Turn Your Blog into A Book {And More}

You mean memories into pictures? Yes. That's exactly what I mean.
The problem with today {present day} is that we {moms, women, people} tend to take a whole lot of pictures. Snap snap snap. Five minutes go by and we have 200+ photos. By the time our babies turn 1, we probably have over 10,000 photos. Not probably, we do.

So then, what do you go about doing with those photos?

The other day, I asked this question to a few people that I work with. I was then surprised by their answer.

Me: "What do you do with all the pictures you take?"
Bob, Sally, Jim, and whoever: "What do you mean?"
Me: "Well? Where do you store your pictures?"
B,S,J,W: "On the computer."
Me: "Then what?"
B,S,J,W: Peculiar look on their face. "Then that's that."
Me: "So you don't print them?"
BS,J,W: "No. Why would I? I have them on the computer"

*I don't know a Bob, Sally, Jim, or whoever.

I was honestly shocked. But then again, why should I be? In today's society it is normal to have everything on the computer, right. Emails, pictures, videos, you name it, it's all computerized. I mean, common we don't even paper chart anymore. So why should I expect anyone to actually do the old fashioned way and have old fashioned photos.

Yes, I just called 4x6 photos that you can hold in your hand old fashioned. At least, that's what I bet our kids will be saying. "Mom, boy, that is OLD."

Anyways, I'm getting off course here.

You see, I, personally, love to look at pictures. I love to hold them. I love to stare at them. I love the memories that they bring back to me. And naturally, I love how they can make people smile, bring people together, and bring things back into perspective.

Pictures are, what I like to call, powerful.

So why then do we keep them in hidden files on the computer? Sure, it's great way to access them. Sure, they don't take up much space. And sure, you aren't forced to take the time to choose which pictures to develop and choose which ones not. They're there forever.

Now, tell me when the last time you sat down and went through all those pictures? A month ago? Two? 5? A year? Never?

And if you did, how long did you last? Probably not long.

The computer tends to bore me. I look through a few pictures and then I get distracted by something else and move on. That's just the truth.

So what do I do will all the millions of pictures I take? Well. I print them. Except, I don't normally do the "old fashioned way" {even though sometimes I still like to get the 4x6 prints as well}, instead I love to turn our lives into little books. This includes my blog, our iphone pictures, and the fancy schmancy camera pictures.

Books. That tell a story.

BLOG TO BOOK.

I have done a post on this before, so I won't go into too much detail. But I tell you this... if you are a blogger, if you blog about your life {or anything else that you are passionate about} and don't want those words, memories, and photos to fade? TURN YOUR BLOG INTO A BOOK! I promise you won't regret it.

Now, I have to say, it will take more than just one book {I currently have 2, working on 3} if you have been blogging for quite some time. My books have been anywhere from 250-300 pages.

I used blog2print.com. It takes approximately 30 minutes from start to finish, and all the work is done for you, you just fill in the needed spaces. My suggestion is that you actually go through your posts before you start the process and decide which ones to delete and which ones to keep. That way, you don't have posts in your book {such as advertisement, sponsors, embarrassing I-can't-believe-I-wrote-that-posts, and so forth} that you may not want.

Then follow the steps. Always check out retailmenot.com for coupon codes or like their facebook page, as they post discount codes frequently. Every day of the week.

IPHONE PICTURES TO BOOK

I recently did my first book of iphone pictures and I have to say I am so excited about it. Unfortunately, it only has a fraction of the pictures that we have ever taken {1,000} from our phones, but it is just perfect.

To be honest with you, I love iphone pictures more than I do from the real camera pictures. Why? Because this is us. They capture the real moments so well. The goofy ones. The "hurry get your phone out" ones. The smiles. The dirty faces. The not so pretty all the time looks. Those pictures are the ones where Andrew and I can point to one and say..."Oh ya remember when...."

So, the details. I use walgreens.com for mine, but I assume you can go through any company and be pleased. The reason that I chose walgreens {besides the fact that I have many of E's baby albums done through them} is because of how easy and convenient it is.

First, upload your pictures to iphoto and then choose that little button that says "delete after transfer" so that your phone can be free of all the old photos and you can start taking new ones.

Second, go through those pictures and decide which to delete. Try to get down to 1,000 photos. Why 1,000? Because I wouldn't suggest more than that for 1 album of 150 pages, as your pictures will be too small.

Third, upload them to walgreens and choose the "fast setting" so that your upload won't take 2 weeks. Seriously.

Lastly, choose "auto fill" and it will fill your album with all your pictures up to 150 pages. In order, for those wondering.

Again, wait until walgreens has a deal going on {anywhere from 30-50% off books including extra pages} and then use retailmenot.com to get free shipping codes! It will cost you about $100 for the 150 pages, but if you think about it... that is about 10 cents a picture! It is what you would pay if you ordered each individually, and this way, they are more organized, already in an album for you, and you can show it off for years to come.

FANCY CAMERA PICTURES TO BOOK

These are the ones that I suggest taking the most time to go through, as they are the ones that I use for my babies' baby books. I have used two different websites and have been very pleased with both, so it is all about personal preference and price {hello discounts!}. Both Shutterfly and Walgreens have great quality, but Shutterfly has many more options available.

With Shutterfly, you can choose different themes and then put pictures in. However, with this method, you don't get as many pictures per page and it seems as though the pages are filled with quotes and butterflies and such. No thank you.

I have used Shutterfly though and just filled the pages with all pictures {meaning have 9+ pictures per page} so that I could maximize the space more.

Shutterfly has awesome discount codes {that you can combine} and normally I save 60%+ with free shipping.

The only downfall with shutterfly is that upload takes a lot longer and I felt like the site was running slow.

Otherwise, walgreens has always been my next favorite site to use!

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At the end of the day, whatever you choose to do with your pictures is completely up to you. However, I know  that one day I may want to sit at the couch and show my grown children what they were like when they were little.

I may want to show your daughter who is now pregnant with her first how you looked when you were in her place, pregnant with your 1st, 20+ years earlier.

I  may want to sit with your husband, when your children are off at college, and remember those days. Those days that make you say..."Remember when..."

And then I'll have to remember to have a kleenex nearby in order to not get the pages all wet. From all the tears.
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***None of these links are sponsored or endorsed by any means, just me sharing my personal positive experiences