A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (Especially When It's Part of a Very Beautiful Necklace)

The joy of children at Christmas is only second to the joy of giving gifts that include their photographed license in some form or another.

Okay, so that's not totally true. But since I'm a member of a family where people do not need yet another sweater, coat, or piece of costume jewelry, photo gifts are the way to go. My in-laws, however, don't really appreciate a nice 8 x 10 black and white -- "Where's the color?" they ask. "What am I supposed to do with this?" they reply.

So they're not the loving grateful for a piece of bark covered in glitter type of grandparents. But that's not to say I can't find something with my kids' photos on it that will satisfy them.

But of course, the perfect recipe for a photo gift is as follows:

a) Fantastic camera
b) Unique gift idea
c) Picking the right photo

Now, I'm not going to even try to attempt "c;" I've enlisted the help of my friend and photographer Tracey Clark to help you pick the best photos for your gifts. I mean, a photo for a piece of jewelry compared to a bag is very different. Check over to her blog today and she'll give you some tips based on some of my suggestions! (How cool are we?!)

But with "a" and "b," I've got you covered.

To be quite honest with you, I wish I had registered for a camera when I was pregnant. There are definitely specific things about a camera that I look for as a parent, and I had NO CLUE as to what they were when I was pregnant. My Canon (RIP) was terribly difficult to manage. I think it was actually heavier than my baby and unless you had about six hours to read the manual, you were just lucky to get a shot.

So, when that camera died, I was pretty excited to find something new, but had absolutely no clue as to what to look for, other than a few specific things that probably no one but me cared about.

- How long does it take to actually take a picture? (will your kid be able to take his own picture and spell "camera" by the time it clicks?)

- Can you easily turn the flash on and off without having to just hold your finger over it?

- Can you take quick video without having to stand on your head?

- Can you use the camera without having to read the entire manual (okay, or any part of it)?

And so, the HP Photosmart Mz67 wins that prize. Now if you want numbers like 8 MP, 6x optical zoom, bla bla bla, then go read the product reviews on it. Honestly, that stuff doesn't necessarily matter to me. What matters is that I whipped that thing out and stuck the batteries in and was taking pictures in five seconds without reading the manual (what person with kids has time to read through a manual??).

And they were good pictures.

You can change the flash, you can get rid of red-eye, and you can put pretty little borders around your photos all before you print them out (if that's what you do). And the video is soooo easy. Who thought that video would be easy? Plus, you can favorite your photos so you only download (and print) the good ones without having to go through and delete the ones you don't like.

Basically, the camera lives up to its name as being "smart" (but not too smart so that you can't use it and it makes you feel stupid -- that is not a good smart). And at $149.99, it's incredibly reasonable, particularly considering how much you use (or should be using) a camera.

I already have way too many things piling up, I don't need bad pics of my children as part of my guilt either.

So, now with my new camera in hand, I am ready to take a slew of fantastic photos for presents (and lots of them).

Expensive but Worth it

Other than the camera and the HP Photosmart Printer (for the grandparents who insist on printing out every freaking photo you send)...

tj&co key chain -- I love this because it's not cheezy for the dads and grandpas. And her stuff is exquisitely made. I've seen it in person. [Her lariats are amazing -- a real treat just for you!] (Code CMP15 for 15% off -- but order by today for X-mas!)

Kiki & Polly Art -- These are incredibly unique!  (Code 403008515 for 10% off)

Holly Marie Jewelry Rings -- I'd love one of these, if anyone is looking to buy me a present.

MeArt -- Modern and funky.

Won't Make You Fall Over From the Price

Snaptotes -- Very cost effective photo bags. Plus a very nice company overall.

Snapfish Photo Book -- I've heard people RAVING about these. Must be worth checking out.

Personalized Photo Light -- These are just nifty.

Photo Lunch Box -- Kids are narcissists anyway, so why not let them bask in it?

Photo Note Pad -- So maybe it's weird for people to be writing all over your face, but still seems like a cool idea.

Digital Photo Key Chain -- Back ordered but still available for X-mas. Very cool. (pssst Red Envelope has about 14,000 photo gifts...) And here's a cheaper one -- slightly less photos.

So You're Cheap. That's Okay.

Stickers, Gift Tags, and Stamps -- Always a nice touch. And you'll definitely impress your recipients (aside from your amazing gift, of course!).

Personalized Book -- My mom brought the one I had done for Q into work and sold like 14 of them. Very cool.

Smoy Photo Cuffs -- Great for the tween or hipster. Handmade in Brooklyn, NYC.

Photo Ornaments -- I'd get one every year ($12 a pop).

Now go visit Tracey for helpful hints in picking just the right photo for just the right gift. 

WIN WIN WIN! And leave a comment with your favorite photo gift idea (either one listed or one you've used before that's not), and you'll be entered to win a card for 50 free Snapfish prints. (Enter by Midnight EST tonight -- only one entry per person per email per blog...).
 

Comments

[FishyGirl]

My favorite is a bracelet that I got my MIL a few years back that had tiny charms with photos of each grandchild. Come to think of it, she needs a new one with Nemo on it...

Great ideas, Kristen, thanks!

[Katie]

I think the one my mom likes the best is the photo apron we had made for her on one of the online sites. It's something you don't have to wear out in public, but it's still useful. And cute.

[ImpostorMom]

Interestingly enough, most of our family is getting Boog's first year calendars from Snapfish. It helps that his 1st month coincides with January, etc.

Also, the year after we got married I gave many of the family photo books of wedding photos because we had a friend do our photography so the mothers and such didn't get the traditional mother's albums. That went over really well.

[ImpostorMom]

http://www.momsview.com/snapfish.shtml

btw, this page has some excellent coupons on Snapfish gifts.

[Rachel]

Okay- maybe it's just me, but I can't figure out how to order the photo ornaments (the last link) it looks to me that they are options when you have them do your photo shoot that you can get the ornaments too. Am I missing something??

[Awesome Mom]

I love the camera as a gift idea. That is actually what I have been asking for this Christmas. My current camera is sloow and I get a lot of kids half out of the frame pictures because they never stay still very long.

[Heather]

My favorite photo gift to give is a personalized scrapbook. I've made them for my parents and my brother and his wife and they loved them.

[ktjrdn]

I've made CDs for the grandparents, and made a small scrapbook type insert and backing for the jewel case featuring pictures of my kids and the granparent for whom the gift was intended. they all loved them and they were dirt cheap

[divrchk]

I love photo magnets. They are inexpensive and a big hit.

[Tracy]

I think my favorite has been the picture cd montage that my husband made. It was about 150 pics of my son's first 1 1/2 years all set to music with some commentary. Very special to his grandparents. And I plan to get one of those digital keychains. Oh yes. That thing rocks!

[Heather]

A good friend just sent a locket to my daughter with my picture on one side and my husband on the other. She thinks it's the coolest gift ever and I love that she loves it!

[FENICLE]

We put all of our son's 1st year of pic's & some short video's on a cd and dolled it up for gifts at Christmas.

All the family members loved it. The mail man didn't seem to care for it though.

[Stacy]

I do photo calendars for the family (most online photo stores offer them). I choose the best 12 pictures from the corresponding month in the previous year (or do a photo collage). I've done that for the last few years and the family loves them!

[Secret Mom Thoughts]

I love photo calendars. It is great to remember what the kids were doing the previous year.

[Kyla]

My favorite use of a photo as a gift has to be the new pajama bottoms being offered at Walgreens.com. I ask you, who doesn't need comfy pants for house lounging?

[Amy Jo]

I made a photo calendar one year. Time consuming, but everyone loved it. Oh and I have some of the photo books and can attest to their awesomeness.

[Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You]

I went through my year of photos and selected ones from each month of each of the 2 kids (at that time) and had them each printed out and then I glued them onto a homemade calendar that I'd made, complete with each of the 8 grandchildren's birthdays (as well as ours, of course LOL) on it. They still have it up, even though it's 2 years old LOL

[theDigitalGuy]

I have always been a tech geek and have been searching for a cool way to display all my digital photos that are now currently stuck on my computer. I know there are digital picture frames that you can use all year, but, I was looking for a way to display them during the holidays, especially Christmas. I could only find one kind of digital photo ornament on the market and they only came in 3 colors and were round, kind of boring. Then the other day I came across a brand new Digital Photo Ornament that is not even available yet, but the company is taking pre-orders and will start shipping in June '08. The digital photo ornaments are amazing and come in all shapes and sizes and they have free shipping. Every ornament also comes with a free digital picture frame to use year round. You just take out the LCD from the back of the ornament and insert into the frame, pretty cool idea! Go check them out http://www.thedigitalgiftshop.com