The Gift of Photos

Anyone that's ever met me or laid eyes on this blog knows that photos are a very big deal to me. I both blame and credit my mother for this - she's just as obsessed with photography as I am and was the one that gave me my first camera and inspired my love for taking pictures. As you may remember, last year she lost her house, her pets and everything she owned in a horrible house fire, including all her photos. Years and years of documenting, preserving, scrapbooking and memory-keeping of her life, her children and her family were gone in the blink of an eye. It honestly breaks my heart thinking about losing my childhood photos and all those precious memories we'll never be able to revisit by looking through albums and scrapbooks. But we also know how lucky we are to have her still in our lives and we're now focused on making new memories and documenting life going forward. 

One of my best friends from high school is an incredibly talented photographer - Stephanie from SVSiefkas Photography. (Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have so many amazing photographer friends?!) While we were back home visiting my mom a few weeks ago, she just happened to be hosting mini sessions at a local tree farm, so we had to go! I've been dying to do a "Mommy & Me" session with the kids (and Ryan was busy hunting), so this was the perfect opportunity. I even drug my mom along and even forced her into a picture or two with the kids. I was really hoping to turn these photos into some fun Christmas gifts for my mom and all the grandparents on our list. Stephanie did an amazing job and I'm just madly in love with the photos, even if Mac was a bit "bah humbug" by this point in the day (late night, early morning, no nap, lots of sugar = crankypants). I still adore them and we even managed to get a few smiles out of him by making fart noises and singing songs about toots. Boys (insert eye roll emoji here). Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see a little sneak peek of some of the fun items I made with these photos for gifts! 

Aren't they lovely? How could I not turn them into adorable gifts? I started with the idea of making ornaments out of the photos and came across the prettiest glass and zinc Tiny Prints photo ornaments. They have a great selection of sizes, layouts and colors. I ordered one for all three sets of grandparents and one for ourselves. And then I got more excited when I found the Tiny Prints mugs, notepads and the magnets. Can you ever have too many mugs, notepads or magnets? I also make a personalized photo calendar for our families each year (which I adore all year long). And while I was at it, might as well throw in a cute photo iPhone case, a canvas and maybe even a personalized stocking(with or without photo)!

Because if you have beautiful photos - don't leave them stuck in your computer or on your phone. Use them! Print them! Gift them! 

1. magnets // 2. mug // 3. iPhone case // 4. notepads // 5. ornaments

I've already received my mug, notepad and magnets- my ornaments should be here any day! I'll come back and post a few photos of my items as soon as they're gifted (I don't want to completely ruin the surprise!).

If you want to make some personalize photo gifts from Tiny Prints, you still have time to order any of these items and receive them by Christmas with expedited shipping (you can get cards in only 2 days!). And don't forget your photo holiday cards! Tiny Prints as a huge selection.

Do you gift photos?