Scrapbooking for the Modern Mother 

With the birth of my first child, I officially became the keeper of records. Like all moms, I faithfully took hundreds of photos and documented each milestone with zeal. I joined the scores of women who vowed to create beautiful scrapbook masterpieces and spent hundreds of dollars at Creative Memories home shows. As the piles of papers, scissors, craft punches and empty scrapbooks collected on my utility table so did all the photos of my children. Now, five years later, I still find myself trying to finish baby books hoping they’ll be done before the girls graduate high school.

Time is a precious commodity in my house and something that I don’t have enough of. While I know that there are plenty of women who spend hours working on preserving their children’s memories and enjoy it, I am not one of them. For me it’s a tedious task that leaves me stressed out about what I could have been doing while I was cutting out pictures and embellishing pages. So, I’ve decided to throw in the towel and try a different approach as the family historian.

As a woman of the new millennium, I find myself constantly using the internet to streamline everything from planning vacations to paying my bills. I’ve now added preserving my family memories to the list. By using online photo services and galleries, I can create personalized family scrapbooks, order prints and send additional copies to relatives all with the click of a button. If I pay attention to their monthly promotions, I can usually save money on duplicate copies and get free shipping on my purchases.

While there is a wide selection of photo services and galleries online, I do have my favorites and here they are:

Shutterfly.com - Although it can be a little pricier, I generally order my photo books from here. They have a great selection of pre-made templates and plenty of space for you to journal. It's like scrapbooking with out the mess and far less expensive. A nice suede covered 8.5 x 11 inch, 20 page photo book will cost about $30. All prints from this site are on high quality Fuji Film photo paper.

Snapfish.com - This is my choice for purchasing prints. Their prices for individual prints are generally a few pennies cheaper (about 12 cents each) and are printed on high quality Kodak photo paper. Snapfish will give additional discounts for pre-paid photos as well. Like Shutterfly, this site also offers photo books and personalized gifts.  

Kodakgallery.com – At the Kodak Easy Share Gallery, you’ll find a similar selection of products and services including a new line of Martha Stewart items. If you have a Kodak digital camera, this site links directly to your computer’s Kodak software making it a snap to upload and edit photos

Winkflash.com – As the new guy on the block, Winkflash still has a few technical glitches to work out. However, they do offer 50 free prints with your first order and they also print on high quality photo paper. Their prices are competitive and are certainly worth checking out.

Each photo service offers their own unique line of photo gifts, cards and calendars. As a member, which is free, you can store your photos online and share them with family and friends. This is a great feature if you have family spread out all over the United States like we do. With a simple email, you can let everyone know when you have new photos available and even give them the opportunity to order copies.

As a mom who is always multitasking, I love having a way to preserve my family’s memories that doesn’t break the bank or take months to finish. Although the photo books I create aren’t handmade, they are still labors of love and treasured. And hopefully, they will be enjoyed for years to come.