6 Photo Gift Ideas Your Friends and Family Will Love
Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
by Jamie Jefferson
http://www.momscape.com
Digital photography, coupled with modern technology, makes it a snap to put your favorite photographs on a variety of different gifts, from mousepads and mugs to custom albums and ornaments.
If you're stumped for what to give someone special, consider a photo gift. They are meaningful, inexpensive, and fun to create. Here are some of our favorite ideas:
The leading online photo companies make it easy for you to create a photo calendar. You can choose from a variety of designs, and you can choose different photographs for each month as well as a favorite photo for the cover. The benefit of doing it this way, rather than making it yourself, is that you don't have to worry about the printing and the binding. The photo company does it all for you.
2. A mug
Who doesn't want to see a photo of their favorite location or their favorite people while enjoying their morning cup of coffee? Photo companies have a lot of different options for customizing mugs with pictures. Make sure to crop your photo correctly and reduce red eye if it exists. Mugs tend to display pictures very large and that means tiny flaws can stand out.
3. Photo ornaments
Order these from a photo company or make them yourself. If you are going the do-it-yourself route, you'll need to get wallet sized or smaller pictures. You can make ornaments from many different types of material. You can buy ready to use ornaments at a craft store, or even use common items, such as juice lids or pipe cleaners. Look for instructions online and have a get-together where you and your friends or children can make ornaments in one sitting.
4. Scrapbooking mini-albums
Scrapbooking is a popular hobby these days. You may be familiar with standard large sizes scrapbooks, but there are also "mini-albums" that are smaller in scale. They make a great format for creating a brag book for grandma or for sharing a special event. Gather pictures of the gift recipient and create a unique present that they'll be sure to treasure. If you want to do this project digitally, online photo websites have a number of templates where you can drag and drop your photos and captions. That way, if you plan to give these to more than one recipient, it's as easy as changing the quantity in your shopping cart.
5. Photo turned painting
If you want something that will really knock the socks off the recipient (and you have the budget for it) have one of their photos turned into a painting. For about $100 you can get photos converted to canvas at most major photo stores or through an artist who specializes in these paintings. Do a google search online and get some quotes. You can also have several photos combined to make a collage.
6. Customized photo t-shirts
Printing technology has advanced so that you can get photos printed on t-shirts. You can give your gift recipient a customized shirt of their favorite pet, or a cherished picture of the two of you. Just make sure to have the right shirt size and a photo that has been cropped and properly adjusted. Some printing shops will give you a discount if you order more than one shirt, so you may want to purchase several at once. This is a great gift idea for a large family. Order a dozen of the same design!
Browse lots more ideas for photo gifts. Plus, here are coupons for two of the author's favorite sites that specialize in unique photo gifts and digital photo printing.
This Article has been viewed 345 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.