A couple of years ago, a moving company packed up our home in Chicago on New Years Eve and shipped us out to Connecticut. It was understandably difficult for both grandmas, and I thought that a nice way to alleviate some of the sadness would be to gift them each a family photo calendar with pictures of the kids. Thus, an annual tradition was born!
I have to admit that it was a much easier endeavor in that first year – I only had two children and I really didn’t photograph every single moment like it appears that I did in 2015. For some reason, I seem to take roughly 700 hundred pictures of my children each month? Why is this necessary? Okay, material for a later post….
Regardless, if you are interested in trying out a family photo calendar, it is pretty easy and fun!
Step 1: Find your happy place. My happy place is alone time with Gilmore Girls and some wine. I did my first calendar in 2012 while my husband was traveling for work, so I had a GG’s marathon and got to work. This is now the only conditions under which I will calendar.
Step 2: Pick your favorite photos. Don’t be too choosy here, pick the best ones and keep moving. Save your time and energy for design work. I like to create a folder on my desktop so that dragging and dropping is quick and painless. Then uploading later is pretty straight forward. Hint: If it is important to you that pictures match up with their corresponding month, then uploading in chronological order will be super helpful during the design phase.
Step 3: Pick your website. Every major photo website does calendars these days. Local stores such as CVS, Walgreens, Target, Costco and Wal-Mart offer well-priced options and you can pick-up in store, but you will have to wait 1-2 weeks. Many more mail order websites seem to pop up each year: Minted, Snapfish, Mpix are all popular choices. My go-to website for four years has been Shutterfly – they always discount the calendars in anticipation of heavy ordering in December and they can deliver very quickly. I do my calendar the day or two after Christmas so that I have a pic of the kids on Christmas morning to include, but that means I need a pretty fast turn around on printing.
Step 4: Upload your pictures to the chosen website. While uploading, look ahead and pick your background theme! There is something for everyone, I promise. Try out a few and see what fits you best.
Step 5: GO! Designing the first month will take you the longest, but do not get discouraged. It takes that first try to get your sea legs and feel confident in what you are creating. I often find myself going back to change things several times because I learn little design tweaks as I go through my calendar.
Step 6: Don’t forget to enjoy your creation, this is fun! Whether you are making it for yourself or for gifts, it is meant to be personal and a reflection of your family. Let your personality show through in your picture selection and deign process. Even though I did the whole thing myself and I know exactly how it looks, I am like a giddy schoolgirl waiting for the finished product to arrive in the mail…and I’m even more excited to give it to the grandmas!
Hint: Some people like to do a 13-month calendar that runs January through January of the following year (as opposed to January through December). It can alleviate some of the pressure to not be working on your calendar during the tight week between Christmas and New Years. I choose to stick with my process of insanity and keep it crazy. Do what works for you!
Step 7: Love what you have created! It is a keepsake! Sure, it was some work, but it is worth it. I am a sentimental dork who loves to scroll through my old photo calendars to see how the kids have changed. It also makes me feel a little bit better that I have not done a proper family photo album in a couple of years….
PS – If you are making the calendar as a gift for someone, don’t short yourself in the ordering process, get one for your family too!
What are your favorite tips for designing a family photo calendar?
