to embrace this as a “season of crazy” in our lives, but it always feels SO good to accomplish little goals. Today’s post is all about getting caught up on my photo books. Best feeling ever! I’ll share the books I made this year (with five of them being made in just a few hours to get caught up!) and my tips for making photo books quick and easy.
I’m partnering with Canon HdAlbum Photo Books for this post. I have used their website and app to make books and guess what … I’ll be sharing a code at the end of this post so you can make your own books too!
Getting caught up wasn’t so bad! Here’s what I did.
First, I got out all the photo books in our living room and evaluated what I already had completed and what I felt was missing. I had recently made a vacation book, Nova’s adoption story book and one that archives Nova’s art. Next, I made a list of what I wanted to add.
I decided to do a book about our China trip (it’s a little different from the adoption book and since it was such a major trip I wanted to do it), a Disney World book, and a book of my favorite random memories with Nova. That last book ended up turning into three volumes, but it was totally worth it!
Here’s our China book. I decided to go without text and then add a few handwritten notes to the pages with dates, names and sentimental moments I want to remember.
Here’s our Disney World memories. Since we only spent two days in Disney, I didn’t have as many photos as the China book, so I opted for more full page photos, which is so easy to do with the app.
And, these are the random memories. It goes season by season and I basically just uploaded every photo from my phone that felt meaningful. I ended up with three small books for about four seasons. I don’t think that’s too bad for a new mom of the world’s cutest child, do you? 🙂
It could be worse!
Here’s our collection so far. I think I am liking the breakdown of books by year and trips, and will continue doing it in this way. I’m also liking a combination of large and small books.
I’m so happy to be caught up (for now!). If you’ve been wanting to catch up, I highly recommend making photo books online. Once you find your groove, it’s SUPER quick.
One extra tip that helps me is that I make folders on my phone (or computer) of the images I want to use before starting each book. I’ve found that actually takes more time than designing the entire boo—it’s that quick.
If you’re wanting to make your own photo book you can use our code to try it out! Just use ABM19 at checkout and you’ll get 40% off your purchase! The code is valid through 2/28/19.
If you have any questions about making photo books or staying on top of memory keeping, let me know. I’m definitely still learning, but it’s something I am so passionate about and enjoy doing. xx – Elsie
25 Comments
This is perfect timing! Catching up on photo books is at the top of my list for this winter. I love your idea for adding handwritten notes on the pages – I’ll definitely be using that idea. Thanks!
This is awesome! Thank you!! I love photo books. So much nicer than photo albums or boxes of photos.
Thank you!!!
This is great! Did you make the books from your phone or did you download the pictures to a desktop and work from there?
Thank you for sharing!
I made these books from my phone, but I did the bigger ones on my desktop with their software. 🙂
I love photo books – I think they make such wonderful personalised gifts! And they’re really easy to make nowadays too, with all the programs and apps out there! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
I love photo books – I think they make such wonderful personalised gifts! And they’re really easy to make nowadays too, with all the programs and apps out there! 🙂 ❤️
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
That’s a great idea. I’ll try to make the folders so it’ll easier to make photo albums later. 🙂
Make folders in your phone or computer is very good idea! I’ll try to caught up my 2018 memories following your recommendations and your code! Thanks
Thanks for sharing, I loved this idea. I’m definitely going to try this & capture all beautiful moments in one book.
Hey Elsie! I was wondering if you’re ever missing the old days of scrapbooking? I’m planning to make an album of my recent year in the US and I’ve been wondering if I should make it scrapbook-style or just create a photobook online and then maybe later add some embellishments to some pages. I love scrapbooking so much but it takes SO MUCH TIME, especially when you’re trying to cover a whole year!
You mention doing handwritten notes for the China trip book–how did that work out? I’ve tried doing that before with shutterfly photo books but had a really tough time finding a pen that would write cleanly on the pages (ended up with permanent marker). Did you have to use any particular special pen/marker to add your notes?
If it makes you feel better, my kid is almost 8 and we only have a photo album going up to 18 months old! Lots of catching up to do. …
I love these photo books, I hope to do this in the future when I have children. I’ve been reading your blog since the very beginning in 2007 when I was 13. I’m now 24 (the age you where when you started ABM) and still read the blog daily. Watching your life over the years has been amazing and the best is watching you two be parents! Also, when I found out you were friends with Kacey Musgraves (my favorite artist) I just about died. You are such an inspiration to me. Also, that last photo in the post with Nova in that orange headband is just the sweetest. ????
I love this idea! I’m in my mid-twenties and feel like all the pics I take get forgotten on my phone 🙁
http://shannoninthecity.com/
Thanks so much for these posts and the code. This finally pushed my husband to document his trip with his mom to Alaska her 48th state. It was easy and fun and we ordered one for a gift for her too.
I’m trying to understand if it’s worth buying a Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting printer. I have a 9 month daughter so I’m always taking pics of her and always stressed over where to get the books made. Plus my husband is an awesome photographer and I feel like being able to print our own books and prints would be amazing. Is ink terribly expensive? Is paper? Is it cost effective you think? Thanks, all! ❤️
Yes! It’s totally worth it. I usually buy my paper in big packs online so it lasts a long time and I’m able to buy ink as it runs out locally (office depot carries it if you want to buy just the color that is out and not a big pack). Best printer I’ve ever owned! xx
????Oh my goodness!!!! My husband went ahead and bought the printer based on your response. ????❤️ Thank you so much for all you do! I’m so excited!!!!!!!!!! ????
If you’re printing quite a few photos at home, it’s totally worth the cost! You can find inexpensive paper on Amazon and the Canon ink cartridges don’t have to be purchased very often, depending on how much you’re using the printer. 🙂
Do you have to buy the software every time you want to make a book?
The software is free to download. xx
Awesome, thanks. Last question! What kind of tape did you use on your wall to hang photos in the post where you showed us lots of easy ways to display photos? Thanks a ton.
I’m sorry, I’m so confused. So with this printer you cannot make your own photo books? You have to order them just like Shutterfly? This is what someone at canon just told me which bums me out because I thought you could make your own photo books. ????
Hi! They print and ship the photo books to you after you design them . We didn’t use a printer for this post. xo