I am curious as to how many people on this site use their photography as part of their holiday giving or decorating. At the end of each year, I usually turn my 365 pictures into a photo book (about a page a week or so), but that is more for myself.
About the only positive I can see for the overabundance of early holiday advertisements is that it reminds me to start designing and ordering gifts now, eep!
Christmas ornaments and magnets are fun . . . especially if it includes a picture that someone mentioned they loved or a shot of someone special - they are one-of-a-kind gifts
@juletee oh - i've done magnets and playing cards for gifts too... and occasionally mugs and shirts... but these sort of depend on having half decent head shots of the kids, which is a rarity these days... i tend to prefer shots with more context in them and they don't work so well for these sorts of things... i do like to do photo albums of the kids as well as gifts for family, but its starting to get a bit old... i've never used/given any of my artier shots for gifts, altho i make them into a calendar for our kitchen (and no one who visits ever looks at it or oohs / aaaaahs over it, so i just kind of assume my stuff doesn't resonate ;p
@northy You are right - it usually has to be a good head shot for an ornament - I have a friend who is a huge Packer Football fan and he has a christmas tree with just packer ornaments - I wanted to get him an unusual ornament -one that no one else could buy - so I took a head shot of the Vince Lombardi statue in front of the stadium and had it made in to the ornament . . . it turned out great -- and it is definitely one of a kind!
One friend has always been supportive and interested in this project. She has just given me a list of photos and months for me to make into a calendar for her as a Christmas present.
Previously I have done calendars with children for families and mugs.
I make cards.If you use Shutterfly they will sometimes offer 101 free prints.All you pay is shipping and handling.Then I buy blank cards and glue the photographs on.
I put a selection of pictures from a family vacation on a memory card, and gave it to my parents along with a digital photo frame. I also looked into getting a jigsaw puzzle made, but ended up not doing it.
I have done calendars, photo books and a canvas for a friend who really liked the photo when I posted it months earlier ~ I have done photo books for anniversaries
I try to print cards myself. I have made cards and pasted photos in them in the past. I like the idea of the picture being both the present and the card.
I display some of my shots on a wall in the house so people can compliment me; it gives them a nice warm feeling. Sometimes I'll let them shake my hand, or pat me on the back; because it is the season of giving after all. One year, I let each of my guests clean one of my cameras; they still talk about it!
@grizzlysghost - I get frustrated when after 3 minutes of entering my house, my friends have yet to compliment me on my work, so I usually prompt them with a casual What do you think of my photos? To which they often reply with the lamest backhanded compliment of Oh you took these shots, I thought they were professional ones...
When I took lots of baby pictures of my daughter and took the train to visit family, I also used them for calendars. Now that you mention it, that's a good idea for this year. Haven't shared my recent photos with family. Not sure why.
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Previously I have done calendars with children for families and mugs.