They say that “the days are long, but the years are short” and I couldn’t agree more. Being a stay at home mom of two, I feel like bedtime can’t get here fast enough; but when I look back, my kids are growing up in a blink of an eye.
Photography has become a way for me to document that moment in time; to preserve a portion of our past. When it comes recording our life, my absolute favorite things to document are those everyday, mundane moments – literally a moment frozen in time. I know I’m more likely to remember big birthdays and vacations than I am what baby feet looked like, or how my son always had two pacifiers with him at bedtime.
Read more: Project 365 Journaling Cards
For me, part of remembering and documenting includes simple memory keeping. While I do love the photos of our everyday, it’s when I combine those photos with our story that the magic comes out. Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words; but sometimes, you need to write some of those words down before they fade with time.
After my son was born (he’s now 5), I had such a strong desire to record every small moment of our lives. I also found myself with the “stuff of life” that I just couldn’t throw out – hospital bands, baby invitations, cards, drawings from my daughter and more. Being able to combine both my photos with this memorabilia was amazing. And most of all, I loved being able to finally write down those details of our days before they were forgotten.
There are so many wonderful ways nowadays to preserve your memories and I’m pretty sure I’ve tried them all! From Instagram photo books and hard covered vacation albums to pocket based scrapbooking and handmade mini albums, the options are endless!
It can often seem a little overwhelming if you haven’t printed out a photo in years, but I promise it’s as easy as pie and once you get started, you will be so thankful to have those memories printed and documented!
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No.01Instagram Photo Albums
Ahh…Instagram! What did we do before this fun app? Instagram is my go-to social media app and there are so many different ways to design and create photo albums by linking into your Instagram account.
All you have to do is choose your favorite Instagram printing company, select your photos from your Instagram account and send it to be printed! And some companies will even compile your photos and automatically send you a printed book when your book is full and complete! How easy is that?
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No.02Photo Books
Just like Instagram albums, hard and soft covered photo albums are so easy to make! I typically gravitate towards these larger albums when I have more of a story to tell or if I have a group of photos I would like to preserve together (vacations, months, etc.).
My favorite thing about these printed books is the ability to add some thoughts or journaling directly into the book as I’m creating it. When I receive my album, it’s completely finished and ready to be shared! Adding in journaling takes a little more time and effort, but it’s completely worth it, I think!
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No.03Love Letters
I started these “love letters” books as a way to not only remember the here and now, but as a way to give handwritten love notes to my children. My hope is that one day they will stumble across these letters and smile from the stories, memories and photos.
I use a plain white journal that I picked up at our local craft store for my album and periodically add in photos and letters. Sometimes my letters are short, sweet and tell about a photo and other times they are much more detailed and descriptive. Anything goes with these sweet journals and all you really need is a book and pen!
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No.04Project Life®
If you are looking for more of an organized system to memory keeping, pocket based scrapbooking may be for you! This system is designed to help you combine your photos, memories, memorabilia and more! Some people use Project Life® to record their 365 photo challenges and work on a page each week; others use this system more like a traditional photo book.
By using a pocket system, I find that I’m able to add in more stories and thoughts than I do with any other memory keeping approach. This system also allows me to use my creativity, which I love!
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No.05Mini albums
Along the lines of pocket based albums, mini albums are a smaller scaled way to tell your story.
These books are easy to hold and flip through and sometimes don’t seem as overwhelming as larger albums. You can create vacation albums, everyday albums, or even just keep an ongoing book of favorite photos!
What I love most about mini albums is the unlimited possibilities when it comes to size, shape and format! I enjoy playing with paper and creating photo books and these cute little albums ensure that I not only print my photos, but also tell our story.
As you can see, the options truly are endless when it comes to documenting and recording your story. If you are feeling super creative and love to play with paper, then I’d highly recommend trying out mini albums or pocket based scrapbooking!
If you want something a little easier, go for printed books or love letters! Whatever you choose, I promise you will never regret taking the time to get your memories down on paper!
Your photos are amazing, Stephanie! And I love all the ways you find to display them 💕
Thank you so much, Adrienne!! xo
Love these ideas. But it is hard to find these binders. Love #5! Can you tell me where to find them?
Thank you so much for your sweet comment!! I have found great binders in the dollar section at Target, or even in their office supply section. They are about 5.5×8.5 inches and you can also purchase page protectors for these albums. Or, if you’re feeling really creative, you can grab a pack of round book rings and make your own albums with an unlimited number of pages!! Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way!! xo
You can find some on Amazon. I have used these – http://clickitupanotch.com/2012/04/photo-albums-what-to-do-with-all-those-photos-part-2/
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which companies do you like for printed books? I love the looks of the one in the picture under the She / He spread.
I still do tradional scrapbooking for my daughter. She is 20 now, but holidays and birthdays I still do pages. I do some digital scrapbooking for trips we take, because I haven’t started any traditional books for those 😁.
Who do you use for photo books?