Personalized photo calendars are on my gift-giving list every year. In fact, I’ve been making custom photo calendars online at Mixbook since the company began offering them some years ago. They’re always a big hit. It’s become a holiday tradition and the kids in my extended family look forward to receiving a personalized photo calendar every year. (Yikes! Have I ever created a monster, there’s no way out for me now!) The kids in my family see their cousins only once or twice a year, so they enjoy seeing photos of them all together in their special calendar.
Great Gift For Kids, Teens, Grandparents
Kids, especially teens, are so hard to shop for. So this has become a lifesaver for me. I can give them a gift they will actually like and use! It’s also a great Christmas gift for my parents, who enjoy having photos of their grown kids plus their grandchildren and granddogs adorning their walls. It’s one of the best gifts you could give for a very reasonable cost, and making them at Mixbook is extremely easy.
Predesigned Photo Calendar Templates
If you browse through Mixbook’s calendar designs, you’ll find approx. 124 different designs. Recently added designs include custom photo calendars by Martha Stewart. Other fun designs include BFF Friendship and Bullet Journal Inspired calendars. You can also start with a completely blank calendar and create your own custom layout. Calendars are available in either 12×12″ square or 11×8.5″ landscape. Mixbook photo calendars are printed on a heavy-weight 100lb cardstock paper with a smooth finish.
Design Options
The custom photo calendar creation process is so simple and self-explanatory, you don’t need much instruction. Once you choose a design and size, you can start your calendar on any month, it doesn’t have to be January. The online editor has a clean interface. The sidebar on the left lists your photos, layout options, backgrounds, stickers, and text options. Just click on any of them to make them active. The one thing I discovered you can’t do, however, is to change the calendar theme once you have started. This option is available with Mixbooks’ photo books, but not the calendars for some reason.
Mixbook offers excellent customization, however. You can literally do anything you want on the page, even upload your own stickers and embellishments if you wish, and move photos, text, and stickers around and resize as your heart desires.
Customize With Holidays and Special Events
In my calendar-making process, I add all the major holidays. Mixbook has a master list and you just check off the holidays you wish to include, which makes it very easy. I also add birthdays, anniversaries, and other special events. The photo company makes this easy because they keep a list of important dates in my account and I just check off the boxes for the dates key to a particular person. Easy peasy.
Add Photos and Stickers to Dates
The calendar editor also lets you add small photos to individual date boxes, so you can add a photo of the birthday girl (or boy) to the box as well. Further, on the calendar grid, you can drag in stickers and resize them. So if there’s a soccer game on Saturdays, you could add a soccer ball to the date squares.
Design Photo Calendars For Each Recipient
I like to customize the photo calendars for each recipient and end up making close to a dozen in all. I start by making one calendar. Then I copy it and change some of the photos to include some of that particular person and their immediate family. Generally, I’ll put a photo of that person on their birthday month, the kids in Halloween costumes for October, etc.
Of course, you don’t have to go to the extremes that I go to, that’s just my OCD. You could make just one really cool calendar and give the same one to everyone on your list. No kids? How about featuring 12 months of pets? My dog just loves to pose – I swear he knows what taking pictures is all about – and he’s always a big feature in my own calendars. Or if you’re into landscape photography, a calendar of your favorite landscape images would make a beautiful gift.
Plan Ahead for This Inexpensive Gift
Photo Calendars are easy, useful, and inexpensive gifts. Not just for family members, they are also great for groups, clubs, and schools and gifts for clients. If you plan ahead, you can get a great deal on calendars at Mixbook. In the holiday season, they usually offer 30-50% off calendars, and Black Friday deals are starting soon. How else can you get a fun, personalized gift for under 20 bucks? So think outside the box and you’ll be able to create beautiful, unique photo calendar gifts while maintaining your budget.
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