I was recently interviewed by CanvasRebel magazine about the work I do with photos and memories (and videos, and more!).
The interviewer put my article under the Challenging Industry Norms section of the website, and I couldn't agree more.
Believe it or not, the industry norm for preserving something as irreplaceable as our memories is:
photo print materials (digital photo-memory books) bound with glue that causes pages to crack, yellow, and fall out
photo print materials that do not include a 100% satisfaction guarantee
cloud photo/video storage that can be discontinued at any time, including deletion of photos and/or accounts as well as fine print reserving rights to sell your data and/or your photos
cloud photo/video storage you can't pass on to another person
digitization of old memories (converting VHS tapes, slides, film, etc. to digital form) with less than stellar results
That's the norm.
And none of it is acceptable.
Learn about preserving photos and videos (etc.) in a unique way by reading my Canvas Rebel article by clicking here:
There's even a convenient and helpful way to get all the memory-keeping you need!
Share this article with someone you know who is ready to stop settling for average. There's more! The industry standard isn't good enough for our photos & memories.
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Gift-giving--especially to certain people--can be challenging. It can be difficult to find just the right gift for just the right person. What if they don't need or like what you've chosen? What if they just re-gift your gift?
If you're ready to resort to gift cards (and who could blame you?), you've come to the right place. You're about to become the Queen/King of Gift-Giving because these10 gift ideas are sure to be enjoyed for years to come!
Let's dive in to these fantastic gift ideas! The only thing you'll need to get any of these gift ideas is a Forever account. It's free, and if you're new to Forever, it comes with a $20 coupon that you can use toward any of these items. Win-win! Plus, all of these ideas shown below are professionally printed using the highest quality in the industry, so technically it's win-win-win. :)
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
The first idea on our list is a simple one, but aside from fantastic quality, you can actually give this gift with something unique!
IDEA #1: a personalized mug feat. Mug Mix recipes
Yes, you've seen photo mugs at big-box store websites, but you've never seen mugs like this. I think this makes a great gift for anyone, but especially a college student or anyone else living on their own when you include the Mug Mix recipes.
They're easy to make, right in the mug, and they microwave in 1-2 minutes. The lunch mug mix recipes would be great just to take to work, too! I love the potato soup one myself.
Watch the video tutorial to see the 6 Mug Mix recipes, and feel free to ask me for more. Most of the additional ones I have are for desserts (like cake-in-a-mug), but I'm happy to share.
You can find the Mug Mix recipes here. You're welcome to order them for professional printing (be aware they are made from Invitations, so they'll come in a pack of 10), or just copy down the recipes on your own 3x5 cards.
The tutorial shows how to make a mug as well, but the free Design & Print software is pretty intuitive, especially for something as simple as a mug, so you can just explore templates here on your own if you prefer. Use the search bar to type in "family," or "Christmas," or "pets," or whatever key word you like.
IDEA #2: permanent digital photo storage
If you're shopping for the person who has ev-er-y-thing, I guarantee they don't have this!
I mean, unless, they actually do have Forever Storage, in which case another 10GB never hurts. (Seriously! We are always taking more pictures!)
So, here's the thing: Most people don't have a good place to digitally store their photos and videos.
Computers and flash drives are fine, but in case of disaster--from an external hard drive that won't open any more to a flood--storing your photos/videos in the cloud is a must.
However, so many cloud sites require a monthly fee, and most have undesirable fine print such as reserving rights to your photos to share or sell them if they choose (yes, for real) and/or that they can discontinue their services at any time. You can read more about this digital cloud storage nonsense here, but the solution to all this is what makes a great gift!
I discovered Forever Storage a few years ago, and it makes a fantastic gift because photos/videos stored there are not only guaranteed private without upkeep fees but also:
I LOVE my menu planner! I designed it myself and made it ultra-personal using Artisan (see Idea #10).
IDEA #4: family yearbook
I have a friend who gives this to her family every year for Christmas. She takes all the photos from the previous year and creates a digital photo-memory book (digital scrapbook) for her family. They spend Christmas day looking through and enjoying their memories!
Don't let this idea overwhelm you, either! I've taught Yearbook Boot Camp classes where attendees complete their books in either 4 weeks or 2 weeks! It is completely do-able!
The professionally-designed templates from Forever make all the difference because they are free, and the (free) software is super intuitive. See how it's done at this 5-minute video and you'll already be a pro.
A friend of mine made a blanket for her dad who was in the end stages of life. The blanket was of pictures of everyone who loved him, and it was a tender way to be wrapped up in their love.
I know a handful of people who have made blankets with Forever, and every one of them is stunned at the quality. I mean, stunned. Including me.
I made this blanket for my daughter after our trip to Ireland, which was her college graduation gift. It was such a heavenly, delightful trip that I wanted to commemorate it not just in my family yearbook but with something she could pull out every day. It was so beautiful I almost cried when I opened it. (And she DID cry when I gave it to her!)
SEE?!?! (*swoon*)
A blanket is an amazing way to highlight gorgeous pictures, and when they represent cherished memories, it's just a perfect gift.
Or how about a stadium blanket that rolls up and has a handle?! So many fun ideas for personalized blankets.
IDEA #6: old family memories digitized
I can't imagine how happy I would be if someone had gifted this to me. (In fairness, I gifted it to myself when I first learned about it, so nobody really had the chance.)
If you know someone who has old family memories that are stuck--stuck in old formats like film reels or VHS tapes or slides, or literally stuck to old "magnetic" photo albums that are eating away at photos that now can't be removed--this gift will absolutely delight!
The cost of a Forever Box includes digitizing services (for a vast array of products!) and 3-way shipping. So everything is already paid for when you give a Forever Box. Contact me for details, or learn more here:
I was SO HAPPY to get my VHS tapes (which had begun to lose their quality and started getting choppy) digitized with the Forever Box. It's not just me--Forever Digitization has the highest rating of customer satisfaction (by far) on Trustpilot, too.
Choose DVD, flash drive, or both for your digitized memories.
Order your Forever Box here, then gift it empty and let your recipient choose what gets digitized, or do the digitizing ahead of time for them and gift the final product!
IDEA #7: notebook/journal
This is a fun, quick gift to give to recipients of all ages! Just put a few photos (1-9) of your choosing on the front, a little text, and you're done.
You'll choose a wirebound or hardbound binding before you check out, and one of these interior pages:
I'm going to make notebooks for family members' birthdays this coming year using some of the pictures from our family reunion in July! What a cool gift. :)
I love the one I made for myself last year with my favorite beach pictures:
Find notebook templates here. If you want to see firsthand how easy it is to make a notebook, check out this tutorial video I made:
IDEA #8: planner
Planners are new in 2023! The actual product is similar to the notebooks in Idea #7, but there are more pages (and the interior pages will obviously be different from a journal, too).
This tutorial video goes over all the sizes and specs of Forever canvases, and I show you how to make one yourself in just minutes.
I designed my own canvas using Artisan (see #10 below) using a family tree template I bought from MoreThanABranch on Etsy, then added some additional digital art to finish it up. I love how it turned out!
There are lots of canvas possibilities!
IDEA #10: Artisan (premier digital scrapbooking software)
If you know someone who loves creativity, the Artisan software from Forever makes an amazing gift!
You can make any of the items shown in this post, from mugs to books to blankets, using Artisan instead of the Design & Print templates.
The templates, of course, are very quick, very easy to make, but if you're looking for more flexibility in design and more creativity, Artisan is where it's at!
Artisan is absolutely impressive. Think Photoshop and Canva on steroids.
This video shows you what it's like to work in Artisan by just making a basic page in a book, plus I have a 30-minute Artisan Jump Start and a whole video series called Artisan Quick Tips where you and your gift recipient can see all sorts of Artisan features, shown one at a time.
This is a screen shot of some of my pages from a family yearbook I created using Artisan, but I also made that Ireland blanket with Artisan because I wanted to use that cool Irish-looking font from my computer instead of the more standard fonts available with Design & Print.
Artisan is definitely for digital scrapbooking, but you can do all sorts of things with it. I even made a digital scrap page of gift tags that I'll cut out to give out with Christmas gifts to neighbors!
I love the ease with which we can share photos with family and friends these days. Especially with something like a family trip, everyone is taking pictures, and someone always has that perfect shot that I want to "borrow."
How do you like to share photos with family and friends? Email? Google Drive? Dropbox?
There are many online options, and Google Drive is a popular way to share photos with friends and family, but there are two big reasons I don't do it.
First, my photos aren't private in Google Drive.
Yes, that last item at the bottom is correct. Google's fine print allows them to host, reproduce, distribute, communicate, and use my content; publish, publicly perform, or publicly display my content, if I've made it visible to others. Which, if I've shared it with my family, I just have.
Second, Google Drive storage comes with a limit, unless I pay for it. I certainly don't want to pay to expand my limit when my photos aren't even secure or private there in the first place. And Google, of course, isn't the only one.
Let me tell you about my favorite way to not only keep my photos private but also share them easily with friends and family of my choosing. This method comes with a lot of *perks that I'll detail in a minute.
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Your free Forever account comes with 2 GB of free photo storage, which can house hundreds of photos. Most people take more photos than that, so if you need some you can purchase it here. (That's right: purchase. Not pay a monthly fee; you OWN it Forever!)
I'm going to tell you about the ideal way, where all parties involved have a secure Forever account, but this can go one-way, too.
If, for, example, I want to share some photos and videos with you, but you don't have a Forever account, I can send you a link to the album where I've saved my photos and videos. Like this:
Just click that and you can see an album I created of photos and videos about Forever!
From there, anyone can download whichever photos and videos they like from the album link you've shared. You just need to make sure that album is set to the "public" privacy setting so others can see it (and you can change the privacy setting later). There's even an option for others to upload their photos to the album if the album owner enables that.
The easier way, I think, is for everyone to have a Forever account so they can share through Connections securely and privately, guaranteed. This 4-minute video walks you right through how that works! It's so cool.
Oh, and speaking of guarantees, it's time to look at all the perks that Forever Storage includes. I made this list when I was first learning about Forever Storage and if I wanted to pursue Forever. Turns out: it's exactly what I want.
Keep in mind, too, that when you share your photos from your Forever Storage with your Connections and/or Groups as shown in the video, they can not only look at your photos from the albums you've chosen to share with them, but they can download the photos they want as well! Say goodbye to 30 minutes of going through each other's phones and airdropping photos to yourself every evening of a trip!
And don't forget about the free Forever app, too! We really need conveniences for our photos these days.
Someone told me recently that he looks at storing his photos in a secure, triple-backed-up place like Forever that will guarantee they'll be passed on to another generation is like photo insurance. Well said!
And there you have it! This is how to share photos with family and friends privately and securely without using Google Drive. Give it a try. I'm guessing you'll love it as much as I do.
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Photos are intended to make us happy. Have you ever thought about that? Happiness is the purpose of photos. I've experienced it. I get to see my grandpa again. I get to see my chubby-cheeked little ones (who are all off at college/work now) again.
Unfortunately, this photos=happiness fact has been lost on us.
When I talk to people about their photos, there's often some overwhelm about managing them, organizing them, preserving them in print, preserving them digitally, and sometimes even knowing where they are (cloud? phone? computer?). There can even be guilt.
I really don't have a favorite tip, but this might be one of them because I've seen what a HUGE difference templates make in people's ability to love their memory-keeping when they preserve photos in pages.
NOTE: I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.
And #3 is doable, I promise. It helps like nothing else!
A mindset shift can really make a difference, too! Looking at the benefits of interacting with your photos can help you prioritize making time for them.
I highly recommend Tip #6, particularly to anyone who just doesn't know where to start. It helps immensely!
This tip, #7, is the big one for me. It's why I have been "caught up" preserving my photos and memories--consistently--for about two decades.
I've seen tip #8 make a big difference in people's abilities to accomplish their memory-keeping goals.
In fact, I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to see the different options here because there's something for everyone. Choose whichever one looks good to you!
I honestly think Tip #9 is a bigger deal than most people realize.
And, last but certainly not least, is Tip #10.
Which of these tips is your favorite, and which one will make the biggest difference to you right now as you implement it? Tell me in the comments below.
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