Blurb Book Love

As of late, I’ve been a little obsessed with preserving our family’s memories. Call it a bout of postpartum emotions or the mother bear within me. Whatever it is, it is alive and well.

Baby books, journals, scrapbooks, this blog … I’m barely keeping up with logging memories as we make them. The smiles, silly antics, meltdowns, yummy meals, outdoor adventures – there are too many to count! And yes, many of them are Instagrammed as one avenue of posterity. With two little ones I’m constantly making the choice to live in the moment and mentally store these memories because there is no way I can put pen to paper for them all. Thank the Lord Instagram is usually by my side to capture a memory in the making. Do you rely on Instagram as much as me?

So, all that to say, stumbling upon a company like Blurb has been a lifesaver. You see, Blurb can turn little Instagram snapshots into beautiful books. Exhibit A …

I would say I have too many Instagram photos, but that’s like saying I’ve lived too many good moments and that just isn’t the case. My Blurb book encompassed “Our Life in Instagram” from the week before Max arrived through Jemma’s birthday – a precious time when our family grew and flourished.

Blurb isn’t limited to Instagram books, although I LOVE that feature, they are a site which allows everyday people like you and me to turn our creative ideas into something tangible. Whether a portfolio of artwork or homemade crafts, a blog archive, a cook book, or a collection of favorite photos, Blurb takes a scrambling of creativity and turns it into a high quality, bound book. You can even self-publish your book and Blurb helps you share it with the masses.

While creating my Instagram Blurb book I was pleasantly surprised by the ease Blurb connected to my Instagram profile and uploaded my selected photos. There were many options for adding text and sizing photos – I pretty much had full customization control. After my experience with Blurb, my mind is spinning with ideas for future books … one for Jemma and Max with faces of all our near and far family members (to help with recognition and names) and another of our favorite family recipes. I’m also contemplating doing one of those 365 photo challenges in 2013 and publishing that at the end of the year. I think my husband might even create one to show his customers the various homes his company has outfitted with cabinets. See, so. many. ideas.

P.S. I think these Blurb notebooks are a super easy Christmas gift for grandparents!

P.S.S. Blurb is giving away a $50 gift card to a That Mama Gretchen reader! The winner can be from anywhere in the world and the gift card will be valid for 6 months.