This time of year the google searches for “stocking stuffers” go berserko. And there are many great suggestions out there, but this is one of my favorite items to include. It’s one I’ve been doing for our kids for a few years now, simple and inexpensive…AND there’s still time to get it done. [As in, I’m going to go pick up mine as soon as this post publishes!]

It’s a year-in-review photo book. I gather favorite photos of each child from the past year (often drawing from my personal facebook page to keep it simple and avoid sorting through a gazillion photos). Every page has a personal picture alone, with siblings, family, doing a favorite activity, etc. It’s an all-about-me book.

And actually, my brilliant mother-in-love started this tradition when she would give our son–then our two boys, now our three kids–mini albums of photos from visits. They are a great way to include photos of special relatives who live far away!

You can pick up a mini photo album for between $1-$5; smaller albums usually hold 20-24 pictures and bigger ones can hold up to 100. Photos just cost a few cents each to print. I just upload mine straight from home and pick them up at the store when they’re ready. [And this year, I put all the photos into a printed hardback 5 x 7 album… Which I need to go pick up… on Christmas Eve tomorrow! WUPS, so much for staying ahead of the curve! But at least there will be no further assembly once I pick them up!]

If you want a more custom look quickly, skip the book and take your stack of photos and two cut pieces of cardstock of thin cardboard (one each for the cover and back cover) to FedEx-Kinkos, Office Max, Office Depot, etc., and have them spiral bind it. At Office Max, this usually costs me about $4, and they do it while I wait.

Make sure to mark the year and the child’s age(s) somewhere in the photo book. You can even add labels for each shot if you’re feeling really ambitious. 🙂

These little photo books have become one of our kids’ favorite stocking stuffers. [I love that!] We enjoy looking through them together and talking about how they’ve grown. And they become a just-right-sized keepsake to grab and look through any time any year!

So, what’s your absolute favorite stocking stuffer? Do tell! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!