This week, the kids are on spring break, and I am in major Mother’s Day prep. We are actually traveling the weekend of Mother’s Day, so we plan to celebrate with my mom the week prior, with brunch near her house or ours. The kids make her lots of arts and crafts, and some homemade cards, which are usually her favorite gifts, but recently, I’ve been working on a photography project, which I am beyond excited to share with her.
After spending some time at my parent’s house over the winter break, my mom was talking about how she wanted more photos of the kids. I take tons of kids’ photos that I text to her, but she meant printed photos for the house. One huge wall her in house is covered with Ryder, Siella, and Gemmas’ first birthday photos, baptisms, and random holidays, but the last time she added to that collection was for Gemmie’s first birthday. Now she’s three, so I think it’s time for an update.
When it comes to printing my precious photos, I’ve turned to Mpix many times, because I trust their stellar quality, and that I can incorporate my photos into one of their many fun projects, rather than than just printing them to be framed. For this Mother’s Day, I turned a favorite photo I took of the kids for Easter into a Canvas Wrap Wall Art Photo. Mpix prints the photo on canvas and gallery-wraps it around a 1.5” wooden stretcher frame. Like all of their projects, it only took a few days to ship, and it came ready to hang, right out of the box.
I was so inspired by their site and the need to showcase my photos, that I thought it would be fun to create an Accordion Mini Photo Book. These books are prefect for showcasing any occasion, but this year they will make the best Mother’s Day gifts, and with multiple copies both Grandmas and their favorite Aunt will all receive these precious keepsakes. The minis are available in an array of fun book themes with multiple background prints, cover colors, and they even come in a frosted slip cover for added protection.
And another project I took on using Mpix was making a photo book from our recent trip to Disney. Our family takes several trips throughout the year, but all of the beautiful photos from these trips usually stay locked in my computer. I’ve made a promise to myself to finally transfer these pics into a book, because it’s something that would be fun for the kids to thumb through from time to time, and reminisce about their wonderful travels. I submitted my photos to Mpix and I was blown away by their Softcover Panoramic Photo Book, which features a seamless lay-flat design, which doesn’t distort photographs with folded bindings. The matte presentation make my photos feel more vibrant, as though they were taken by a professional.
One thing I noticed while combing through all these photos to build these projects was that I wasn’t in too many of the photos. Always the one with the camera, I tend to photograph just the kids, or the kids and Jason, and maybe on each trip we manage to squeeze in one (if that!) family shot. When my children grow up, I want there to be photos of me with them, I want to remember it all. I’ve decided going forward that no matter wherever we may end up; vacations, family functions, walking around in our neighborhood, whatever it is, that I will insist on getting in photos with my children.
This Mother’s Day, I’ve teamed up with Mpix and we are challenging all you moms out there to get in the photo with your kids, big or small. Here are some tips to make this happen…
- Use a selfie stick. Yeah, I know, I wasn’t a fan at first, but you can definitely end up in way more shots this way.
- Ask your significant other to take a picture of you with the kids. It’s something I always forget, and Jason promises to remind me moving forward.
- Use a timer. This may seem easier for the advanced photographer, but setting up your camera’s timer and jumping in, is a great way to capture it all, and it’s actually pretty easy.
- No matter where you are, ask a passerby, the cop on the corner, or a mom walking her own kid in a stroller for a quick shot of you and your shorties. And if you don’t like the way the first shots came, ask another stranger.
- And finally, hire a photographer. We use a professional photographer once a year to take family photos, this way all 5 of us can be in the shot. At first I thought all we need is the family one, but I like the fact that Jason can have his own photo with them, and so can I!
Now, all you mothers, go get into pictures with your children.
Tag @strollerinthecity and @mpix on social media using the hashtag #mamasinpix, and you’ll be entered in a chance to win a Samsung Galaxy Camera2 (ARV $399), along with a $250 Mpix Gift Card that can be used to print out your photo and projects! Be sure to follow the rafflecopter below!
Winner will be required to fill out a 1099 tax form and pay taxes on camera prize. ELIGIBILITY: Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry.
15 thoughts on “Reflections Of Time”
The canvas wall art
The panoramic photo book is my absolute favorite!
I love this and need to do more of this sort of thing for my own parents. A few months ago I read something along the lines of our children will be the most photographed generation who had absolutely no pictures of themselves
I love those wrapped canvas prints. So easy to hang and they go with everything!
That photo book is amazing! That would be a great gift to give to my Mother and Mother-In-Law. Now to make sure I get in some of the pictures over the next few weeks.
These are beautiful gifts! My mom would cry if I gave her these! We are traveling on Mother’s Day as well and will be celebrating this weekend.
I love this, I actually just ordered some canvas prints to send to my mom for Mother’s Day, so much more unique than the standard gift card.
I want a mini photo book!
The Modern Metal Prints are so cool! I would love to order these for my own home and gifts for friends and family!
The panoramic album would be perfect to document our next trip!
In love with the keepsakes items!!
I love the mpix mini accordion photo book. I always have several fave pics that I would love to have in one place to show off
Love the quality
I have fallen in love with the Linen Panoramic Photo Books with Dust Jacket from MPix! Looks like amazing quality books! http://www.mpix.com/products/photobooks/premium-panoramic
I love their framed photos – they do an amazing job with them! Add a metallic print in there and it’s super unique AND professional!