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Sunday 02 May

Mother's Day photo books - So many choices, even with so little time

Blurb Book custom photo book - Mother's Day gift idea One of the nicest things anyone can do for me on Mother's Day is to devise gift made especially for me. And while there is no denying the sweetness of macaroni art, I will admittedly spend a lot more time pouring over a custom photo book. 


Whether you fill it with photos of the family, or assemble all of the kids' favorite recipes into a family cookbook, or have the kids make a "Why We Love Mommy" book, this is definitely one gift where the thought behind it counts. And don't worry that custom is really code for a lot of work: It's not.

Here's a round-up of some of the great photo book sites we've featured on Cool Mom Picks.

 

I've been a fan of Blurb (photo above) every since it helped me create a photo book for my impossible-to-shop-for father-in-law. The software is incredibly easy to use and the prices, quality and options are great. Whether you create a coffee table-worthy tome or a booklet of smiling baby faces, it'll be an instant classic to me.
Pixtorie
If you love the looks of a perfectly designed scrapbook but are lacking the time, patience and $500 in supplies, Pixtorie has just what you need. With real photos layered onto perfectly designed pages by their own artists, Pixtorie's designer scrapbooks, or the smaller, more affordable "simplebooks", are a great way to chronicle life in pictures.
shutterfly photobook by elizabeth
There's no beating the ease of Shutterfly photo books, especially for those of us who already upload our photos here. Choose from many sizes and design templates, or make things a bit easier with the  "Celebrate Her" photobook which comes ready-made with writing prompts. If you are looking for inspiration, check out some of these amazingly creative ideas from our readers like this one, from reader Elizabeth.

see here keyhole scrapbook
FujiFilm is in the photo gift game now through their site SeeHere.com. The Pages in Stages Keyhole Scrapbook is particularly interesting - a photobook-scrapbook-photo album hybrid that you can customize on the site, then add to later using traditional photo pages. The interface isn't quite as intuitive as some other sites and the font printing could be a little sharper, but the prices are terrific and the cloth hardcover makes quite the elegant presentation.

Mini  photo albums / brag books by ZoomAlbums
If you believe that less is more, check ZoomAlbums which we called an "itty bitty brag books of awesome. These are actually kits that allow you to arrange and print your own photos, then follow the easy instructions make three of your own mini photo books. It makes a sweet gift to accompany The Gift.


lulu minibooks
This week we discovered the new minibooks from self-publishing site, Lulu and they're terrific. It's hard to beat the wallet-friendly price for the wallet sized books - just $16 for four, so you'll have one for every mom on your Mother's Day list, and maybe one leftover for yourself.
 
Heritage Makers
When the story behind the photo is as precious as the image itself, check out Heritage Makers' professional-bound story books. I love how there is plenty of room for narrative so that you'll always remember that the reason she's shyly smiling is because she just hid the peas from dinner under the dog's bed. -Christina

Congratulations to lucky winner Hyon-hee G, who'll receive an 8-page scrapbook from See Here!

Find More: Helpful Services, Misc Paper Goods

I'd love to make one for my mom, featuring her first grandchild!

I'd like to make one for my mom. We had our daughter a year ago, making her the first grandchild on my side of the family. Watching the two of them bond has been amazing.

I'd like to make one for my mama. She lives in Oregon while we are in New York. We have wo small children and it would be wonderful to create a scrapbook of them for her.
Thanks!

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Definitely my mother, and my son's "Poppi" as he calls her, who lives far, far away on another continent. We miss her everyday, except for those brief summer days we get to spend with her, and would love to make a photo book to help her keep us in her everyday thoughts!

I would love to have one so I can make one for my lil one :)

I'd like to make one for my mother-in-law, who is always helping with the baby, and got me through the first few weeks of motherhood with my sanity intact.

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I would make one for my mom of course! My three little boys are her life, she gets so much joy out of seeing them do the things they love even if its just jumping in puddles. She has so much patience with them and I enjoy watching them together :)

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I'd like to make a photo book for my father featuring his 2 grandsons whom he absolutely adores and never sees enough.

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I'd love to make one of these books for my mom with all the grandkids in it.

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I would make one for my mother in law. She is the best but doesn't get to see her grand daughter often.

My parents would love one filled with Pics of their grandchild!

I would like to make one for my grandmother. She has 4 children of her own and several grandchildren and even a few great grandchildren. She would love a small album of all her "little angels" as she calls us in one place. She turns 70 in June and is a wonderful beautiful special lady.

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I'd make one for my husband to get a jump on Fathers Day!

I would love to make one for my mom.

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I want to make one for me me me.

I would make one for my grandmother... of her 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren!

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I would like to make one for my Daughter. She is going to be a first time Mom this month to IVF twin boys. She went through 5 years of trying to get pregnant & 2 IVF cycles. She has loved every minute of her pregnancy even when she ended up on bedrest & in the hospital. We have had at least 12 ultrasounds & I would like to put a book together showing her journey. She is so happy, strong & amazing! I can't wait to meet her two little miracles.

I would make one for my father in law. He lives overseas and rarely gets to see his grandaughter in person.

With a 5 year old, 2 year old twins and Baby #4 on the way I have no time to scrapbook anymore! I'd love to make one for my mom & dad since they don't live nearby and can't see the grandkids every day.

I'd love on of these for my parents!

I would like to make one for my mother in law with pics of her soon to be 4 grandchildren!

Would love to make one of these for my mom for Mother's Day this year.

I'd make one for my husband for his first father's day this year!

I would make one for my mother in law!

For my mom for sure!

I would love to make this for my mom, she would love it! thanks for the chance to win one!

i'd love to make one for my mom - nice way to thank her for all she's helped me with my new baby...

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Oh man! I just went to a baby shower last weekend & this was one of the gifts, the best one I might add ;o) I'd love to get one for my mom. She'd been begging for a grandbaby for the last 5 years. She finally got, not one, but two w/in less than two months! My brother & sis-in-law had their daughter this past January, just 7 weeks before I had my daughter! Our mom started spoiling the girls even before they both were born. We're planning on returning the spoiling this Mother's Day, this book would be a perfect part of that. She deserves it & had waited sooo long.

I would LOVE to make one for my son. It would make him smile : )

I would make one for my husband, he would love to have this at work and every day while he works hard, he can see photos of our 2 wonderful kids..

my daughters ages 4 and 3 for when they are older and can look back and laugh at the moments I laugh at right now.

I'd make one for my parents who live an ocean away.

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I'd use it to document our first family trip on an airplane w/ our son for him to enjoy when he's a parent (someday. hopefully).

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I'd like to make one for my mom, grandma, and mother in-law and then one for myself. I just never force myself to sit down and do it.

I'd make one for my grandmother. She's always printing photos of my kids from the internet on a crazy old printer at her receptionist job.

My daughters are the fourth generation and we'll be celebrating with my mom and the rest of our extended family at my grandmother's for Mother's Day this year. I'd love to put together a photo book for my grandmother including all four generations.

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Wow...hmmm...I think I'd make mine for my husband or maybe even for my little's one aunt or uncle. :)

I would love love love to win this. Barbara

for mom

I would love a photo book to showcase my new baby boy.

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Love the photo books idea. May I also recommend Picaboo for quality photo books? www.picaboo.com I've seen their finished products, and highly recommend.

Also love your Doctor Noize "Welcome To Grammaropolis" and your "Chicks-n-Chickens" picks!

What a great idea for mother's day! I could start a tradition making these for my mom.

My mom ... my sister died in a car accident 3 years ago at the age of 26 - mother's day is hard ... I would love to start it with me, my sis, and brother and then move to my two sons - her only grandchildren.

I'd make one for my daughter.

I actually would have to say I would make one for myself (!) because as of right now, I'm all about doing photobooks from Shutterfly every few months in place of ordering the prints and doing a lame-o job of either sticking them in an album anyway or trying to scrapbook them. My sister just had her wedding down here in Florida and there are a TON of prints I need to get a new photobook for...Hmmm...

I'd love to make one for my mother-in-law, who proudly welcomed 2 more grandchildren this year: twins who were born 3 1/2 months early to a mom who'd tried for 7 years to have a baby.

i'd make one for my husband for father's day b/c he loves this kind of stuff and that way i get to enjoy it too!

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I would love to make one for my mother in law. We lost our first son, her first grandchild. So, our new baby, her only living grandchild, is extra special to her and it just tortures her that she lives 2900 miles away.

I'd love to make on for myself actually!! But not only would it be for me, but for my twin daughters to have when they grow older. I'll all into making specially books for my girls! I'd also love to make my mom a nice brag book of her granddaughters! (And will be for Mother's Day!)

I love the idea of photo books, and would love to make one for my daughter featuring her 2 children, my grandchildren. I love working with photos. Thanks for the opportunity.

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I would make one for my husband for Father's day!

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Is it wrong to say that I'd love to make one for myself? As a mother of 2 kids under the age of 3, I haven't had the time to put my kids' pics, memorable sayings and milestones in their baby books. I feel like I'll look up one day and they'll be graduating from high school and this'll still be on my to do list. This would definitely be good motivation to get it done.

I would make one for my mom from my daughter & me!

would love to see How Fast Time Flies (http://www.howfasttimeflies.com). They seem to be the only true page by page scrapbook creator with easy but beautiful desigs. Hope CMP reviews them soon! My whole moms group uses them. :)
Quinn

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