Look at this photograph...

I must start this post by saying that I am sorry that I quoted a Nickleback song for the title of this post.  Sometimes things just fit too well though.  So, I had to.  And I'm sorry.  Mostly that the song is now probably ringing in your head right now.  Blah.

So, as you may know, I am partnering this week with Kindred Photo App for an awesome giveaway in which three lucky winners will be receiving a "year supply" of their awesome photo booklets.  Now, I'm sure some of you might be wondering, "What am I going to do with 12 photo booklets?"  That's a fabulous question.

I also was a bit daunted by the task of coming up with some ideas of what sort of photo booklets to make, but once I got started, I almost couldn't stop.  In addition to making brag books for TIH's grandmothers, I also made a few books for myself.  One of them is my favorite photos from my Facebook album "Adventures in Chicago" in which I've been documenting all of our fun times in our new city.  The other book I called "Just the Three of Us," and it is filled with my favorite snapshots of my husband, TIH, and me.

But, there are literally endless possibilities for these books. Even if you aren't the winner of one of the three giveaway prizes, you're going to want to download this app and take advantage of this awesome subscription.  I've had such a blast coming up with these little booklets, and you will too!

Here are a few ideas for how you could use these booklets:

- Baby brag books for every member of your family (especially those who aren't on social media!)
- Monthly favorite photos for baby's first year, you could even come up with a way to bind them all together after you collected all twelve! (This would be awesome as a shower gift for a mom-to-be as well!)
- You could be as awesome as this mom and then put together the best shots in a booklet to further assert your awesomeness:

- Scan in pictures of your kiddo's artwork and organize them into several booklets (The paper quality of these booklets is much better than construction paper and will hold up better over time.)
- Make photo booklets of absolutely anything your child does for a Christmas gift for his/her grandparents
- Photo booklets for Mother's Day/Father's Day/Grandparent's Day
- Put together all of the gorgeous detail shots from your kid's photo shoots that maybe aren't something you'd frame, but that are far too gorgeous to pass up:

photo credit: Rosser Photography

- Baby's first Christmas, Halloween, any holiday (You'll have a ton of pictures and you'll want to share them all.)
- Baby's first cake smash (Photograph the entire destruction and evolution of messiness!)
- Do a family end-of-year book (This idea could also be transformed into some relatively expensive Christmas cards, but if you're only sending them out to some select family members, it would actually be the coolest thing ever!)
- Even though I know I shouldn't encourage TIH to take selfies, I kind of love the end result when he does.  I could do a full album of selfies of him, without a doubt.  Impromptu photo booth?  Why not?



Obviously, a lot of these ideas are centered around children (especially babies in their first year.)  But, trust me, winning this giveaway is not contingent on parenthood.  There are a ton of ideas for these photo booklets without having offspring.

- Take adorable pictures of your pets (Trust me, before TIH came along, Lido was the most photographed cat on the planet and I would have totally had an album of him.)
- Make a quick booklet of vacation photos before you even get off the plane to share with all of your jealous friends
- Share your favorite proofs following a photo shoot (engagement pictures, headshots, etc.) so you can get opinions before you order
- Weddings, weddings, weddings.  You could use your entire year's subscription on wedding photos alone.  Everyone is going to ask to see your wedding photos.  This will be (by far) the quickest way to share them.
- Favorite scenery photos (I love the photos of fall leaves and first snows that will be flooding my news feeds, but is my personal favorite as of right now:)

Dear Chicago.

- These would make an easy photography portfolio to whip out to show to potential clients
- Sharing/preserving ancestry photos (I know many of my family members would LOVE this.)
- Print out your Instagram photos! My Instagram photos are some of my favorites and I hate leaving them just sitting out there in the Internet.  So what if they're all pictures of food and pretty trees - those kind of things are nice to look at.
- Favorite party pics following a party (I'm totally doing this with the pics from the amazing 30th birthday party I just had!)
- Make a booklet of any special milestone - finishing a marathon, graduations, etc. - these memories are important to share!



So, now that you have a little inspiration to get you started, I hope you're making sure to enter the giveaway.  And, since you've read all of these great ideas, how about a little bonus entry?  To do so, go back to the original giveaway post, and leave another comment with an idea you have for using these photo books.  (It doesn't have to be original, you can borrow one from this post, but go do it.  NOW!)  You have the opportunities for as many as SIX entries into this contest.  Don't miss a single one!  GO NOW.



Though Kindred provided me with a complimentary subscription to their service and with a few complimentary photo books, the opinions expressed in this post are solely my own.  Obviously I barely have the time to wash my own hair sometimes, so I'm not going to take the time to write about a product I don't fully endorse.