Hey everyone! Today, I wanted to show you some great customized holiday ideas with Mixbook products. Mixbook is a photo printing company with a special approach- YOU get to create your products and they print it and get it delivered to your door. You may be in charge of deciding how your product turns out- it’s not as tricky as it sounds though! They have many tools and templates to make it as easy as possible. The Mixbook software is also amazingly fun to use! Read more about it in detail in this review I did a while back.
For the holidays, it’s always fun to add your own personal touch to your cards and presents. In fact, if you’re like me, you might enjoy the process of making handmade cards, wrapping your own gifts. However, life is more busy nowadays. I just don’t seem to have the time to make ALL the cards by hand and wrap ALL the presents, can you relate?
Take a look at the gifts I ordered (some for myself!) Also, I have a special free download for you at the end of this blog post! Scroll on…
So, it really doesn’t hurt to get them printed and made by someone else. With Mixbook, though, it still remains personalized because you get the freedom to tweak the designs (or if you’re ambitious, make an entirely new design!). The software has so many free graphics and styles you can use.
Here are five holiday gift ideas with Mixbook! Let’s go through them one by one.
– Custom stationery (cards and notes)
Five Holiday Gift Ideas with Mixbook (+ Free Christmas Doodles Worksheet!)
- PHOTO BOOK
They have amazing templates to help you make your very own photo book! See them all here. I used a base theme and customised it with (too many) stickers and added (too) many backgrounds! Haha 🙂
Have you ever made a scrapbook or photo journal? It is really satisfying to see pictures in one place. When I was younger, I used to make my own little photo books for different occasions: a road trip, birthday parties, summer vacation, compiling photos with friends and family, my art in a particular timeframe (month, vacations)- you name it. Nowadays, when everything has gone digital, Mixbook has an amazing solution to this rather time consuming hobby! You can literally use your instagram feed to design your photo book, along with uploading pictures from your computer. Isn’t that super convenient?
For the photo book I designed, I made it as a gift to my youngest sister (@strawberrycrafter24 on IG). She’s posting her art on instagram quite often nowadays, and I thought it would be fun to make a photo book with her art this past year. It’s really nice to see your own art in a book- it motivates you to do even better and you can easily show it to people (it’s like your very own portfolio. But even more stylish, because Mixbook’s paper quality is great!)
It’s not limited to images; you can also add text and stickers in there! So, you can write little notes next to each picture, add stickers to jazz it up. You can even add different backgrounds so it looks super bright. I probably went a bit overboard because there are literally. So. Many. Options.
I guess I’m just not a minimalist when it comes to color and pattern. The more, the better.
In fact, after seeing this photo book, I’m definitely considering making one for myself with my art. It’ll be great to organize art this way.
Why you should consider making a photo book:
- Mark a special occasion with photos! Since it’s almost the end of the year, it’s a perfect opportunity to reflect on 2018!
- If you’re an artist, consider compiling your art to make your very own portfolio!
- If you just want to organize your instagram photos, put it all in a photo book
- These photo books lay flat on the table! Just right for your coffee table- it’s a great conversation starter.
- The best part if this seems like too much work? Mixbook has an option to organize them for you in the photo book- all you have to do is select the pictures! No need to worry about placing them and aligning them etc- leave the technical stuff to the experts! i.e. the Mixbook software and photo book templates!
- CUSTOM STATIONERY
See the full stationery collection here. Here’s what I ordered:
You can design the back of the cards too! Here they are:
Cards! Handwritten notes! This is probably my most favourite part of Mixbook.com because they have so many options to choose from and customize. And what’s even better? Foil options! Holiday cards seem even more gorgeous with a splash of gold and silver. So, I ordered and designed cards which all had a sparkly finish! They’re so pretty that I want to keep them for myself, haha. I know that my friends are going to adore them!
I got a few notecards because for the formal events, a small note of appreciation goes a long way! These ones were simple with plenty of space to write a cute message.
- WALL ART
All the wall art options can be found here. I ordered one cute canvas print for myself!
I ordered a canvas print for myself because I’m renovating my office space and wanted to get some art for the walls! I drew this girl digitally and added the text on it on Mixbook software. I plan to hang it up in front of my computer so that whenever I look at it, it’ll be a reminder to get back to work.
Also, Mixbook sent me an additional tiny metal print frame! It’s perfect for doodling- here’s a quick video:
- WALL CALENDAR
All wall calendar designs are here. Click to see!
A calendar is probably one of the most popular holiday gestures, right? Last year, I think I got six calendars as presents. There is a reason for that, because we’re all pretty much looking forward to the year ahead and we want to get started on it already! What really makes or breaks a calendar for me is, how attractive it is and the paper quality. So, I designed one for myself again with my art – and this time I kept it minimal. When I like to plan my schedule, I prefer a really plain style so it keeps me focused on the content. I left the day squares blank, although if you have already got some parts of 2019 planned, you have the option of writing notes in the calendar days and get them printed on the calendar itself!
I added my art on the calendar on the sides- leaving more blank space to write on. I think I’ll create a monthly overview there. Finally, I made a calendar which actually works for me!
- ACRYLIC BLOCK
Shop more acrylic blocks and prints here.
These acrylic blocks are so gorgeous! A lot of people use acrylic blocks as wall art or simply to prop them against a surface. I have a friend who likes to use fancy paperweights and this seemed to be a really good option! An acrylic block is a really cute paperweight, after all. I added my art on it for good measure, and is there anything more pleasing than seeing your own art in a glass square? I’m so happy with how it turned out!
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Also, I designed a Holiday Doodles worksheet just for you! Thanks to Mixbook, it’s a free download and I hope you enjoy this little guide!
Download it here by clicking on the link:
Surely Simple Christmas Doodles Worksheet (1329 downloads)…
Mixbook is also giving away a $100 gift card to one lucky winner! Enter on this post on Instagram – the giveaway is valid for a week!
Thanks to Mixbook for sponsoring this post! Use the code GRATEFUL to get 50% off on acrylic and metal prints, and check out their other holiday discounts at mixbook.com! Happy holiday shopping! – Aaria