Sunday, January 7, 2018

Preserving Christmas Memories


As everyone puts Christmas away, I wanted
to share some of my favorite ways of remembering
past Christmases.  

Christmas is our favorite holiday and it has the
most family traditions surrounding it at
our home.  We spend a lot of time and energy
trying to create magical memories at this
time of year and looking back at my own life,
I realize so many memories are jogged by
pictures.  

(Taken 22 years ago when my youngest was under a year.  This
picture is put out every year.  Now the two oldest have five of
their own.)

I want my children to remember, so gifts I give,
and Christmas decor involves pictures, and I 
want to share some of my favorite ways I have
found.


My most popular post last year was 
My Life Story, which I published with
lulu.com.  I have loved using Lulu for family
histories.  I have also regularly published my blog,
making copies for each of our children, with Blog2print,
but lately my favorite source has been Costco Photo.

(Christmas 2016 Book)

Photos at Christmas are so colorful and vibrant


and I wanted to preserve some of that.  I accidentally
discovered Costco's 12x12 flatfold book a few years
ago when I printed up a memory book for my oldest
granddaughter when she had spent two year's as 
a Little Miss for our friend Hannah while she was
Miss Orem and Miss Utah County.  When I got
the book back I was stunned by the thick, luxe pages
that were so glossy and stunning.  They start at $39
and I have recommended them to everyone I know.
Hannah's twin sisters both recently got married and
used these books for sign in books.


I gave one of these books to each of my children
this year - documenting Christmas 2016.  I want
to capture our traditional chocolate dipping,


desserts served,


and tables set.



These are priceless memories to me.


I had done this previously in a book comprising
our first 30 years of Christmases.  Now I plan
to do one each Christmas.  It will be so fun to watch
as the family grows, and we are always together for
Christmas.  The Christmas Memories 1979 To 2009
was printed by Shutterfly, but I can't begin to 
tell you how much more I like the glossy photos
from Costco.  I have printed these books
for family vacations also and place them
in the living room for others to look at.


It isn't every year that we get a good group
photo, but last year we had time to set up the
family, and the camera on a tripod, and play
with bouncing the flash off the vaulted
ceiling.  The picture was so good, I wanted to
blow it up.  I had tried a photo from Costco
printed on metal from my youngest son's
wedding this summer (still haven't posted about
that - yikes!) and so I decided to print the family
pajama photo out on metal.  It turned out so well,
it was placed next to the piano that houses 
our village and is guarded by two giant
nutcrackers.  (These were Costco purchases almost
20 years ago!)



After our little angel's picture was so beautiful,
I also had it printed on metal from Costco.  The
difference in printing on metal is it gives you such
bright and vivid pictures and such a high gloss
finish.  This one cost $53.  


This Holy Family shot was from two
Christmases ago - this is the 2 1/2 year
old that crawled into the manger this year
when she was six months old.  I had this
printed last year on canvas from Costco.

The mother of these little ones, my oldest
daughter, just had a larger canvas printed
of this for her family.  

You never know when you are going to
get a photo worth enlarging and printing.  If
you look closely, you can see that behind Joseph
is our same little angel, but she was bending down
and goofing around - you can see her halo above
Joseph's head.  When you did get a great 
photo, why not enlarge it and print it on
metal or canvas and use it as decor?

I hope these ideas inspire you as to how you
can preserve some fun family memories and
use them for gifts and decor.  The years flee
so quickly, it is wonderful to capture these
memories while we can.

Tell me your favorite ways of preserving
treasured Christmas memories.

I am not associated with, nor compensated
by any of these companies.  I just love to
share the ideas and sources that I love.

I will be posting this with













Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

11 comments:

  1. I've used a lot of these websites, and stores. What I really like is the occasions you document. You are definitely a family girl!

    Jane

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  2. Jacqueline, I love the idea of capturing Christmas with these photo books. I have made several of these books and it is wonderful how they capture our memories. I did one on my mother-in-law's garden and when my grandson was born. You have inspired me to make a Christmas memory book! Beautiful idea. Thanks for sharinging these lovely books...........

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  3. I am so inspired because my one goal for 2018 is to get a handle on family photos. I really want to print books from blog posts, and I've been looking at Blog2Print. Your family photos are beautiful, and I think it's great that you display them and share them with your family members.

    Thanks for this inspiring post! LOVE everything you've shared!

    xo,
    Ricki Jill

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  4. So precious...love That little angel picture.....happy week love Ria x ❤️

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  5. Jacqueline, I find your family traditions heart warming, especially the family recreation of the birth of Jesus. You should take all of these photos and compile them in a book of their own. Thank you for the suggestions. I have used Mixbook for many years and find it easy and beautiful. I recently made a book of the Gingerbread Brunch for my two little grands. I often print a copy for myself as well. I love having these visual reminders of memories.

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  6. Jackie,
    They had the huge Nutcrackers at Costco again this year, along with some 4 1/2 foot Nutcrackers. I was so tempted to buy one!! Love you family picture books and blog book! Such a great way to document it all!!
    hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, they didn't have the large ones here, just some kind of soldier looking one without moving parts. I see the big ones on Hallmark Christmas movies all the time!

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  7. Great ideas! I am so impressed.
    :) gwingal

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  8. I love this!! Christmas memories are the best memories in my opinion. What a fun and cute way to preserve those cherished moments!
    Love,
    Talley

    ReplyDelete
  9. Such wonderful ideas Jackie, and those photos of your children in the manger when they were little are so priceless!! I hope you had a wonderful birthday, I know you are busy traveling and I'm sure you celebrated in fabulous style!
    Jenna

    ReplyDelete
  10. What gorgeous photos!!! Love the idea of the book! Your family is beautiful. Enjoy your weekend!!

    ReplyDelete

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