Personalized Picture Gifts That Won’t Break the Budget
September 29, 2009
The baby and toddler years are a wonderful time for any family. The joy of welcoming new individuals into our lives and nurturing them as they grow is unmatched by anything in human experience. But it can also be a time of stress, anxiety and tight budgets, with the added expenses and often one parent stopping work for a while. With Christmas on the horizon, we look for ways of sharing the joy of our kids with our family, but often can’t afford to spend too much on each gift. The great news is that there are plenty of affordable personalized picture gifts that won’t break the budget. You’ll be able to share your favorite photos of your kids with each member of your family even if you can’t afford to do them a canvas print each.
Meaningful gifts at under $10 seem too good to be true, but with a little planning, research and foresight you can do it. First of all assemble a collection of your best photos of your kids from the year. Spend a while looking through your picture files and choose several different images per child. Pick different expressions, serious and thoughtful, as well as happy and smiling. Get some action shots, some funny ones too. Look at how the photos will crop; it’s good to have a selection that will work well cropped into squares as well as your standard photo format.
Once you’ve sorted out the photos you want to work with, it’s time to pick a personalized photo product to work with. One of the best affordable photo gifts I’ve found is the collage photo magnet from Photoworks. It’s a 4”x8” flex magnet with space for several photos as well as text. The photos use a square format and you can include at least six different images and several lines of text. Make one with pictures of each of your kids and you have a simple and lasting gift for each member of your family. The great thing about this one is that it is light to post as well, so is perfect for family who live far away that want to keep in touch with you and your family. To make each gift feel special, don’t just make the same collage for each person. Move the pictures around, use different images, write a special message for each person.
Another cheap and fun option is creating photo stickers. Kids love stickers and making them a sheet of stickers with loads of family photos is bound to be a hit. Include 15 different photos or have the same one repeated. You can also use these stickers to personalize your gift wrapping in an inexpensive way; with various themes for the borders and a cute picture of your baby peeking out, your gifts will look extra special decorated with your best photos.
At Christmas is always good to remember that it is not about how much a gift costs, but about how much thought you have put into it. Creating your own gifts with wonderful photos of your kids is a great way of sharing your love, even when you are on a tight budget.
Mum and Photographer
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