What Santa does on the other 364 days of the year

It's nearly Santa’s busiest day of the year, but have you ever wondered how he spends the other 364 days?  

A fun festive poll has been commissioned by photo gifting service PhotoBox, who asked children aged 5-8 to describe what they think Santa does when he’s finished delivering their presents, and the results were quite magical. According to the children, Santa’s January is spent fast asleep next to a cosy log fire, cuddling a teddy bear (69%).  He does deserve a well earned rest after all the hard work.

By February, Santa is ready for Valentine's Day and is romancing his one and only Mrs Claus with love letters (72%). 36% of children think Santa celebrates his birthday enjoying ice cream (36%) but his favourite meal, according to 21% of kids, is fish and chips. However only 3% said he'd enjoy eating broccoli! Santa's favourite tipple is a chilled beer (26%) so maybe we should leave him a frosty lager instead of a glass of port on Christmas Eve?

For Halloween, Santa dresses up as a pumpkin (16%) and he loves the pretty coloured sparklers on Bonfire Night (25%). Santa's best friend for sharing Sunday Dinner with is apparently the Tooth Fairy, according to a quarter of the children asked. (Hope Mrs Claus is OK with that!)

In his downtime, when he’s not ‘chilling out with the elves’, Santa has some interesting hobbies including singing (42%), colouring in (27%), baking (25%), shopping (20%), skateboarding (12%) and bungee jumping (6%). 

39% of children thought that Santa was eco-friendly, using a traditional pen and recycled paper to make his naughty and nice list of all the boys and girls at Christmas.

Inspired by the findings, PhotoBox has captured some wonderful photographs of Santa throughout the year, and has made the beautiful images available to download online. You can even make your own Santa calendar using their photos and enjoy the secret life of Santa Claus throughout 2016.

To download Santa’s photos for the year ahead and get started on your own personalised calendar, visit: www.photobox.co.uk or download the PhotoBox apps from the App Store, GooglePlay or Amazon.

An Elfie Selfie Christmas Top from the Selfie Clothing Co

We are without doubt, a nation who loves our selfies. Millions of selfies are uploaded to social media everyday as we record our daily lives through the medium of digital photography using our smartphones. But we don't have to keep these images virtual, we can use them in so many more creative ways, such as having them printed onto some cool selfie apparel, designed and printed by the Selfie Clothing Co.

With Christmas coming, the Selfie Clothing Co. have a great range of Elfie Selfie tops for children, using kids' selfies to create fun festive images featuring their faces. Much more individual than an off the peg Christmas Jumper, the Elfie Selfie will make children stand out from the crowd at parties or school discos this season.

Freddy was sent an Elfie Selfie Christmas tee from the Selfie Clothing Co. featuring his face embellished to look like a Mini Santa Claus complete with hat and moustache. His reaction to seeing himself as Santa on the loved sleeved tee was priceless. He giggled out loud for the longest time!

The top arrived well packaged wrapped in paper inside a sturdy box. The round necked tee is made using lightweight jersey blend with a bespoke print to the front. The sleeves include Christmas icons such as gifts, candy canes and snowflakes to match the design. The colours and imagery gives a quirky, retro feel to the top.

The Christmas Selfie tops come in a variety of designs including snowmen, elves, reindeer and Santa, so you can pick your child's favourite to make a unique piece of clothing especially for them.

The tops are so easy to order, you simply upload an image to the site or sign in with Instagram and pick an image. Selfie Clothing Co. do the rest, hand printing the design in the UK. Delivery is within three working days. Sizing for children goes up to 8 years.

The tees would make a wonderful, thoughtful, unique and fun gift for any little one and are great for getting everyone into the Christmas spirit. What child wouldn't want to wear themselves this Christmas!?

The Elfie Selfie Tees are £15 each but you can get 20% off the price using the code: wendy20 at www.selfieclothing.co.uk.

The Selfie Clothing Co also do a range of tops for men and women using selfies in a series of cool designs.

Find out more at:

Website: https://www.selfieclothing.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selfieclothingco

Twitter: https://twitter.com/selfie_clothing

Instagram: https://instagram.com/selfie_clothing/

Creative Christmas Gifts - Make It Sunday

Photobox has carried out some research and discovered that over 2 million Brits will have already started hand making festive gifts to give to their loved ones at Christmas. October 25th was dubbed Make It Sunday, marking the weekend that UK gift givers started lovingly creating personalised and hand made gifts. Staring early and being organised is a great way to keep Christmas stress to a minimum.

The trend for personalised gift giving sees an average of £15.21 being spent on each gift with up to 14 hours of work going into creating them. Two thirds of shoppers will go online to order a personalised gift, which will be appreciated twice as much as something bought on the high street. 72% of people surveyed said they would prefer something that has been made especially for them and we feel four times more satisfaction giving them. So it's really a win-win situation all round!

Gifts made using a photograph come out as the top choice when it comes to personalised gifts. After all, who wouldn't want a present with a loved one's face, an adored pet or a favourite place printed onto it!?

Photobox have sent me some credit so I can join in with the 'Make It Sunday' phenomena, creating some lovely gifts and joining in with the 'Make It' craze. From framed prints to teddy bears to bags to mugs, there is a huge choice when it comes to personalised photogift.

One of my favourite gifts to give grandparents at Christmas is a photo calendar. Featuring up to 12 pages of photographs of the grandchildren, it's a gift that gives all year round. Photobox have a selection of calendars including desk calendars to poster calendars to A3 calendars to suit all tastes. They can be purchased online and then created within one month, taking off the pressure of doing them there and then.

To make a good photo gift, Photobox give the following advice for taking and choosing the perfect pictures.

The website itself is easy to use. You simply upload your chosen photo images to the site, which are stored in an online album. Good quality, high resolution images work best. You can then use them to create your perfect personalised gifts. You can add text, edit images, pick product designs and choose optional extras to make a gift to be proud of. Once you have created a photo gift you get the chance to review it before committing to a purchase. The site lets you know if any photos are missing or if any are low resolution, giving you the chance to re-edit your creation.

Once you are happy you can order your gift and it will be delivered to your door within a few working days, in plenty of time for Christmas!

So join the 'Make It Sunday' revolution and get making some gifts that your loved ones will love and that you will be proud to give.

Find out more and check out the regular special offers and discount codes at www.photobox.co.uk.

For super quick gift making on the go, PhotoBox have a mobile website and an app, available on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon.

Father's Day Gift Ideas #TruprintDads

Father's Day this year falls on June 21st, giving us all a few weeks to come up with the perfect gifts to give as we celebrate the men in our lives and everything that they do for us. This year, with my own lovely dad, my father-in-law and Ian to get gifts for, Kizzy and I decided to get creative and make them some personalised pressies.

We decided that it would be a nice idea to make each dad a personalised mug with a matching pair of coasters, and then filling the mug with something to match their personalities. This gift could then be wrapped in cellophane and finished with a ribbon to create a beautiful, bespoke present that will be treasured.

The first job was to create collages to go onto the mugs and coasters. For my dad and my FIL I used old family and personal photos to create images that would bring back happy memories. For Ian, Kizzy created something arty, celebrating the things that her dad loves (including all five of his kids!) I used Picmonkey to do the photo editing. Making the images first gives you much more creative freedom to design the perfect collage using overlays, clip art and filters.

Once we had the designs, we used Truprint to create the photogifts we wanted. (Truprint currently have a great Father's Day promotion, details of which are at the bottom of this post!) The mugs and coasters are easy to make online by uploading the images onto the site and editing them and adding text. With the mugs you can choose the colour of the inside of the cup and have a choice of font for the text. The coasters come in a pack of six, so by uploading three designs, I made a pair of coasters to match each mug.

Once ordered the photo gifts were delivered to my door within a few days, ready to have the finishing touches applied.

Depending on the dad's tastes, the mug can be filled with all manner of small gifts. We decided on using retro sweets, sachets of hot drinks and character socks and a keyring for our three presents. But you could use stationary products, a new tie, a miniature bottle of brandy with some sachets of coffee, some packs of seeds or some bars of dad's favourite chocolates. Another idea is to make dad some promise vouchers, either by hand or on the computer, to be exchanged for things such as bringing him breakfast in bed, washing his car or letting him take control of the TV for one day! 

You can really have fun making this gift, from creating the collages to putting the finished gifts together. I like presents that look good, show thought and are functional after the big day.

The price of the photo gifts that we ordered from Truprint are:

Photo mugs 11 oz from £7.99

Coasters x 6 £14.99

6 x 4 photo prints from 5p

Another quick and easy idea for a Father's Day Gift is to buy a cheap photo frame and buy prints to go in it. It's very simple to do and the photo prints cost just pennies making it a very reasonable gift. This is an excellent present idea for grandads, who you possibly don't get to see very often. It's a nice touch to include a declaration that you promise to send updated photographs four times a year to replace the photographs so they can always have some up to date pictures of the grandchildren hanging on their wall.

You can find the mugs and coasters plus other fantastic Father's Day gift ideas on the Truprint website. Last day for ordering for Father's Day is June 15th.

Truprint have a special Father's Day offer saving you up to £30 off your order.

Code LOVEMYDAD gives £10 discount on order £20-£49.99 and £30 discount on orders £50 or more!

Minimum spend does not include P&P charges

Offer is valid until midnight 15th June 2015.

Offer is valid for single use during the promotional period and to customers residing in the UK on Truprint.co.uk only.

P&P charges will apply

Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or on pre-paid prints.

Please allow an additional 1-2 delivery days during this promotional period.

I received credit to make my Father's Day mugs and coasters.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas - plus get a FREE Truprint photo card #millionmumssmile

This year, Mother's Day is on Sunday March 15th.  It's a great excuse for celebrating motherhood and saying thank you to our mums (not that we should ever need an excuse for doing that!) 

Truprint have challenged me to make some personalised Mother's Day gifts for my mum and my mother-in-law.  I decided that it would be lovely to use some old photographs from our family albums to create some nostalgic gifts for the mums in my life. 

I love old photographs.  Each one is rich with memories, evoking emotions from days gone by. Although the quality may not be as good as photographs nowadays, the images themselves are simply wonderful.  Losing a little bit of clarity when they are used in photo gifts adds a retro charm, reminding us of fond moments from the past when things seemed so much simpler.

Mother's Day for me, is a time to celebrate the relationship that I have with my mum.  I loved looking through old pictures from my own childhood, finding photos of my mum as a young woman with myself and my sisters.  Snaps from holidays, days out, family parties and even pictures from photo booths depicted moments from our shared past, which I knew would make an incredible photo gift, charged with love and emotion and steeped with happy memories.

My mum is a proud silver surfer, using the computer that we gave her to stay in touch with the grandchildren and to surf the net.  So the ideal gift for her was a new mouse mat.  Creating a collage design on the mouse mat allowed me to use eight photographs dated from the early 70's through to the mid 80's in both black and white and colour.

I added a caption onto the mouse mat "Always my Mum...Forever my friend" which sums up our relationship perfectly.  I was able to play with colours and fonts, but decided to keep the colour scheme simple, so as not to distract from the wonderful old photos I had chosen to use.

A matching notebook, featuring some of the same photographs used in the mousemat, completes her gift.  The note book can be filled with plain or lined paper and is ring bound. I love how a practical gift can still be so personal and hold so many wonderful family memories.  I hope she is going to love both of her photo gifts.

For a more up to date gift, I also created a collage mug featuring 15 recent photographs of the grandchildren.  I picked photos of my kids that showed their personalities and the relationships between them to give a fun rather than a formal effect.  It's bright, busy and makes you smile...just like our family life!

For my mother-in-law, I made some gifts using a set of photo booth photos of her and my father-in-law taken at the beginning of their fifty year relationship back in the 60's!  They are just such brilliant photographs that tell a story of young love. My MIL's shy and wistful smile and my FIL's sudden attack of the giggles is beautifully captured.  So my gift to my other mum this year is to immortalise this moment from her romance that lead to her marriage and becoming a mum to my own wonderful husband and his sister.

I chose to make an 8 x 10 collage photo panel and an 11oz mug.  I am so delighted with the results. Using the black surrounds on both gifts fits with the black and white photo booth effect.  The photo panel is made of high gloss acrylic and has an integral stand in the back for easy display.  It looks classy and is a great way to preserve photographic images as pieces of art for the home.

Notebook  £6.99, Collage mug £7.99, Collage 10 x 8 photo panel  £17.99, Collage Mouse mat  £6.99.

Claim a FREE Mother's Day card in Truprint's Mum in a Million campaign

Truprint would like to make a million mums smile by giving away 1 million personalised Mother's Day cards. Visit www.truprint.co.uk/mday15, create a card for your mum and simply use the code MUMINAMILLION at the checkout to claim your free card.

T&Cs

Awards one free 7x5 folded card

Standard P&P charges apply (99p)

Ship to recipient not available

Complete with envelope

Code is One time use only

Strictly one code use per household

I have worked in collaboration with Truprint on this post but have retained all editorial control.

Instajunction Review - Photo Gifts Created Using Instagram Images

We all love sharing our images on Instagram. Being able to catch all those wonderful moments during the day using our phones means we are taking more and more photos than ever before.  Social media allows us to share all these pictures online with thousands of people at the click of a button. But it's a shame not to liberate these virtual images to share in a physical way!

Instajunction is an online shop that allows users to print their Instgaram images onto some really fun and exciting items that they can get to show off in real life!  Instajunction can put your favourite snaps onto items such as fridge magnets, coasters, Polaroid style cards, calendars, stickers, posters, vinyls, wrapping paper or even onto a charm bracelet!  Pricing is very reasonable starting at just £3.99.

I was given the opportunity to try out the Instagram experience and create some items using my own Instagram images. I made a pair of double sided, high gloss plastic keyrings (£9.99 for two), a set of 12 flexible, fridge magnets (£9.99 for a set) and a 15cm square vinyl decal (£3.99).

Making the products is so easy.  The website is clean, easy to navigate and user friendly. You simply choose the product that you wish to make, connect to your Instagram account, pick your images and place your order.  The turnaround is very quick  and your printed products arrive to your door within a few working days via Royal Mail (for UK orders) .  The items are sealed in plastic bags to protect them in transit.

The keyrings are great as they have a different photo printed on each side so you get to show off two images per keyring instead of one.  The glossy plastic is thick and sturdy and the metal ring is securely attached.  they would make brilliant stocking fillers for any key wielding older kids or grandparents.  Having two means you can get to give one away and keep one for yourself. I love the idea of carrying around pictures of my kids in my pocket all day!

The fridge magnets come as a sheet of twelve framed images.  They can be separated up or stuck up as a full set.  It's a great way to display your snaps and they brighten up the freezer door!  They are flexible but not flimsy, so will be durable and long lasting additions to the fridge-freezer.  Another lovely present idea for grandpa and grandma to enjoy, letting them look at their grandchildren every time they get out a pint of milk!

The vinyl decals stick to any flat surface and would go together to make a really creative piece of wall art, brightening up any plain space.  They are a nice way to showcase favourite snaps in a very modern and funky way.  Great for teenagers to hang favourite photos up in their bedrooms.

All in all, I was impressed with the ease of ordering, the service and the products themselves.  The prices are reasonable and the postage and packing is just a £2.95 flat rate for the UK.  Instajunction is definitely a great one stop shop for buying creative, bespoke gifts for loved ones for any occasion.

If you are looking for some unique and individual gifts to give this Christmas, Instajunction is definitely worth checking out.  The lovely guys at Instajunction have kindly given me a code to share with my readers which will give you 25% off any orders placed before December 8th, so you could grab yourself some Christmas present bargains!

Simply use code:  FRIEND25CL

Instajunction.com

BTW I'm wendymcd83 on Instagram if you fancy following me :)

Show Off Your Photos with Snapbox

Snapbox make perfect keepsakes to free your favorite images from your all your photographic devices.  The photos are printed onto stretched canvas and then suspended in a matt black photo frame which can be freestanding or wall mountable.  

  They come in five different sizes from 5" x 5" to 10" x 13".  The square prints are perfect for Instagram images.  They all come with pre-installed hanging hardware.

I was given the chance to make a Snapbox print.  I opted for a 9" x 9" Snapbox print.  I couldn't decide on a single image so made a square collage using Picmonkey that featured all five of my children plus my baby grandson.  This collage was then uploaded to the Snapbox site and within seconds I had ordered my print. (Prints can also be emailed across.)  The website is fun to use, user friendly and the process is very simple.

My Original Collage

I was very impressed by the speed of delivery.  I ordered it on the 6th November, it arrived on the 9th.  The framed canvas print was extremely well boxed up and was in perfect condition.  You really couldn't hope for better service.

As soon as I saw it, I was delighted with the quality and the unique design. It exceeded my expectations and is so much more than just a framed print.  It is really stunning. The collage was printed onto the canvas perfectly.  This was then suspended within the thick, black frame giving a great effect to the finished product.  The hanging hook meant I could hang it on my wall straight away and it attached securely to a nail in my hall wall.  The print looked impressive and I was pleased with my idea to make a square collage.  Now I've got all the little people in my life perfectly displayed on my wall.

Close Up of the Frame and the Hanging Hardware

Prices range from £19.99 for the 9" x 9" print up to £49.99 for a 10" x 13" print making them very affordable pieces of art.  There is the option to edit your images to apply a filter giving a sepia, black and white or vintage effect, but I kept mine as it was.

I love the unique design.  I love the speed of ordering and delivery.  I love the simplicity of the product and I adore the end result.  Snapbox provides a quick and easy way to liberate images from hard drives to become beautiful pictures for the home.  Photos tell a story and this is a lovely way to those display special moments from your life.

The End Result

It would make a wonderful gift idea for a loved one this Christmas.

Make your own Snapbox art work here!

I received credit to try the service.

Photobox for Christmas

When it comes to giving Christmas presents that will be cherished long after the Christmas decorations are taken down, I know photo gifts will fit the bill perfectly.  Immortalizing favourite photographs onto something that will be treasured for years to come, is a perfect present idea.

This year, Photobox have given me the chance to test some of their best selling gifts, personalising them with some of my own favourite images, to make bespoke presents for my family.

Personalised iPhone Photo Case

You can really make your iPhone stand out from the crowd with an iPhone photo case.  Using a single photo or making a collage of favourite snaps, the case is lightweight and hard wearing.  The case is available for any iPhone from the 3G to the 5S and makes a great gift.  I love the idea of having photos of loved ones at hand all day long!

It is so easy to make the case using the layout templates, picking the background colour and using photos uploaded to your online album.  You can drag and drop the images and rearrange them until you are happy with your design.  You can have a matt or gloss finish.

The finished product arrives quickly, well packaged and sealed in a plastic case, ready to wrap up and pop under the tree.

• iPhone 5/5S, iPhone 4/4S or iPhone 3G/3GS cases
• Brand new design has photo printed all the way down the side too
• Features one or more photos of your choice
• Your choice of layout or background
• High quality scratch–resistant plastic
• Lightweight & hardwearing
• Cut–outs for volume control & camera
• Matt finish option for iPhone 4/4S & 5/5S
• Dispatched in just 2 days

 Currently on special offer at just £12!

Create your own iPhone Photo Case here!



Thornton's Photobox Collection

Everybody loves to receive chocolates for Christmas.  So this wonderful, personalised box of yummy Thornton's chocolates will be well received by any lucky grandparent, parent, friend or loved one.  Featuring a single, landscape image on the front, this box of choccies will put a huge smile on anybody's face.  I think it is a lovely idea, making something really special and thoughtful for that special person.

The photo on the front simply needs to be chosen, and the finished product can be previewed online prior to ordering.

• Selection of Thorntons finest milk and dark chocolates filled with a variety of delicious centres
• Choose from 12, 24 or 36 chocolates in a single, double or triple layer
• Add your photo to create a unique chocolate box
• Single photo on box measures 17.8cm by 11cm
• Next working day dispatch - order before 11 AM

 Priced from £19.99 for a box of twelve to £27.99 for thirty six chocolates.

Create your own box of Thornton's Photobox Collection chocolates here.


A3 Photo Wall Calendar

I love having a photo calendar to hang on my wall, so I get to see pictures of my gorgeous kids and grandson all year through.  The A3 wall calendars are a perfect size and will keep you organised for the next 12 months!

To make the book, you need to choose a theme.  I went for a simple Photographic Black, but there are many more colourful and patterned themes if you prefer something fancier.  You then pick the photos you want to use from your album and drag and drop them into position using one to three images per page.  You can add text if you wish.

The front is protected by a thick plastic sheet and the pages are made from thick, glossy card.  The printing is clear and crisp giving a top quality finish to your personalised calendar.  The A3 size is perfect, making it large enough for practical use, plus the photos look great hung on the wall.  The calendar comes spiral bound for easy hanging.

As an added option, you can add unlimited photos or text to mark special days for just £2.99.  I decided to use just text so I had room to write on the spaces too, but the photo option looks really cool and doesn't cost any extra (I may be regretting that decision now!)  It is very useful to get special dates pre-printed on to the calendar, and this would make a very practical gift idea for grandparents who struggle to remember all the birthdays!

• Unlimited photos for special days just £2.99
• Month-to-view layout
• Choose your own start month
• All you need is 13 photos
• Layouts with 1-3 photos
• Spiral bound white or black pages
• 13 double-sided pages
• 250gsm premium card
• 3 working days production time

The A3 Wall Calendar is currently on offer from just £9.95 (for a multiple purchase) which is 60% off!  A brilliant gift idea for a fabulous price!

Create your own photo calendar here.

As ever, I was incredibly impressed with the ease of ordering, the service, the turnaround of my order, the speed of delivery and the carefully packaged finished goods.  Top marks to Photobox for making Christmas shopping that much easier!

Take a look at Photobox.co.uk for lots of fabulous gift ideas including phone or iPad cases, chocolates, diaries, calendars, mugs, T-shirts, canvases, coasters, jigsaws and prints.  Right now there are some fantastic special offers across the site including a 3 for 2 mix and match offer valid until midnight on November 14th. Photobox often have great special offers so be sure to keep an eye out for some brilliant bargains on personalised photo gifts this Christmas.  Get your orders in quickly though to guarantee Christmas delivery!!

I received the above goods for the purpose of this review but the opinions and high praise are 100% my own!

Snapfish Photo Book Review

Snapfish are an online photo service, allowing you to share, print off and store images and purchase a range of quality personalised photo gifts using your favourite shots.  I had a go at making my own Snapfish photo book using photos from the summer holidays.

I opted for an 11" x 8" landscape photo book with a hard, custom cover.  The process was very simple, first picking the images, then choosing the book you want followed by the theme.  There are lots of different themes providing coordinating backgrounds for your photos.  Some premium themes have an extra charge attached.

I love the themes as they really make your book into something special.  I chose a premium theme, Hallmark Magical Memories.  This costs £5 extra and gives you twenty pages, each with a different but coordinating background. I then personalised my book by dragging and dropping images into the spaces.  I also added my own embellishments which I chose from a huge array of images and phrases to add to my project.  I was impressed with how easy it made it to create something a bit out of the ordinary.  The phrases such as "Splash", "Fun in the Sun", "At the Park" etc. worked well with pictures from our days out.  "Birthday Boy", "Time to Celebrate" and "Party Time" were perfect embellishments for Freddy's birthday snaps.

The layouts could be changed to include extra images, which is always important to me on account of my massive number of digital images that I want to see liberated from my hard drive.  Individual photos and text boxes can be dragged and dropped manually to further personalise the finished product.

I had a lot of fun making this book, and I had no idea that I had been creating for almost 2 hours before I was ready to order.  Making photo books can be quite time consuming when you get lost in the creative process! For those who don't have hours to spend, there is an autofill option which takes a fraction of the time.  But for me, I love getting creative and making a completely bespoke end product.

There are other optional extras you can add on.  I went for a paper upgrade giving thick, glossy, photo quality paper for my book.

My book arrived well packaged within the week.  Great service!

The theme and embellishments added a real element of fun to the book.  The kids loved the big, colourful pages, fun phrases and interesting photo layouts.  It told the story of our summer from Freddy's birthday in July to his first day at school perfectly!  We will treasure it for years to come.

Prices for the 11" x 8" hard custom cover photo books start at £24.99.

My top tip for making photo books is to create a new folder of the photos you want to include in your book on your computer, making sure the images are not too big.  This way, the upload will be quicker and easier to mange.  You will be able to double check which images you want before you begin making the book and upload them as a job lot ready to be used.  If you are like me and take ten shots of every picture, it can be tricky trying to find the best image whilst in the middle of making your book.  Taking the time to prepare which pics you want before you start makes the process much less stressful.

Find out more and make your own at Snapfish.

Photobox Photo Book Review

This summer's holiday to Disneyland Paris resulted in over a thousand photographs of Ian, the kids and myself having fun in the sun, meeting characters and going on rides.  Showcasing a selection of these shots in a photo book is such a lovely way to share them with family and friends, and preserve the memories in hard copy.  Photobox kindly offered us the chance to try out one of their new A4 Classic Collage Books and I was very happy to make one!

You need a minimum of just 26 photographs to make the photo book, but I had almost 150 in my whittled down holiday album.  You can opt to autofill your book, using the images in the order you uploaded and selected them, or to work manually.  Autofilling with a lot of images tends to put the images into extra pages which costs more.  Making the book yourself allows you to choose different page layouts using up to 12 images per page, obviously a more cost effective method when working with a lot of photos.

The process itself is quite simple.  Working online, you just drag and drop the selected images in the space that you want them and add text in the text boxes.  There is the option to pick different backgrounds with themes such as holiday, love or baby to choose from.  These can then be applied to individual pages or across the whole book to add colour and detail to your book.

The photo book creator has the uploaded photos on the bottom half of the page, and the pages of the book shown on the top of the page. The one you are working on is highlighted. I would prefer to work with the two page spread shown larger on the screen with the ability to scroll sideways onto the next page.  I think this is probably down to my age and eyesight wanting a bigger working surface!

I really like the option to show only unused photos which helps you to see what ones you have left to use. Even though used images are marked, you can go a bit image blind when dealing with lots of pics and this avoids accidentally using an image twice or missing a favourite snap out altogether.  Staying organised is really helpful when making a photo book!

When ordering, you have the option to add on extra upgrades. The checking out process was very straightforward.  Within a few days, I received an email telling me the book had been dispatched and it arrived the next day, securely boxed and plastic wrapped keeping it in perfect condition.

The book has a hardback black cover with nine apertures, through which nine of my photographs show framing them perfectly.  It is a lovely effect.  the pages are thick and glossy and the print quality is very good with excellent colour and clarity.  It's such a lovely way to display your favourite photos.

I was impressed with the backgrounds I used.  They added colour and interest.  I went for a mix and match theme rather than sticking to one design and I think it works well, helping to tell the story of my photos. I used backgrounds that I thought went with my photos.  I like the way you can adjust the layouts which gives some full page images alongside pages containing lots of small pictures.  It makes the photo book really visually interesting and allowed me to get in over 150 photographs!

All in all, I am delighted with the photo book.  Making it was very easy to do. The colour, quality, clarity and design of the finished product is great.  The collage apertures on the front cover are really attractive and look very distinctive.  The service is excellent, the packaging was very good and the delivery was fast and efficient.  The price for the A4 Collage Photo Book starts at £27.99 but there are often special offers or discount codes available.  Photo books and other photo gifts make excellent personalised presents for loved ones.

Find out more at www.photobox.co.uk.

Money Saving Personalised Photo Products and the Chance to Win Prizes!

freephotoprinting.co.uk is a website that lists all the best free photo printing deals in one place, to help people save money as they liberate their images from their digital cameras!

They are currently running a monthly photo project where people are encouraged to share their creations on Free Photo Printing's Facebook page.  To coincide with each monthly project, they are organising exclusive discounts with some top photo printing companies to inspire us all to create something new and save us some money in the process. They have some great prizes lined up for their favourite creations which get shared onto their Facebook page.  You could win a £50 Amazon voucher this month!

September's photo project focuses on photo notebooks and they have arranged a great 30% discount at one of their recommended companies, Pixum,  valid for the whole of the month. You can click through this link to get your discount code and create your own unique photo notepad: 

www.freephotoprinting.co.uk/gift/photonotebooks

I was given the chance to try out this service.  It was so quick and simple and the website was very user friendly.  After clicking through the above link and copying my discount code, I was able to pick an A4 notebook design that I liked.  There are a variety of colours and different patterns for the cover, each featuring a different number of photos for personalisation. You can also choose whether you want plain, lined or checked paper inside your book.

To personalise the design, you simply upload photos from your computer, which can then be dragged and dropped into place.  With a little bit of tweaking, zooming in and centering, I made a hardback, A4, 144 page design that I was very happy with.  I added text and made a personalised notebook for both Ian and Ella which I was very proud of.  Checking out was easy and the discount code worked first time (always reassuring!)

Pixum sent emails to keep me informed of my order and my parcel arrived quickly, well packaged with the notebooks protected in shrink wrap plastic.

The product exceeded my expectations.  The A4 notebooks are lovely, well made, properly bound, high quality, well printed and with a lovely glossy finish.  The paper inside is high quality too. They look really good and Ella and Ian were very pleased!

Ella's book is a gorgeous hot pink colour with circular photos and a bubble effect pattern.  I think it came out brilliantly well and has such a happy design. It will be perfect for her to take to college to write down notes.

Ian's book in dark blue is more masculine with its dark blue cover and geometric design.  I included photos of all the family: the two of us, our five kids and our grandson, so while Ian is stressed at work he can look at us all and smile!  My only criticism is purely down to my error-I should have made the text more visible by doing it in white.  It's a reminder to me to double-check my design before ordering online.

The potential for making personalised photo gifts for friends and family is immense.  How about making a book featuring photos of home baked food and create a bespoke recipe book?  Or you could make a journal for travelling with images of far flung places on the cover.  If you have a child off to uni, a notebook featuring the faces of their loved ones will help with the emotions of moving away for the first time.

With Christmas drawing alarmingly close already (selection boxes and advent calendars have hit the shelves already!) why not take advantage of the discount codes, have a go at the monthly photo projects and enter them into the monthly competition by posting them on Facebook.  Who knows, you might win a prize as well as getting some discounted photo gifts for loved ones!

The A4, 144 page, hardback personalised notebook is usually £14.99 but remember there is an exclusive 30% off discount code when you use the link above!

Happy creating!

Photo Books from Vistaprint

Vistaprint is Europe's largest online personalised gifting company, selling a huge range of products for both home and business use.  I was given the opportunity to make a photo book for myself, so I could try out their service and review the end result.  

I love photo books.  They are such a creative way to organise favourite images into a beautifully bound book which will last forever.  They are also an ideal gift for loved ones.  Whether you are using old family photos or your latest digital captures,Vistaprint allows you to preserve your pictures using different backgrounds, layouts and added text.  

Vistaprint photo books are available in small, medium, large and extra large formats and come with leather, canvas or photographic hard covers.  Pages come as standard or can be upgraded to glossy finish.  Prices start at just £11.99.

The website is really easy to use.  I used the online editor version where you can work online, selecting photos from your computer to edit and create photo books of up to 70 pages.  There is also a download editor with advanced editing options giving more freedom, with special effects, masks and filters which creates books of up to 120 pages.

It is easy to place images on the page and make the book look how you want it to.  You can rearrange them and add text and change the backgrounds until you are happy to save your creation.  Alternatively you can auto-fill and let the editor make your book in a single click.  Ordering is easy.  You can upgrade to glossy paper, different cover finishes and a lay flat option.

Your finished photo book is a completely bespoke, personalised and individual creation that makes such a thoughtful gift.  With Mother's Day approaching, why not make your mum a book filled with her favourite family photos.  It would be a treasured gift that would last forever.

There are various postage and delivery options and the book arrives well packaged to your door.  I was delighted with the end result.  The A4 size, photo covered, glossy paged book is gorgeous.  The Chic Black background that I chose as a theme looks really effective against the photos.  I was very impressed with the whole experience.  Everyone who has seen the book has commented on how nice it is and how lovely the thick and glossy paper is - well worth the upgrade!

The total cost of my 21 x 28 cm photo book with the glossy paper and a photographic cover was £23.73, which is a very competitive price for such a lovely , bespoke photo book.

For more information and to order your own personalised photo books or other gifts visit  www.vistaprint.co.uk

Photo Gifts From Snapfish

I take so many photographs of my loved ones!  When it comes to deciding which ones to get printed up into photo products  I often struggle to pick a single favourite.  So I was very pleased when I discovered that I could now pick a few of my best shots to include when making photo gifts for the family!

Snapfish have a new product added to their extensive range of personalised photo gifts and prints, the Collage Photo Panel.  Up to 15 photographs can be used to make a beautiful display that will be treasured for years to come.

The glossy panels are a perfect way to display favourite shots and they do away with the need for a separate  frame.  They come in sizes 7 x 5, 10 x 8 and 14 x 11 and can be hung on the wall or will stand up on a flat service.

The website is very easy to use.  Photos can be uploaded and added to the photo panel.  You can then  adjust borders, choose a background colour, change the orientation, add a title and shuffle the pictures around to create your perfect bespoke design.

I was lucky enough to be able to try out a few products for myself courtesy of Snapfish.  I created a 10 x 8 Collage Photo Panel  for my dad's 80th birthday.  I had fun picking out favourite shots of my parents and my children to create a collage that I hope he will love!  The finish is lovely and glossy and the built in stand means that it can go straight on the mantlepiece!  It cost £17.99.

I was also incredibly impressed with Snapfish's Collage Prints which start at just 9p!  Up to 20 images can be arranged onto a Collage Print.  You can add a title and change the background colour.  They are available as 6 x 4, 7 x 5 and 10 x 8.

The glossy prints are really great and can be framed to make excellent gifts.  I made a selection of 10 x 8 prints for just 99p each, using favourite shots.  They look great and are really reasonable.   Buying a frame will transform them into a wonderful personalised gift for giving to loved ones!  Excellent with Christmas fast approaching.

The Collage Mug is another fun product from Snapfish.  With a choice of background colour, an option to include text and up to 15 photos plus the optional extra of getting a coloured interior, they are a great gift idea from just £7.99.  The one I made was £8.99 with a red interior!

Find out more and order your own personalised photo gifts and prints at www.snapfish.co.uk

My Photo Canvas from Printerpix

Printerpix are a company committed to giving you the best deals on high quality photo products that will be cherished forever.  Their company objective is make the whole Printerpix experience as pleasurable as possible, from the first photo upload to receiving your finished product.  They are dedicated to providing a quality service and value their customers.

PrinterPix offers a variety of professionally printed, personalised photo products ranging from everlasting photo books, customised calendars, greetings cards and mounted canvas prints. 

I was offered the opportunity to try the Printerpix experience for myself.  I chose to have a canvas made for Freddy's bedroom and used a photo of Fred snuggled up under the beautiful blanket his Nana knitted for him. 

The ordering process is really simple.  You select the size and rotation of your canvas before choosing your photo to upload.  You get to see an image of how big the final canvas will be which is very helpful.  You also get to see the next size up which is offered as a potential upgrade with a clear pricing structure.

You then get the chance to edit the canvas and choose the thickness of the frame.  If the quality of the photograph is not good enough for a sharp image you get a warning at this point, but you can choose to continue if you want to.  You can then upgrade to an eco friendly, thicker, higher quality canvas, a gloss finish or a built in hanging kit.  

The whole process was very clear and simple and the checkout is secure.  My canvas arrived very promptly and was packaged well to keep it protected in the post.  I love the finished product.

I didn't get any of the optional extras and so my canvas is the basic option.  I was impressed with the quality of the printing and the framing.  It is a lovely picture of my little boy!!

Find out more about Printerpix's product range and order your own individual, personalised photo gifts at www.printerpix.co.uk.  They make really thoughtful gifts that will be cherished ... perfect with Christmas coming!!