5 Brilliant Photo Gifts That Spread Holiday Cheer

If you’re like me and you love to give meaningful gifts, but you don’t have tons of time to devote to the process, then I have a question for you: have you considered photo gifts? Your family photos aren’t meant to stay on your computer or in your phone. They’re meant to be shared with the people you love, and the holidays are the perfect time to do that.

Creative ways to turn your family photos into holiday photo gifts

This year, instead of just printing and framing your images (which is also great), here are 5 creative ways to turn your favorite photos into gifts that feel personal, nostalgic, and joyfully handmade.

A Family Photo Calendar

This is pretty self explanatory, but let me tell you the bonus of creating a photo gift like this: you can do the work once and then print it for all the family members you want. Grandma and Grandpa? Check. Aunts and Uncles? Check. Brothers and Sisters? Check. It’s one meaningful gift you make that can be given to more than one person. All you have to do is pick 12 photos. If you really want to get crazy, you can add important family events like birthdays and anniversaries onto the calendar to further personalize it.

A Storybook-Style Photo Book

Our kids each have their own photo book with pictures of them with their dad. We gave them as a gift the Christmas before my husband’s last deployment in the Navy. This was a few years ago, but they still love those books. Photo books are great for both kids and adults. Shutterfly even has a board book option for babies and toddlers.

Photo Lanterns

When I was a kid, our family hosted Thanksgiving every year. One year, my mom and I created small votive lanterns for each person’s place setting. We came up with a bunch of words and phrases for each person and printed them on thin vellum paper to wrap around a small glass votive holder. When the votive was lit, the gold paper glowed and the words popped. It was so pretty, meaningful, and so easy. Just print, cut, and tape.

You could do the same thing with photos. Print one or a few favorite family photos on paper like this and wrap it around a glass jar or candle holder. Drop in a battery-powered tea light and watch your memories literally light up the room. I personally believe black and white photos are perfect for a project like this.

Family Photo Puzzle

This is such a great gift for kids! Choose a favorite family photo, and place your order. That’s all there is to it. Shutterfly has a range of puzzle making options depending on the age and puzzle making ability of the person you’re giving this gift to. You can order quickly and easily through their site here: https://www.shutterfly.com/s/photo-puzzle/

Custom Deck of Cards

For the card game lovers: have a deck of cards printed with a favorite photo on the back. I did this one year for our niece after she taught all the cousins a favorite card game of hers at Thanksgiving. I uploaded a photo of all the cousins together on Shutterfly and had them printed for her.

There are lots of sites you can use for creating a custom deck of cards in addition to Shutterfly (mpix, Zazzle, Snapfish to name a few), so go ahead and shop around. If you can’t pick just one photo for the back, try ordering something like this from Etsy – it allows you to put lots of different photos on the front of the card instead.

Bonus option: create customized wrapping with your photos

I’m going to be really honest here: even though I absolutely love the holidays, I hate (I mean, hate) wrapping presents. As a kid I loved it, so I’m not sure what changed. I’m famous for having wrapped my husband’s gift in a dish towel one year. Oops.

But I digress – wrapping might be a little more fun for me (and you if you have my problem) if the gift wrap is covered in my family’s photos. It makes it extra special, right? You can design gift bags, gift tags, stickers and wrapping paper with your own photos on zazzle and other similar sites.

Work smarter, not harder

Your family photos are more than just images — they’re your people, your seasons, your laughter, your chaos, your calm. When you turn them into something tangible, they become part of the everyday — hanging on the wall, glowing on shelves, or shuffling across the table during a game of cards.

This holiday, skip the rush shipping from Amazon, and make something that reminds you (and the people you love most) just how beautiful your ordinary days really are. It’s easy, it’s meaningful, and it’s a the gift that keeps on giving.

5 Brilliant Photo Gifts That Spread Holiday Cheer

Erica Hurlburt is an award winning Ventura County Photographer who specializes in newborn, family and school photography. Her style tends toward cleaner, classic images, both in how they’re composed and edited. Her goal in every session is to keep things relaxed and fun and to create images that are both meaningful and unique.

Erica serves clients in Camarillo, Ventura County, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake,
Malibu, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Ojai and beyond.