Simple Solution to Declutter Family Photos

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Quick question – As a parent, do you feel like you need to cherish EVERY picture of your kids? Does that still apply if you have approximately 10,058 pictures of them doing every.little.thing.ever? Unless you have a house with literally miles of wall space, printing and hanging all those cute photos is nearly impossible; but how can you simply declutter all those sweet family photos? Easy – Shutterfly Photo Books.

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Why You Should Declutter Those Photos

I started doing these photo albums long before I had kids – “long” because it feels like a lifetime ago when it’s really only been 6 years. Six years ago I slept a full night, frequently ate cereal or ice cream for dinner (because when you live by yourself, you get to make those adult-like decisions), and the back seat of my car wasn’t a collection bin for sippy cups and “purple snack” wrappers. Now that we all feel old, let’s get back to the point.

I have never been one to have extra things laying around. Honestly it’s because I don’t like dusting and I really don’t like dusting if I have to work around “stuff”. But I do like photos as a way to make things feel homey and to save things I want to remember. When I was in high school, you maybe had a cell phone but still had to carry a digital camera (or a disposable camera!) around to get any pictures. Part of the fun was getting the pictures printed off to laugh at and share with your friends. And thanks to the convenience of 1-hour Photo I have A LOT of pictures from those years. Which is great. Until I realize that I don’t ever really look at them. Or frame them to display.

I realized I needed an easier way to share my photos shortly after my husband and I started dating. We were doing all those fun new relationship things – day trips and just general adventuring – and I also had a vacation to Ireland coming up. When I came home with hundreds of pictures on my memory card, I knew there had to be a better way. No way was my mom going to flip through that many pictures just to see how my trip was. (Okay…my mom would have. But not many people would enjoy that!) So, I made my first Shutterfly Photo Book.

Since then, I’ve been hooked on this perfect clutter-free solution.

Versatility

We have a photo album for each year we’ve been together plus some “milestone” albums as well. I even made books for each of my kids and their first year. While some of the options available have changed (and mostly improved) since my first book, the possibilities truly are endless. Here are some books I’ve created:

Wedding Guestbook
Wedding Album (with printed copies for Mom!)
Honeymoon Album
Pregnancy Journal
Baby’s First Year
Annual Family Yearbook
Our First Home

Space

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that one of the major bonuses of photo books is the space savings. I go with the 8×10 book and can add hundreds of photos and over 100 pages to each book. Do you know how much room that would take up if I printed a copy of every picture?! I don’t have exact measurements, but I know that it’s enough to justify it. Also, one photo book is MUCH lighter than a shoebox full of pictures. Just sayin’.

We see our families a lot. And often times, they are there for the moments we capture in our photo books. But since we all genuinely get along, we like reliving those memories. Flipping through the latest book together isn’t unheard of. It’s fun to share those laughs all over again. And much more enjoyable in person…not just over our phones. Even my kids like looking at them!

What to Do with Your Old Albums

⚠️ WARNING: Once you start creating photo books for yourself, you might not stop.

If you find yourself itching to unload those bulky photo albums for a sleek printed book, I don’t blame you! I’ve been there. I’ve done that. Well, sort of. I haven’t quite gone back and make books with my old photos; but, not having a bulky photo album to store has made me appreciate the space. At this point, every time I come across an old album, I take out all the photos, purge the ~~ones where I look really bad~~ duplicates, and add them to a storage box. It’s not perfect; however, it is progress. And it does make me feel better about what space I’m giving up for my pictures.

Using Shutterfly to Preserve Memories

There are a lot of sites that will help you turn your photos into books (or other gifts). I choose to recommend Shutterfly because I have used their services, including Photo Books, several times. I have printed several photo books, large prints, and other gifts without any complaints. Except typos. But that’s on me. To help you get started, I’ve outlined what my process looks like. In addition, I’ve rounded up some of my top tips that I’ve learned along the way.

My Process

I could probably write an entire post on how to create your own Shutterfly Photo Book. But I won’t. What I will do is give you a rough outline of my process. Keep in mind, it doesn’t always happen like this – this is best case scenario – and I use Apple devices so some of my process will rely on that.

At the beginning of the year, setup a shared album on your phone. Share this with your partner (or whoever else might have photos you want to include.)
At the end of each month, add those special photos to the shared album. READ: Don’t wait until the end of the year and do it all at once. It’s not fun and takes soo long. Trust me.
At the end of the year, upload that entire album to Shutterfly. This takes some time, but can still be done from your phone. Sort of a set it and forget it kind of thing. Just let it go.
When you’re ready, log in to Shutterfly and start your book.
Once you have things looking the way you want them, preview your book and PROOFREAD!
When you’re happy, order your book and enjoy!

This is where I feel like I’m leaving out a huge chunk of information. There are so many setup options and designs and idea pages that the options are pretty much infinite. Don’t let that overwhelm you – most of it can be changed as you go along.This doesn’t have to be a long process (although it very well can be). It can be as detailed as you make it. The important thing is to include the pictures that you want to see. The ones that make you happy. Doing that will help you create a book you enjoy looking at later on.

Tips + Tricks

Here are a few things I’ve learned along they way. I’ll save you some time and share them now so you don’t have to figure it out on your own.

NEVER pay for shipping. Shutterfly runs different discount/promo codes ALL.THE.TIME. One of those is usually for free shipping. (For reference – As I’m writing this, one of the codes for today is Free Shipping if you spend $89.)
Everything can be customized. Shutterfly gives you access to some pretty awesome photo books that are already setup and look like a nice scrapbook. What I didn’t realize was that even the idea pages can be customized. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I could just add one more photo to a page or move things just a smidge. Well, you can. All you have to do is switch to design mode.
On the opposite side, you can make this as easy as you want. There is a great feature where you can upload the pictures you want to include and let them do the work for you! Your pictures will be automatically laid out in an album and you can order it as is. NOTE: I have not used this yet because ~~I’m a control freak~~ I like to add notes and organize my photos different ways.
Proofread. And then do it again. Don’t ask how I know, but that typo you made on one page in the middle of the book will always bother you. 😉
If you’re making more than one, please order the same size. They stack much better and make people like me happy when everything lines up.

There you have it – a simple way to declutter those family photos AND still enjoy them.

Have you tried making your first photo book yet? How did it go? What tips would you share?

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