Why you Should Create a PhotoBook to Reduce Clutter

Today, I want to talk to you about creating a photobook. First of all, I want you to think about whether you have physical photo albums in your home. You know the ones that you flip page by page that have individual photos taped down they usually have the little sulfane covers on them.  If you have those or even scrapbooks in your home I encourage you to consider, letting those go. Now, before the scrapbooking societies come banging on my door lol. If you love scrapbooking and the creative side of creating those I'm not talking to you, but I encourage you to just hear me out. Consider moving your creativity to the digital age and start making digital photo albums instead.  Here are some of the reasons I suggest doing this. Those scrapbooks you are creating...  

1. They are bulky; 

2. They deteriorate; 

3. They can come apart; 

4. The photos are one of a kind and can easily be destroyed or lost; and 

5. They take up a lot of space.  

Now, some of the main reasons to create a digital photo book is because...  

1. It can be duplicated 

2. It can be stored electronically 

3. It can easily be multiplied or replaced 

4. It can be less expensive 

5. It can take up less space 

6. The files used can be backed up 

What I Loved About Creating Our Photobook

So now that I've provided a few key reasons to do this, I'll show you my daughter's first photobook. It covers her from birth to her first year. I originally decided to do this because baby albums are getting harder and harder to find. When I would find a cute one they were really expensive or not attractive. I decided it would be easier to just upload the photos to Shutterfly (there are other services available, I just used them because I had a coupon) than trying to get photos printed for a physical book. I loved the experience I had because it was quick and easy. I was able to decide on the images I wanted in the book and upload them. I could handpick which photo went on which page and add commentary about the image or what was going on with her during that time. You also have the choice of picking a theme or starting your designs from scratch. For this particular book, I wanted a classic look, but for our wedding book, I used one of the provided themes. You can also choose to put something on the front and back cover, which I did. Inside, you can choose the number of pages that you want, change the colors of your pages and much more. So as you can see, you can get really creative with these. I encourage you to consider going electronic because most of your images are electronic now anyway.

Awesome Gifts and Reduction in Clutter

These also make awesome gifts! We created a Spanish version of our wedding book and my daughter's book for my husband's parents. My mother saw our version of the books (which was in English) and she wanted a copy, so we had one created for her as well. All we had to do was order a new one. My daughter absolutely loves these books. She gets them down and looks through them on a regular basis. She loves to hear the stories of that day and to tell the story to visitors. I can't wait to make additional books to add to the collection. So that's it! I want you to seriously think about trying this because it will not only open some storage space for you in your home by freeing the shelf that holds your physical photo albums, but also the space gained by getting rid of those unused scrapbooking supplies. Also, don't focus on the money wasted as you get rid of the supplies, just think about the joy you're going to get from not having this stuff cluttering your home and the beautiful photobook(s) you are going to create. Again, just to protect myself I will say if you are an avid scrapbooker, I'm not telling you to throw your stuff out I'm just giving you an alternative.  If you don't enjoy scrapbooking or no longer have the time, here is an alternative that may be able to bring happiness into your life again. If you liked this, check out my other post that walks you through the steps of creating a photobook:  Organizing your Photos by Creating PhotoBooks Let me know what you think about this idea and where you're struggling with letting go.