Sep
7

An Easy Way To Get Photos Off Your Phone And Into Books (Hint: It’s An App!)

Inside: An honest Chatbooks review and a code to get your first book free.

A powerful surge of guilt.

That is what I felt every time I saw a coupon for Shutterfly.

You know, those fancy books.

I would think of that fancy DSLR I have sitting in my bedroom with photos on the memory card. I’d think about my cell phone with hundreds of photos of my children.

Then I’d think about the folder on my computer with thousands more pictures of my kids. All these beautiful memories.

Photos of children laughing.

Photos of children on vacation.

Photos of our every day moments I’ll want to treasure forever.

I would immediately put “make a photo book” on the to do list and then, after a few weeks, cross it off.

Why?

It takes so flipping long and costs $50 a pop.

Or $35 if you have a coupon.

I absolutely love my children and could stare at their faces for days because I’m a sap, but I could not figure out this photo issue. I could not be consistent with uploading photos to Shutterfly then creating a book then paying $50 for it and STILL ending up with hundreds of photos left out simply because there wasn’t room.

It wasn’t like I thought about it all the time, but when I did… I felt guilt and sadness and a little bit of panic at the idea that we might somehow LOSE all these photos.

And then one day I saw it… a super funny video. A video about how we mothers have this problem with printing pictures and we have no time and don’t want to spend a fortune. It was a video for an app called Chatbooks.

This app essentially takes the photos from your social media and photos you take with your phone, and puts them in an album. Once that album hits 60 photos, it’s ready to ship out. You have 3 days to edit, remove, etc. and then you receive your photo book in the mail. And it only costs $8 every time it ships.

Code: Get $10 Credit On Your First Orders with The Code RACHEL10 Here!

What I Love About Chatbooks

The truth is, we now have a big huge pile of our Chatbooks. Every time we get one the whole family (including visitors) flips through them and laughs and smiles. Every time I take a photo on my phone I can give it permission to add or skip that photo.

So now I don’t have to come home from vacation and compile photos (or pretend I’m going to) and then make a book. I just add the photos from the trip, edit them, and get the book sent to the door.

For $8.

If you don’t take 60 photos in a month you pay nothing. When you fill up that album you’ll get it shipped out. You can stop any time and there’s no contract. It is seriously a great way to make sure all those photos get off your phone and get put into little albums you can keep forever.

Code: Get Your First Book Free Here!

What is the quality like?

When I shared with some friends about getting Chatbooks the most frequent question that came up was about the quality. This makes sense. We care about our memories.

The books have thick pages and are some type of matte photo paper. While they are not as good of quality as the Shutterfly photo books, they are good quality with the photos as bright as they were on camera.

And, if you’re getting photo books for the reason I am, then a bird in the hand is better than one in the bush. It’s better to have the books printed and in my home than hold out for a $50 book I’ll never make.

These books come to me regularly and I love them. The kids love them. And, most importantly, I know that if my computer crashes or my phone dies that all my photos from the last 6 years of motherhood will not be lost!

If you are on the fence about whether you want books delivered automatically or want to spend time crafting your own, get your first book free here. This video is too funny, right?

You are NOT lazy, disorganized, or unmotivated. The fact is, if your home feels chaotic,it’s your systems. With easy efficient systems, habits, and routines you can start to have the home (and home atmosphere) you crave without working yourself into a frenzy.

Take this quiz to see how well your home systems work then get free and easy hacks to help make your home more tidy, peaceful, and organized.

Rachel

New to this community? Start here, friend.

« An Easy Peasy 2-Year-Old Routine That Works Every Time

4 Clever Tips for Swaddling Your Baby at Night »

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I'm Rachel, mother of 5 young kids living in the Florida panhandle with my Australian husband. I write about family culture, family rhythms and routines, and boundaries in motherhood and life. You can see snippets of my daily life here and visit my shop for baby sleep, organizing, and routine help.

“Inside my brain”

Geeezzz, it was like you were inside my brain today! (and most days recently) I needed this badly.

Thank you!!!

Andrea P.

“Nothing was working…”

I just wanted to say thank you for your easy peasy routine for 2 year olds! I day-weaned my 2 year old a month ago and have been trying everything to get him to go down for a nap without the nursing. Nothing was working and I was starting to think he would never have a nap again.

Anyways I started following your routine and we just sat in bed and had what I told him was “quiet time.” We sat and read and made a fort and had warm milk. Then today I told him it was quiet time again and he tried to escape the bed a couple times, but in the end he snuggled up after the warm bottle and fell asleep for 3 hours! I was almost in tears I was so excited! So thank you!

Meghan

“Thanks for your bundle!”

Thanks for for doing this Everyday Mom Super Bundle sale. I’m four months into my parenthood journey with a sweet and spirited boy.

I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated just yesterday, thinking if only I had the right resources and “trail guides” I could figure this all out. Your sale is serendipitous. I can’t wait to dig into my download materials and start learning from your tips.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Lauren N.

“It’s a breath of fresh air”

I just wanted to let you know that your blog and emails have been a tremendous help to me. Your practical, honest, and humble writing is a breath of fresh air!

With help and encouragement drawn from your writing, I have made some incredible changes in the order (and sanity) of our home, in just the past few weeks. My kids are doing chores daily, and I also have clearer expectations of myself.

My husband is in awe!

Which helps reinforce what you said- the problem wasn’t me; it was my systems. Our home is in much better order, and so is my mind. So, thank you!!!! You have made a difference for me and my family.

Ann S.

“We are slowly getting back to normal…”

I stumbled upon your blog one morning after praying night after night for God to fix my home! I had just had a baby this May 1st and also have a 2 and 4 year old and my home broke out in complete chaos!

Even my marriage seemed like it was on the brink of extinction and this had happened in 2 weeks! I read numerous amounts of your entries and applied them to my home life and I am happy to say we are slowly getting back to normal. Thank you Rachel!

Madison S.

“You’ve been a life saver!”

I’m a first time mom to a 15 day old baby girl. I had no idea what I was doing and couldn’t get her to sleep in her crib until I found your blog.

You’ve been a life saver!

Candace R.

“Within a week or two our little girl changed!”

I tumbled into post partum depression/anxiety and didn’t know what to do anymore. I was a mess, baby girl was a mess and I don’t even know how my husband was dealing with it all…

I googled everything I could think about but there was never really something that felt right, that felt genuine instead of just telling do’s and don’ts.

And then I found your website and read your pieces about sleeping and eating. I carefully read through your schedules and decided to try it.

IT WORKED!!

And within a week or two our little girl changed from a frustrated baby into this happy dappy smiling ray of sunshine, that is able to settle herself down by sucking on her fists, even in the middle of the night. At 12 weeks baby girl slept through the night and now at 20 weeks old she sleeps a good 10 to 12 hours every night.

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience online. The way you wrote your experiences made it understandable, seeing it from the babys side but also the moms side. Maybe we were lucky that your way fitted our baby, but it worked and I tell it to everyone that wants to know!

Stephanie P.

“Had tremendous success from Day One!”

I just wanted to thank you for your sample routine. I’ve been using it for a week with my 13 month old and had tremendous success from day 2! Wind down time is so important and so is consistency. Thank you so much!!!

Sam M.

“In a few short days…”

I am grateful to have found your blog, as I do a great deal of searching on Pinterest when I am up against a parenting moment that I do not feel qualified to handle.

I will say though that since reading your blog I am really focusing on remembering that every moment is a learning \ experience for my son and I try to take a breath and count to ten. In the few short days that I have been exercising this method I truly have noticed a change for the better in his response to me.

Tami K.

Comments

Tressa Maciag says

I love the idea of this but I’m still wondering how this coincides with getting the photos off of my DSLR??

Reply
- Rachel Norman says
  
  Yes, that is a good point. Does your DSLR have wifi? If you send those photos to your phone they’ll show up on Chatbooks!
  
  Reply
Mari says

Great idea! Do you know if they ship the books internationally?

Reply
- Rachel Norman says
  
  I do not know, Mari, that’s a great question and I’m sure it’s on their FAQ
  
  Reply