For all of the wonderful tech products I recommend, there is nothing more special than a personalized present from your family or a close friend. And even if you're not crafty (I'm not!), photo gifts are easy to create using family photos or kids' artwork.
I found some great photo gift ideas, from ornaments to photo books to iPhone cases. There are options for any budget and, for you procrastinators out there, these gifts can still be ordered in time for the holidays.
Hard-shell iPhone case
This shatter-proof, scratch-resistant Capsule iPhone case from Kodak combines personal style and protection for iPhone 4/4s and iPhone 3G owners. Plus, the case's two-piece design prevents the case from popping off when dropped. Price: $39.99 on KodakGallery.com
Custom notebook
Whether it's a hostess gift or stocking stuffer for a child, anyone on your list could use a 150-page, 5.5- by 8.5-inch custom notebook. Start by choosing blank or lined pages and then create a custom cover from nearly 150 designs in categories like travel, school, baby and wedding. Layouts accommodate up to nine photos. Price: $12.99 on Shutterfly.com
Pre-loaded digital photo frame
A digital photo frame, like this 8-inch model from Snapfish ($109.99), is a great holiday gift. But it's well worth the extra $30 to pre-load it with up to 100 of your own images, so it's ready to go right out of the box. Easily update images by connecting the frame to a computer and dragging and dropping images, for a total of 6,400 on its 1GB of memory. The 800-by-600-pixel frame will also play AVI video files and MP3 music files. Price: $139.99 on Snapfish.com
Christmas ornaments
Cafepress.com is a destination for user-designed merchandise where you can create, sell and buy “print-on demand” products. But this Christmas, we’re crazy about the Create-Your-Own-Ornament design tool. Just choose from one of the 30 templates (round or oval shapes), upload an image, edit it to fit and add text if you’d like. Price: $12 on Cafepress.com
Hardcover photo books
Kodak's SmartFit technology automatically arranges photos into a book in the order they were taken. You can, of course, then go back to make adjustments, but it works surprisingly well. A small 5-by-7 paperback starts at $11.99 (14 pages), a medium 9-by-10.25 paperback book starts at $22.99 (20 pages); a medium printed hardcover at $39.99; and a large 12-by-14 printed hardcover book starts at $62.99 (20 pages). You can add additional pages up to 90 for small books (49 cents per page), and up to 60 pages for medium ($1.29 per page) and large ($1.99 per page). Available on KodakGallery.com
mug
Take your most cherished memories to work with you — or just stare at them while you caffeinate every morning with Shutterfly’s travel mug. The BPA-free mug has a drip-proof lid and comes in a 16 ounce-size ($15.99) and 20-ounce size ($19.99), enough to satisfy just about anyone’s thirst. Available on Shutterfly.com
Bags
Create a one-of-a-kind photo bag and bring your favorite memories with you wherever you go. SnapTotes.com is a simple to navigate website which lets you choose your bag by style (think tote, beach or make-up), size (small, medium, large) occasion (like mom, teacher, work) and price (under $35 to $140). You can also decide on your own strap, liner and color. All the bags are designed to work best with a standard 4-by-6 photo, so just upload your image to the site or mail it in using the “mail in photos” option (costs $5 and the original will be sent back to you with the bag).
More stories on Techlicious:
- The Best Affordable Photo Books
- The Best Photo Sharing Sites
- 10 Tips to Keep Your Digital Photos Organized
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