The alphabet book may be the most quintessential children’s book of all time. It’s safe to say that the majority of kids began their reading career with the line “A is for Apple.” Books such as these are timeless, to say the least, but maybe it’s time to put a new, personal twist on the classic with custom Inkubook alphabet books.

Now, you can personalize every letter from A to Z with pictures of family members, vacation spots and other familiar things. Just think, instead of illustrating “D is for Dog” with a generic drawing of a random dog, you can show your child a photo of the family dog, a dog that your child knows and loves.

Putting your own special touch on the traditional ABC book will create a family keep-sake that your children are sure to treasure. So, start thinking of what pictures you want to use for each letter, especially X, and get started on your own personalized ABC Inkubook.

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Who doesn’t love the thought of a new baby? The teeny-tiny clothes? The soft blankets? The memories that come from seeing new copies of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Goodnight Moon? During the standard two hours of a baby shower lots of “oohs” and “ahhhs” and “sooo cutes” are uttered with each gift opened. But equal to the oohs and ahhs is the amount of advice given to the mom-to-be from veteran moms in attendance.

Wisdom Photobook

Advice is sage. Advice is needed – parenthood is daunting. Unfortunately, spoken advice is often forgotten, especially when soft onesies, plush bunnies and humorous bibs are on hand. Therefore, I recommend making a Wisdom Photobook for the guest of honor.

How to make a Wisdom Photobook:

1. Be sure to take one picture of each guest with the mom-to-be.
2. Get a picture of the cake before it is sliced and the presents before they are opened.
3. Take plenty of pictures of gift opening, cake eating, games and socializing.
4. Give every guest am 8x8” sheet of light-colored scrapbook or wrapping paper and a dark marker or pen and have them write their words of wisdom, advice, top five tips or simply well wishes.
5. At the end of the shower, collect the sheets, scan and save as jpg images.
6. Upload pictures and scans and create a photo book where a picture of the guest and mom-to-be is on the left page and the advice is on the right page.
7. Mix in spreads of other images, apply borders and backgrounds
8. Proof your gorgeous book and then order it and present it to mom in the hospital when you go and visit the new baby or when you drop off a casserole at home (another great gift for new moms).

This book allows “mom” to remember one of her last social outings before becoming a mom and to glean advice from those who have already traveled the road of motherhood.

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Some might say it’s still too early to think about holiday shopping (especially when jack-o’-lanterns are still glowing on front porches), but I’ve always found that the sooner I get started and finished, the more I can enjoy the season.

With that said, Inkubook gift cards make holiday shopping simple, and are a unique, fun and thoughtful gift for even the most hard-to-shop-for person on your list. Plus, it gives your recipient a chance to be creative and make something that can be appreciated long after the last of the leftover turkey is gone.

Since Inkubook has plenty of photo projects, they’ll have a variety of options to choose from:

• Create photo books in all shapes and sizes.
• Scan memorabilia to make a scrapbook.
• Make personalized photo calendars for the year that lies ahead.
• By giving a gift card early, it can be used to make seasonal photo greeting cards.

Whether you plan to shop early or are lucky enough to draw a distant cousin as your Secret Santa and have no clue what to get them, keep in mind that you’ve got a great gift up your sleeve with Inkubook gift cards.

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Field trips make for some of the most fun and memorable experiences for kids. This time of year, a field trip to a pumpkin patch or apple orchard can transform a regular school day into an exciting adventure to see something new.

Wherever there’s an opportunity to make memories, there’s an opportunity to snap some pictures, so make sure to pack a camera to catch all the great moments of the day; or make it a classroom event by encouraging other chaperones and teachers to take photos too. You can even get a child’s perspective by giving one lucky student a camera.

Then, use everyone’s snapshots to tell the story of the trip in a photo book. With Inkubook, gathering everyone’s photos  is a breeze, and if you’re ordering copies for the whole class, be sure to ask about our volume discounts (this way, you can give one to the teacher for free).

Even though the point of a field trip is to learn (we won’t tell if you don’t), there’s still plenty of fun to be had. So pack some extra snacks, grab your camera and enjoy the outing.

Kindergarten Apple Picking

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Quirky, spooky, silly, scary: Halloween is the year’s best photo op.

Whether you have your own little ghouls and goblins at home, or little monsters of the niece, nephew or furry variety (see adorable examples below), the cuteness that Halloween brings is enough to cause a toothache the likes of which most of us haven’t experienced since the great candy-corn overdoses of our youth.

But what makes Halloween one of my favorite holidays is that it lets all of us act like a kid again. It’s the one time of the year when publicly playing dress up and gorging on sweets is socially acceptable. And the photos that come with such a spectacle are priceless.

My Favorite Halloween Photo Ops:

• The look on peoples’ faces when they scoop the guts from the pumpkin
• Getting-ready candids – painting faces, applying fake wounds, adjusting vampire teeth
• Turning a night out into a snapshot scavenger hunt:

1. Preposterous pairings – Ninja Turtle talking to Albert Einstein – why not!?
2. Pets in costume
3. Someone dressed as a political figure
4. Children dressed as food
5. Most creative couple costume

Make your own Halloween scavenger hunt list and see what develops. Find more tips to make your Halloween photos great here.

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Do you live close enough to your kids’ school that you could walk one morning instead of putting them on the bus or driving them? If so, you should walk to school at least once before it gets too cold or too dark. Why? It’s a great way to spend some time together, bond, and see what they see. Even better bring along a camera. Take pictures of them. Let them take pictures of you.  And together take pictures of the interesting things you see on the way. Enjoy the beauty of autumn and time with your kids.

Life, like photography, is about perspective.

Autumn Beauty

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Here at Inkubook, we love bloggers. They work seemingly around the clock to provide great content, a great sense of humor, great style, great pics, great tips and the list goes on. We follow all types of blogs from wedding to parenting and from crafts to photography and giveaways to savings. If you’re looking for fresh, creative and often humorous content checkout for yourself some of the blogs we love.

• BravoBride : Wedding tips, inspiration and DIY wedding ideas.
• Northern Cheapskate : Frugal. By Nature.
• Mommies with Cents : Daily giveaways, hot deals, coupons & more!
• Annie’s Art Book : An adventure in the world of art (painting, pyrography/ woodburning, scrapbooking), craft projects, many tutorials and step-by-step instructions, gourmet cooking and cake decorating from the art book of a NY mom. Visit and be inspired!
• The Gadgeteer : Gadget reviews and news
• Jolly Mom : Recipes | Crafts | Atlanta Mom Blogger | Brand Ambassador | Product Reviews
• Kathy’s Scraps : Digital Scrapbooking
• Blissfully domestic : for women who want to be true to themselves while choosing to create bliss in their homes and families.
• Katydid & Kid : adventures in making and doing.
• Becca Blogs : Life, marriage, foster/adoption, cooking, crafts.

If you’re a blogger and you want to be a part of our Blogs We Love page, click the blue button and provide your information, we’d love to see what you have to say.

Blogs We Love

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Chanukah begins at sundown on December 20th, and so that means there’s plenty of time to get cards made, ordered and delivered — still giving you plenty of time to address, send and have your greetings arrive early even! If you’ve thought about making calendars for the special people in your life, we also have Chanukah backgrounds which can be found in the Year In Review theme within our Monthly Celebration category.

Dreidel

If you’re looking to make cards, click New on your bookshelf, select Card, click Next, then click Holiday. Christmas is the default, but if you click the right arrow for Browse Theme, Chanukah is next in the rotation [see image below]. Name your card and press Next. Upload your photos and click Finished. Once your photos are uploaded, you’ll be taken to the Editor where the Dreidel card is the default. If you click on Backgrounds, you’ll see the other Chanukah options [above image is one option]. Once you’ve settled on the card you want to make, it’ll just be another few minutes before you’re card is ready to order.

Chanukah Theme

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The fall months are known for many things, but none may be as important to us as the kickoff of football season. Whether it’s peewee, pick-up in the backyard or an NFL® game on Sunday afternoon, fall is for football.

Even with three days of the week devoted to the sport we love (four if you count Monday Night Football®) the season still goes by too fast. That’s why now is the time to start planning ahead for the dreaded offseason months. Begin gathering pictures, newspaper articles, old ticket stubs, and anything else you might want to include in a football season Inkubook.

Football Fun

Football is more than just a game. It’s the tailgates, pep-rallies, and painted fans that make the sport great. Include pictures and stories from every aspect of the season in your book so you can relive every game. Football season photo books are great for players and fans alike. Recap the entire season with stats and scores that take you right back to the stadium any time of year.

So, next time you’re on the way to the big game, make sure you have your giant foam finger and, of course, your camera so you can start capturing every tailgate, tackle and touchdown for your football season photo book.

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Though the Inkubook team is in the office today, we can’t help but let our minds wander to the ocean blue. Kicking back on the lido deck, new photo opportunities at every port of call … I can almost smell the midnight buffet now.

In a population of 304 million, about 73 million Americans have cruised before – that’s a whole lot of photos of towel animals.

When I returned from my very first cruise a few months ago, I was overwhelmed with the number of photos that I had. But the arrival of Columbus Day has finally inspired me to capture all the high-seas hijinks in an Inkubook (the autofill tool was a lifesaver).

Come sail away with me …

Even if cruising isn’t your thing, a scrapbook or travel journal is a great way to revisit all the amazing locales you’ve been with family and friends, whether you got to those destinations by land, air or sea.

Leave a comment here or go to the Inkubook page on Facebook to share your favorite vacation memories.

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