Personalized DIY Books Make Great Gifts

Unique gift ideas are easier to come by than we often realize, and personalized DIY books not only make great gifts but are easier to create and send for professional printing than we think!

Today we’ll look at three ideas, but think about other personalized book ideas you could give, too!

First Things First: Choosing the Best

Back in 2005 when I started in the personalized DIY book business, nobody I talked to had seen a book with their family’s faces on it! Now, you can have books printed in lots of different places, from online companies to local big box stores and even drugstores.

So… What’s the difference? And how do you choose the best?

There are three main things we’re looking for in personalized DIY books.

• QUALITY. Not all products are created equally. This is true for a pair of shoes, but it’s also true for something you intend to be permanent like a personalized book. I always say: If you’re going to spend time and money on a personalized book, you don’t want to have to spend more time and more money again a few years later to re-create something that fell apart.
• PRIVACY. This is one of the hardest things to determine because privacy policies are always in the paragraphs-upon-paragraphs of fine print. Here’s an example from Google. Not all online companies promise to keep your photos and/or projects private. (Or even just keep them, which leads us to…)
• LONGEVITY. Hopefully this is something you’ll never have to worry about, but if a precious book gets damaged or destroyed by a fire or a flood or a tornado (or even a rambunctious toddler or dog), it’s such a relief to have a digital copy of that book available for reprinting. Some companies have a policy of deleting your projects (as if they don’t even belong to you!), while others have a more long-term focus.

But, not to worry! I’ve already vetted the company I’m recommending you use to create these fun and meaningful gifts for their quality, privacy, and longevity policies (and a 100% satisfaction guarantee)! These things matter too much for me to recommend anything without that information.

Let’s get to these three great ideas for personalized DIY books.

Things I Love About You

This is one of my favorite personalized DIY book gifts. I’ve given these books to my husband, each of my parents, and each of my children. For my husband, it was 40 things we (my kids & I) love because it was for his 40th birthday. There’s just nothing like this as a gift! It’s the perfect chance to say all the things you want to say.

To create a gift like this, choose one of the (free) template designs below, and then personalize it! As you explore each template, there are a few completed sample pages you can click on, as well as the cover. The cover only has one design, but you can choose individual pages one at a time to fit your book needs, so scroll down to see all the page possibilities. Add and remove pages as you like. Gray areas you see on pages are for photos, and colored areas are usually for text.

• The Little Things template
• Remember template
• Awesome Mom template
• Awesome Dad template
• Simply Matted Black template
• Follow Your Heart template

A little softbound 8×8 book like this is only $15 (when you hit a 50% off sale, which happens every few weeks), but it will truly be priceless! You can choose bigger sizes and a hard binding, if you prefer.

Who do you know who needs to know 10 or 25 reasons you love them?

Reunion Mementos

Whether you’re attending a family reunion or a class reunion, photos are sure to be taken! Imagine the gift of those photos, complete with the memories behind them–details of the who and the where and the why of the photos.

To create a gift like this, follow the same directions I mentioned above for the Reasons I Love You book gift. Explore these lovely, professionally-designed templates and personalize to a family reunion, class reunion, or even a business retreat:

• Family Monogram template
• Vintage Family Memories template (This is the one pictured above!)
• Family Adventures template
• Chalkboard Snapshots template
• Lickety Split template

ABC Book for Littles

Babies under a year old don’t yet have the long-term memory needed to remember loved ones they don’t see daily. Little ones love books, so now imagine books with photos of familiar faces! These ABC Books would make sweet and unforgettable books that would have a lasting impression. So, while that long-term memory is increasing as children grow, help it along with a book like this.

Explore these beautiful templates, with all the individual alphabet pages below (after you click each link) as you scroll down. Note that the two called “Baby” have words of the alphabet included as part of the pre-designed template (A for Adorable, for example). The one called “Playful,” on the other hand, is shown above and allows you to choose what each letter stands for in your book.

• Be My Baby Girl ABC Book template
• Be My Baby Boy ABC Book template
• ABC Playful template

How to Create These Book Gifts

While I do love the quality, privacy, and longevity of these books–as I mentioned earlier–I also love how simple they are to make.

If you’ve ever used complicated software or programs that allow you to do silly things like not line up your photos straight with each other, you will love this (free) software called Create & Print. You can really learn all the ins and outs of it in just a few minutes, and I like to say that the learning curve for this program is almost a straight line.

I have laid out five easy steps for you to get started creating personalized DIY books here, with some video tutorials if you like learning that way like I do, and the link also includes some savings information as well as Artisan software information. Artisan is powerful digital scrapbooking software that allows you to create and design to your heart’s content, with full flexibility on pages. It’s perfect for anyone who doesn’t like the limitations of templates, but keep in mind that it’s a bigger learning curve because there’s much more you can do with it. (That said, it’s my favorite.)

Why Personalized DIY Books Make Great Gifts

You may have heard of the 4 Gifts approach: “something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read.” What I love about personalized DIY books is that they are something to read, something they want, and something they need, all rolled into one.

The year my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, the one big thing she wanted to do was go back “home,” so we made a family trip out of it. I knew it would be her last trip there because I could tell she wouldn’t be well enough to make the trip again, but I didn’t know how quickly she would go downhill after this, and that she would pass away just 3 months later. With “this will be her last time here” in mind, I took pictures like crazy and created a book to give her and each family unit for Christmas.

I completed the book quickly and got it back in August. I told my sister that I knew Mom would love it, and I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to wait until December to give it to her because I was so excited. My sister encouraged me to just give it to her without a holiday attached. Neither of us knew that 3 weeks later a random test would reveal that the cancer was much more advanced than her doctor had previously seen, and that she would pass on only 10 days afterwards.

All I’m saying is don’t wait. Personalized DIY Books make great gifts to preserve what’s meaningful and special, and there’s no time like the present! Share 10 reasons you love your cousin on her next birthday, or photos from the class reunion with your best friend, or a sweet ABC Book of family faces with a little one in your life.

What will you create first? Who do you have in mind for your personalized DIY book? Tell me in the comments! I’d love to hear your ideas!