picture the holidays Archives - Dine and Dish

My ABC’s of Happiness Snapfish Photo Book

Kristen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:11:25 +0000

My Snapfish Photo Book is done and thanks to your ideas, I think I have come up with something that truly represents what I hoped to capture of 2011. One of my favorite features of Dine & Dish this past year and something that seemed to be the most well received by you all was my not so regular Happiness Reports. In each Happiness Report I would document small and big things that were making me happy at that time.

I read the book, The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin, this past year and it changed my life. It was a big factor in getting me through this year with a smile still on my face. Yes – we’ve had some pretty big bumps this past year, but I made it through and am still smiling. I owe a lot to the words placed within the pages of The Happiness Project. (Haven’t read it yet? Do it. Now!)

It seemed only natural for me to make a photo book of things in 2011 that really made me happy. A visual reminder of happiness, every single time I look at it. My book includes food, travel, family, and random things that make me happy, like coffee and gumballs. It’s a fun compilation of happy things, ordered from A through Z.

Making a photo book with Snapfish was incredibly simple… makes me want to kick myself that I haven’t made one before. I anticipated it being completely overwhelming, but it wasn’t. Some of the things I found to be really neat about the Snapfish Photo Book creation project were:

Uploading your photos to Snapfish is quick and easy. I was surprised I could upload a group of my photos (which tend to be fairly large files) in just a few minutes. I didn’t have to carve out a big part of my day babysitting photos uploading. It was quick and painless!
Snapfish has a big selection of themes and layouts. From travel to love, there were themes to suit every occasion or even every non-occasion. Simple to elaborate, Snapfish allows you to choose a theme that will totally match the look and feel you want.
Drag and Drop. I don’t know about you, but I love anything that let’s you drag and drop pictures. I think that is the easiest way to do things. Inserting photos into the book layout is as easy as dragging the photo you want and dropping it into the spot on the page.
Helpful service. If you are making your photo book and get stuck or have questions, Snapfish has representatives you can chat with on line and they’ll assist you. I love that feature! If you are too busy to make your own photo book, you can also enlist the help of a Snapfish adviser to create the photo book for you!
Snapfish Photo Books are inexpensive! At one time in the past year, I had looked at putting a selection of some of my favorite blog posts into a book. The service I had looked into was going to be hundreds of dollars. At Snapfish, you can create a beautiful photo book for as little as $11.99.

If you have photos lying around that you want to preserve in a way that is simple and special, I would highly recommend making a Snapfish photo book. Whether for yourself, or as a gift, it is something that will be treasured for years and years to come!

Here are a few more screenshots from my ABC of Happiness Photo Book. Stay tuned while Snapfish judges each of the books from the 10 bloggers. If my book is chosen, the first 100 people who commented on my original Snapfish post will receive $100 credit to Snapfish! Fingers crossed!

This is a sponsored post as part of the Snapfish “Your Creative Lens on Life” campaign. I am receiving compensation for my time and Snapfish is providing me with a photo book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Picture the Holidays – Express Yourself

Kristen — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:22:55 +0000

I’m a little behind on my Picture the Holidays photo prompts, but I am not giving up! The prompt on Day 7 was to Express Yourself.

I went the traditional route with this and did a self portrait – a bed head self portrait at that. When it is cold out it is terribly hard for me to get un-snuggled from my pile of blankets and down comforter and to face the cold world awaiting me. I’d be perfectly content wrapped in down all day long or snuggled under my covers with a good book.

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Help Me Create a Snapfish Photo Book – 100 Potential Winners!

Kristen — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:51:28 +0000

(This is my photo for today’s Picture the Holidays, prompt Small Things)

I take a ton of pictures. I mean a TON of pictures. If you’ll remember back to a few months ago, I lost all of my pictures from 2011 in an unfortunate iPhone / iPhoto update fiasco. I was devastated because I take a ton of pictures, but have failed over the years to actually print my pictures off. They have been neatly stored on my computer hard drive, basically waiting for the unthinkable to happen…and the unthinkable DID happen.

I was thrilled when my friends at Snapfish contacted me about the opportunity to create a Snapfish Photo Book! I’ve always had the best intentions when it came to printing off photos.. and even have had goals of turning my pictures into beautiful books our family could enjoy. Intentions are one thing… actually doing it is another. I assumed I didn’t have the talent, time or budget to create a gorgeous photo book. I found out very quickly after looking through what Snapfish offers that I was wrong. Snapfish makes creating photo books simple and affordable!

Here’s where I need your help!

I’ve been chosen to participate in a contest with 9 other very talented bloggers. The blogger who Snapfish believes has the most creative photo book will win a $100 gift card credit to Snafish. The best part? If my book is chosen as the most creative, the first 100 people who comment on this post with suggestions for what my photo book should be will also win a $100 Snapfish gift card!! You win, I win… we all win!

So, now… let’s chat. What are your ideas for my photo book? Should it be a collection of my favorite recipes and photos? Should it be about some of our favorite trips? How about an ABC book of things that make me happy (which goes along nicely with my 2011 focus on happiness!) Maybe just a photo of random yet favorite photos I’ve taken through the years? Please leave a comment on this post letting me know your ideas for my very first Snapfish Photo Book!

I’ll use your ideas to create my book and hopefully, in the end, we’ll all be winners! Oh – remember to leave a valid email address with your comment. That’s how Snapfish will dole out the 100 winning gift cards if we win! Thanks so much for your help.

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Picture the Holidays {The View From Here}

Kristen — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:09:28 +0000

Today’s Picture the Holidays Photo Prompt was “The View From Here”. I think the prompt was meant to be nature related.. as in the view from our window or the view outside, but tonight, there is no view that would make my heart more full than the site of all four of my kids decorating the Christmas Tree. I love, love, love Christmas traditions and decorating the tree is one of my favorite things all season long.

The photo is dark and noisy and totally not perfect, but I love everything about it!

Almost used this photo for today’s prompt, but love the one of all the kids just that much more.

Do you have your holiday decorations put up yet? What ornament or decoration is most special to you?

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Picture the Holidays {You Hold the Key}

Kristen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:17:57 +0000

Today’s Picture the Holidays prompt was “You Hold the Key”. To summarize… “Because this month is about enjoying ourselves and not letting the craze out there get the best of us, use today to remind yourself of your own soul cure so you can have it at the ready for whenever you might need it.”

My soul cure? To not sweat the small stuff and to remember to take time for celebration.

Leah (2 1/2) decided to potty-train herself this week. She apparently decided one day to do it, and that was that. We’ve been singing and dancing and giving her “special treats” (which I had to run out and buy because I was totally not ready to potty train her) each time she’s successful. The whole family doing a conga line to our made up “potty potty po-tty” song is quite the site.

My husband took it one step further this morning and brought home a mini, layered Red Velvet Cake from our store bakery. He said “we’re going to have a party to celebrate Leah”… and celebrate we did! The kids were overjoyed and it was great fun to really celebrate her big milestone.

I know if I can remember the “small stuff” is really the big stuff life is made up of, and to celebrate that “stuff” along the way, I’ll stay sane during the holidays!

What’s your key to sanity during the holidays?

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Picture the Holidays – All You Need is Love

Kristen — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:51:31 +0000

Today’s Picture the Holidays photo prompt was All You Need is Love. I’ve spent almost the entire day in the kitchen developing recipes and cooking / baking. I’m so grateful to have a job where “work” is cooking and photographing things and writing. I love that I have a job I love.

What tops your list of things you love today?

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Picture the Holidays – Reframing the Season

Kristen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:26:29 +0000

One of my favorite books for creative writing is Bird by Bird written by Anne Lamott. In her book, Anne suggests that when you are struggling with writing or focus, picture yourself looking at the subject or story through a small frame and focus on what you can see through that small square. Instead of trying to tackle the whole thing, break it up into small “frame size” pieces….

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Picture the Holidays – Holding Onto Gratitude

Kristen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:09:33 +0000

Yesterday, after realizing I hadn’t pulled my real camera out since before Thanksgiving, I decided I needed a push. I signed up for Picture the Holidays, a month long, daily photography prompt by Tracey Clark of the Shutter Sisters and Paper Coteire. I’ve participated in one of Tracey’s “picture” prompt projects before and it was just the push I needed to get back to creative photography.

Today’s prompt came in and the challenge was “holding onto gratitude”. Taking a few minutes to focus on what has made me grateful today was easy. Of course the obvious things make me grateful… my family, friends, etc. but as I was filling out my daily to do list, it hit me. I am really, really busy lately. My life is full and for that, I am grateful.

With the help of my husband and my very talented interior design friend, Terri, I have created a new workspace, transforming my dining room into my home office. I can’t tell you how inspiring it is to be surrounded by gorgeous things as I work away. I love love love my new office space more than I ever imagined. I’ll share more pictures of it with you soon, I promise.

So, today, I am grateful for a busy and full work and home life as well as an inspiring space to work in. What are you grateful for today?

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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