Unique Photo Gift Ideas for Every Occasion
**UPDATED for 2024 holiday season**
I LOVE giving a photo gift and I love sharing photo gift ideas!
When my husband turned 50 a few years ago, I made a photo book celebrating his first five decades of life. It was a highlight of his 50th birthday party.
Every year for Christmas for almost 20 years, I have given my mom and sister a calendar filled with favorite photos from the past year.
For my aunt and uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary, I gave them my all-time favorite digital frame loaded with pictures from our family.
A few years ago, I scanned my mother-in-law’s photo collection. At Christmas, I made her a photo book featuring old family photos of her ancestors and her immediate family, as well as pictures of her growing up in rural North Carolina and Virginia. After opening it, she called and thanked me multiple times for the book. She told me that she was taking it on a “book tour” (her words) to show her siblings and her oldest, dearest friends.
When was the last time you got that kind of reaction from a sweater or a necktie?
There is something extra special about giving a gift with a precious photo on it and your reaction to it.
A Photo Gift Guide Just For You
Welcome to the Ultimate Photo Gift Guide for any occasion; we have rounded up some unique photo gift ideas and some old favorites. There is something here for every style, budget, and interest.
Also, this post contains affiliate links, which simply means that if you purchase something, we may get a small commission from the company but there is no extra cost to you.
What is your favorite way to gift a photo?
Pro Tip: If you find a website that interests you, sign up for their mailing list. They are always emailing promotional codes. It’s rare to have to pay full price for photo gifts, especially around the holidays.
- All Time Favorite Photo Gifts
- Decorate It Photo Gifts
- Use It Photo Gifts
- Play With It Photo Gifts
- Wear It Photo Gifts
- Non-Photo Gifts for the Photo Lover
Decorate It Photo Gifts
Nixplay Digital Frame
It is no secret that we LOVE the Nixplay wi-fi-enabled digital frames (which are now Alexa-enabled).
Our founder Andi has three in her house and has given them as gifts to multiple family members. We have also set them up for several clients. Our favorite things about them are that they are good-looking and really easy to use. Just install the Nixplay app on your phone and upload photos to any frame from anywhere. Other family members can even add photos to the frame via the app and email.
Wooden Pallet
These wooden pallets on Etsy are adorable and would look great in your sister’s living room.
Photo Map
This idea makes me want to take a trip (or ten)! For the family that loves to travel, this photo map of the United States from ThunderBunnyLabs on Etsy is a gift that continues to give over the years. Fill it with photos of your family’s adventures.
Canvas Print
A canvas print of a favorite photo can be a fantastic gift. A few years ago, Andi snuck into her mom’s Photos Library and found a great picture she took of a white heron in the pond behind her house. Andi had it printed on canvas, and her mom loved it! It now hangs in her living room. The next year she took a great picture of 3 different birds standing by her pond, and Andi had that one made to match the heron as well.
And now we aren’t just limited to canvas prints. There are beautiful options in metal, acrylic, glass, and wood. Something for every decor!
BONUS: Get up to 50% off and free shipping from Mixbook until 1/1/25.
Statuettes
Make your favorite photo into a 3D (sort of) statuette that can be placed on a desk or a bookshelf. So cute!
BONUS: Shop all the current promotions at MPix here!
Photo Pillow
Is your college student sad that they had to leave their favorite dog or cat at home? How about getting them the next best thing, a pet pillow? Just submit a photo, and companies like The Pet Pillow will make a huggable likeness of your animal that can go anywhere
Use It Photo Gifts
Personalized Wrapping Paper
How cute is this wrapping paper? Pick a favorite scribble from your favorite kid and have your own personalized wrapping paper made. And check out their other kid-art related gift items!
Or how about personalizing your wrapping paper even further with this cute photo paper from Happy Wrap?
Cups & Mugs
I drink tea every morning, then the rest of the day I drink water, then I might enjoy a cocktail in the evening. Nothing makes them taste better than drinking them out of a cup with one of my favorite photos.
Whether you want a coffee cup, a large tumbler, or a wine glass, we’ve got you covered. And don’t just think about using traditional photos. What about using some of your kids’ artwork on a mug for Grandma?
Phone Case
We are never far away from our phones, so why not give the gift of a custom photo phone case? There are so many styles and options for every type of phone available. It might be hard to choose.
Magnets
Magnets are a great, inexpensive way to share photos that will be seen every day on the fridge. You can order them online from a company like Pinhole Press or print your own at home using printable magnet sheets.
PRO TIP: Photo gift sites give away free gifts all the time. Log in to purchase a photo book or some Christmas cards, and it’s very likely you can get a free set of magnets or tote bag. Take advantage!
Luggage Tags
Now that travel is on our radar again, giving the gift of a custom luggage tag will help Mom’s suitcase stand out. When we went to Europe for our 20th anniversary, I had photo luggage tags made for everyone in the family. My husband’s and mine featured a recent family photo, and my kids’ tags featured their own artwork. Fifteen years later, those tags still help us find our bags in a crowd.
Pillows
I think these reversible sequins are so cool. My nieces have shirts with them, but I’ve never seen one that reveals a photo until now.
Towels
How fun would it be to save your chair to the pool with a personalized photo towel? Or to decorate your kitchen with a tea towel with pictures of the grandchildren? Maybe this is a gift you give yourself this year.
Candles
If you are going to buy Grandma a candle anyway, why not add a photo? These would also make great teachers’ gifts.
Journal
If your loved one likes to journal or even just make lots of lists, a personalized journal/book will make the perfect gift.
Can cooler/koozie
Start off the weekend right with a personalized can cooler featuring your favorite photo. These would also make great bridesmaids and groomsman gifts.
Play With It Photo Gifts
Puzzles
A personalized puzzle is great for the jigsaw enthusiast in your life. They come in various styles and numbers of pieces.
Coloring Book
For the kids on your list (and even the adults), a personalized coloring book is a fun gift. Find instructions on how to turn your favorite photos into a coloring book here.
Photo Credit: ThePhotoManagers
Customized Playing Cards
Every time Aunt Suzie plays solitaire, she can see your smiling face or the kids’ artwork when you make her a deck of customized playing cards.
BONUS: Shop all the current promotions at MPix here!
Memory Games
Memory games are such a fun way to teach names and other ideas to the little ones in your life. These games from Pinhole Press are adorable.
Get More Photo Gift Ideas on our Photo Gift Pinterest Board
Wear It Photo Gifts
Custom Socks
There are lots of crazy socks out there these days, so why not wear your photos? Websites like MyPhotoSocks allow you to make your own custom pair with photos of your family or your pets. You can also have custom undies and Hawaiian shirts made for the really hard-to-buy-for family member. Last year my daughter bought the entire family Socks socks. (Our cat is named Socks.) They were adorable!
Photo Jewelry
What about a necklace made from a picture of your grandchild or your favorite pooch? MyPets.gift has some cute sterling silver necklaces, while you can get more traditional photo jewelry from places like MyPets.gift and Shutterfly.
Custom Wallet
I know you technically can’t wear a wallet but just go with me here. If you are going to grab a wallet for Dad or Grandpa anyway, how about getting one embellished with a photo of his favorite people like this one on Etsy?
All Time Favorite Photo Gifts
Candles and wallets make great gifts, but sometimes you want to stick with the good old standby, like a calendar or framed print.
Calendar
A photo calendar is always a good gift idea. I have been making these annually for 20+ years for my mother and sister. My preferred vendor for this is Shutterfly because I like its quality, price point, and easy-to-use interface, and they remember all of my family’s birthdays from year to year. All you need to make yours is 12 photos (or more if you want.)
Many websites, including Shutterfly, also allow you to add birthdays and anniversaries to the calendar. On my calendars last year, for each month, I included photos of the birthday boys and girls for that particular month. That was a fun way for me to integrate people like my dad and grandparents who have passed away.
Using vintage photos is another fun twist on a calendar, as seen in this example from Kathy Stone of Calgary Photo Solutions.
Photo Book
As you may have noticed at the beginning of this gift guide, I love to give a photo book. I’ve created many for graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays over the years. My current go-to vendor for my books is Mixbook. I’ve done several books with them over the past year, including my daughter’s graduation present and my husband’s 50th birthday gift. Their books are very customizable, and the interface is easy to use. The quality and customer service are great too. I’m sure you have a favorite too.
BONUS: Get up to 50% off and free shipping from Mixbook until 1/1/25.
Need ideas for a unique photo book? Here are a few for you.
- Photo Books: They Aren’t Just for Special Occasions – Yes, I actually did make a photo book about holes.
- Fast Photo Book Idea for a Toddler
- Photo Books for Teens
Board Books for Kids
Little kids love photos, but you might not want to let them handle your paper photo books. Make them their own customized board books. I did this a few years ago for my niece. I included photos of all her close relatives on both sides of the family. My sister says she loves to look through it and name all of the people.
Frame A Picture
You can’t go wrong with a framed photo. Grab one of your favorites from this year (or an old treasure), print it, and stick it in a frame. It doesn’t have to be fancy. You can even order the print from your favorite photo vendor like Mpix and the frame from Amazon while sitting on the couch in your PJs.
These metal prints from Mixbook look fabulous as well.
Still, sound like too much work? Companies like Framebridge will do all the work for you.
Share Your Family Videos
Looking for a fun and easy way to share your family’s home videos? Let us introduce you to the Projector app. Projector is a TV streaming service that allows you to watch your own home movies and videos on a TV as easily as you would watch a movie on Netflix.
Don’t have your old family movies digitized yet? Good Life Photo Solutions can help. And then we can load them all into Projector for you!
BONUS: Use code HOLIDAY40 to save 40% off your first year of Projector. Code is valid until December 31, 2024.
For the DIYer Photo Gifts
If you are more of a DIYer or just trying to keep the budget in check, here are a few projects you can try on your own at home.
- DIY Clip Frame from HeartWork Organizing
- Photo Magnets & Flower Pots from The Photo Managers
- Photo Advent Calendar Tree from The Photo Managers
- Photo Coasters from The Frugal Girls
Find more DIY photo gift ideas on the Good Life Photo Solutions Photo Gift Pinterest board.
For the Photo Lovers Non-Photo Gifts
These last few aren’t photo gifts per se, but they are still excellent gift ideas for photo lovers.
Photo Organizing Books
If your loved one (or you) wants to start organizing and preserving your family photos, there are several great books written by experts in the photo organizing field. We work with these authors regularly and can highly recommend their books.
- Declutter Your Photo Life: Curating, Preserving, Organizing and Sharing Your Photos by Adam Pratt
- Photo Organizing Made Easy: Going from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed by Cathi Nelson
- Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff: Declutter, Downsize and Move Forward with Your Life by Matt Paxton
- What’s a Photo Without a Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy by Hazel Thornton
Photo Storage
Give the gift of safe photo storage this year. Pioneer is one company that makes quality storage options. Archival Methods and Native Archival are two other excellent choices. If you don’t know exactly what your loved one needs, how about a gift certificate to one of these vendors?
Fun Stuff
If your loved one likes to take selfies, look good on the work Zoom call or just take fun pictures, here are some great options.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera
Other Gift Guides With More Photo Gift Ideas
Good Life Photo Solutions’ Photo Gift Pinterest Board
5 Personalized Gifts for Mother’s Day With Mom’s Favorite Photos
5 Graduation Photo Gifts They Will Cherish
What is your favorite photo gift that you have ever given or received?
Interested in Working with Good Life Photo Solutions?
We work in person and remotely with local clients in southeastern Virginia as well as with clients from all over the US and around the world. The first step to working together is to schedule a complimentary Zoom/phone consultation to discuss your project and goals and how we may be able to help. There is no obligation to purchase additional services. You can schedule your consultation here.
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*This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you purchase from a link, Good Life Photo Solutions LLC may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business. See our disclosure policy for full details.
Wow, Andi! What a great list of gift ideas. Some of them I’ve never seen before like those adorable photo socks. I love those! Can you explain a bit more about the Picture Keeper and how it works? Currently, all of my photos and other files are double backed up on Carbonite (cloud storage) and Time Machine (external hard drive.) Would there be a reason/advantage of also using something like Picture Keeper?
So many unique ideas! My sister has ordered custom photo playing cards for herself, family and friends, and I just love the idea.
So many great gift ideas! I particularly like Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner. That looks like a wonderful gift for the genealogist in the family.
Some years ago, I collected all the group kid photos together over the years and placed it in a small photo album. My mother-in-law loved it! She couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I love these new ideas, Andi. You’ve got some here I’ve definitely never seen before. I think the can coozie would make a great stocking stuffer! I’m going to follow up on some of these ideas.
These are great gift ideas! I especially like the photo map and the photo playing cards.
Ich freue mich von Ihnen zu hören!
Thanks for sharing this informative article. You can make your family’s faces the focal point of the couch with personalized photo pillows.
[…] great benefit of having your favorite photos scanned is that you can now share them with others. You can make a calendar, use it in a slide show or as the screen saver on your […]
Such a fun update of your photo gift-giving guide, Andi! The photo “pet” pillows are adorable. And I will check out Mixbook. I created a photo book recently as a pre-wedding weekend gift for my daughter and son-in-law. I’ve used other book creation services in the past, but this time I tried the Canva. They had beautiful templates and a pretty easy to use interface. The quality was good, but maybe not quite as good as the other companies I’ve used. The bottom line was the kids LOVED it, and I loved making it.
[…] my Ultimate Photo Gift Guide for more gift […]
[…] at the office. Create a photo book of some of your favorite vacation shots. Create and give a photo gift for Christmas. Use a wi-fi-enabled digital picture frame like the Nixplay Digital frame to enjoy […]