5 Ways to Share Your Special Memories

I love the convenience of my digital camera. I can take as many pictures as I want, without worrying about running out of film or wasting film by taking a bad picture. I can view the pictures instantly, without having to wait for the film to develop. However, it also means that often, the only time I view the pictures is right after I take them. Then they sit on my computer, unless I’m blogging about what we did or decide to send a few pictures to our families.

Here are a few of the ways that I like to share our special memories.

Photo Magnets

Photo magnets let you stick pictures right on your fridge. Our fridge is covered is pictures, so I was really excited about printing photo magnets. No more finding the right magnet to secure the corners of the phone or buying magnetic photo frames—the photos themselves now stick to the fridge easily!

We’ve ordered photo magnets with Sunshine’s preschool photos and the girls’ rugby photos.

Family Photobook

I’ve created an annual family photobook using various online companies for the last several years. I love this process because it’s easy to sort through the pictures on my computer, upload them to the photobook website, arrange them on the page and add captions and dates for what we did, then order the book.

The girls also love looking at the books and I know that they won’t knock pictures off the pages (as they do with some of their baby albums). I recommend comparing prices and features on various websites and watching for a good sale (sign up for their email newsletter; I’ve gotten up to 50% off a photobook by waiting for a deal).

Electronic Photo Frame

Use an electronic photo frame or turn your computer or mobile device into a photo frame with Photo Mambo. I’ve played with both of these options for sharing photos with the girls’ grandparents. For years, I had my photos running as a screen saver on my computer and it was fun to see what pictures would pop up when I wasn’t paying attention.

Photo Calendar

 I make a family photo calendar every Christmas, for our family and for my relatives. Our parents and even my aunt and uncle love getting pictures of the girls each year. And the girls love flipping the page on the calendar and finding themselves there. Since I use pictures from the previous year to make calendars for the next year, it’s fun to see what the girls looked like a year before and how much they’ve grown.

Again, I’ve used various companies for this but found Vistaprint the cheapest for the past several years; compare prices and watch for a sale, but give yourself at least 3 weeks to order for shipping purposes.

Monthly Memory Magazine

Neveo is an app that allows you to create a monthly family photo album from your phone! It’s as easy to use as Instagram. Just download the app, upload up to 50 photos per month, and wait for your album to arrive a few weeks later. It makes a great gift for grandparents, as you can have multiple copies of the journal shipped to multiple family members.

More Photo Products

These days, you can get a photo printed on nearly anything! I’ve seen custom photo blankets and towels, though I’ve never ordered those. I have gotten custom photo tumblers and mugs and thoroughly enjoyed having pictures of my kids on something I use everyday. These also make great gifts for grandparents. Really, who has too many coffee mugs? Plus it gives them a chance to show off their grandkids when their friends come for coffee!

How do you share your memories?