6 ways to prep your photos for the holidays
November is one of the best months of the year to engage with your photos. I’m guessing some of you are thinking… Are you kidding? Who has time with the holidays right around the corner?
My response…exactly.
Once the holidays hit, it’s hard. Diving into your photos and memories in November or even earlier is super productive. It gives you time to revisit and enjoy your memories because you aren’t as rushed. And best of all, it increases your chances of using your memories to touch hearts this holiday season.
Here are 6 things you can do with your photos and memories now to prepare for the holidays:
1. Go through your camera roll and find photos for a holiday card. I LOVE giving and receiving holiday cards. I know it’s becoming a bit old fashioned, but going to my mailbox during the holiday season gives me so much joy. I like to think that people feel the same when they receive ours.
If you’re not up for sending cards in the mail, send a digital holiday card and message via text or email. It can be as simple as a favorite photo and a holiday message. Here are some tips and lessons I’ve learned about holiday cards over the years.
And bonus…if you can’t find a pic you want to use, you still have time to take one!
2. Select photos for photo gifts you’d like to give this holiday season. Have you ever received a photo gift? It’s pretty awesome. Some of my favorites are metal prints, ornaments, acrylic prints, canvases, framed photos, photo books, playing cards, mugs, and other ‘drinkware’. There are also some really fun calendars out there. Photo gifts are one of the most meaningful things you can give because they are so personal and easy, and with most of these you only need ONE photo. Super easy and powerful.
I have a few photo books I’m planning to create this season and I know that if I don’t start creating them now, I’ll run out of time. Holiday deadlines are typically in early December for many companies that create photo gifts and albums, and most have Black Friday sales you can take advantage of if you start early. My go-tos for both gifts and albums are mpix.com and Mixbook.com, but there are many others.
3. Find your favorite old holiday photos and use them to decorate. I love decorating with photos. It’s so fun to bring out our family’s holiday memories and find ways to display them. I’ll even create a holiday playlist for our Nixplay digital photo frame (it automatically turns itself on and off), so I can enjoy them whenever I walk in the room.
4. Create a Holiday Slideshow for Gatherings. Put together a slideshow of favorite moments to share at holiday gatherings or to have running in the background. It could include holiday photos throughout the years during family gatherings, favorites from the previous year, or photos specific to the people attending an event.
A few years ago I created a slideshow of photos for my book club that I played at our holiday party. It was so fun to laugh and relive 20+ years of memories. You’ll love how these photos will bring out the stories.
5. Transfer your old home movies from VHS tapes, camcorder tapes, mini dvs, and other DVDs to mp4 files. Once you’ve done that, you can pop some popcorn and watch them on any screen with your family over the holidays, including your Smart TV, computer, iPad, or phone. It also preserves them and gives you the opportunity to back them up.
It’s a VERY busy time of year for professionals doing this work, so DON’T WAIT! If you choose to do it yourself, it takes time. My favorite way to watch home movies on my Smart TV is using the Projector Streaming service. It’s like Netflix for your home movies.
6. Select your favorites from the year. People tell me all the time how much they would love having an annual album for their family photos. In my experience, what keeps people from accomplishing this is how hard it is for them to select the photos. Sometimes it’s an organization thing, but often people are just overthinking it. You can’t do this wrong.
My advice is to do it pieces in the cracks of your day. For example, instead of scrolling on your phone while you’re waiting in the carpool lane, take that 15 minutes and starting with January, go through 1 month of photos at a time. You can either ‘heart’ them or copy them into a folder or album labeled ‘Family Yearbook’. I promise, you won’t mourn the photos you didn’t choose. You’ll just be so happy you did it. Come January when you’ve selected a complete year of photos, import them into an online digital album maker like Mixbook.com or mpix.com and let the app do the work.
It only takes one photo to touch a heart. Don’t let not feeling ‘organized’ paralyze you from engaging with and sharing your photos and memories this holiday season. Anytime you bring memories into your loved one’s lives to relive memories and tell stories, you win.
Overwhelmed with the thought of finding photos for a project? Getting started organizing your photos can be the hardest part! Grab our FREE GETTING STARTED GUIDE that includes tips for how to create a plan, how to take inventory of your collection, and provides the form to do it.
Holly Corbid is the Founder/Owner of Capture Your Photos, where we help you to organize, preserve, and share your lifetime of memories. Helping you touch hearts with your photos is our passion. We specialize in digital photo organization and work remotely with clients all over the country.
Looking for a DIY solution? Check out our series of online courses, The Photo Organizing Blueprint.
Find us at www.captureyourphotos.com or contact us here.