GIFT IDEAS - WEEK TWO - PERSONALIZED PLANNER

 As the search for the perfect gift continues I ran across a website that helps you to create your own book.  It was a great find. You can make anything from a photo book to a bound novel you want to publish and sell. For a reasonable price they provide you with the software to create the book, then print and ship it to you.  They will even help you sell your books if you like. The layouts are fun and easy to use. The instructions are humorous and useful and the end product is something you can be proud of. Think snapfish for writers.  

My friend’s birthday was coming up and I thought it would be fun to create a personalized planner for her. It seemed like a fun, personal way to share some of the great pictures I had taken of her and her baby over the previous year. I highly recommend that you give this a try this year.

First, log in to www.blurb.com and download the BookSmart program. When you open BookSmart it will walk you thru the steps to create and order your very own book.  It’s as easy as pie (Which by the way is a saying that has never made sense to me. If you have ever made pie you know there is nothing easy about it. Shrug.).

I chose to make a Planner (with a Notes page instead of the Month at a Glance) as it appealed to my sense of order and my creative side. The pocket size seemed the most practical as she could carry it in her purse (again my sense of order) so I chose that.  I then downloaded 13 images - one for each month and a cover. I chose images I had taken from each month that year, such as a picture of her son at Christmas and one of him in his Halloween costume. I thought it would be a sweet reminder of what he had looked like at that time the previous year. Then I clicked and drug the images to the appropriate pages. The program gives the option to edit the layout of the image, choosing one that has text space or just an image. I chose the image layout that included text and put headers for all the pictures. You could choose to add fun quotes or sayings. For example, for November there is this little tidbit from someecards “I’m so happy the family is coming over so we can all talk over each other at extremely loud volumes” that definitely reminds me of the holidays.

 

The book took me less than an hour to create and was very reasonably priced. With shipping and tax it was just over $30. For less than I would normally spend on a present for one of my closest friends, I created a personalized, fun heartfelt gift that will remind her all year of the happiest memories from the previous year. The gift was such a success that I plan to do this soon for another friend.

I hope you are all enjoying the ideas from this blog. I know I am having fun writing them. Be sure to follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/SignatureServicesLA and Twitter @castuttle for daily tips and ideas to make life easier and more fun.