5 easy ways to use instant photos to create the most fab personalised (and affordable) gifts.

No matter how obsessed and addicted we get to scrolling through the millions of images on social media, nothing will ever beat the nostalgia and uniqueness of physical photographs. Photos that you can hold, flick through and place in your home just have a more special feeling and ALWAYS bring a smile to your face.

When it comes to celebrating someone important in your life, you literally cannot go wrong with a personalised gift. And what’s more personal than showcasing shared memories and experiences? 

Here are five of the best ways you can incorporate photos into your gifts to make them super special.

1. An easy-as-pie DIY photo board for your bestie.

Personalised photo boards are one of the favourite things to make because they're fun, easy and everyone loves them.

When I celebrated my 21st birthday, I took my Fujifilm instax mini instant camera to really capture ‘the moment’. The instax mini 11 is a super small camera and is light to carry around, so during the event, I gave it to all the guests to take photos. I loved seeing all the one-off shots they took!

With the instax photos, my guests were able to take a piece of the night home with them. I pinned the remaining photos that came out from that night to a corkboard. And although it looks super simple, this photo board has always been my most favourite feature in my bedroom. 

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9 + 10 🥂 #21st

A post shared by  em (@emilyvernem) on Jul 30, 2017 at 2:02am PDT

I’ve also seen people peg their photos onto a wire frame to display their memories or create their own piece of art, like in these pictures below:

Moonstruck? Same. Image: Fujifilm.

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Thank you to everyone who bought an instax mini 11 and entered the giveaway we ran a few months ago. We want to send a special congratulations to @amarjitkkang1 who was the winner of our major $11,000 cash prize! Amarjit has shared her incredibly touching story about friendship, her mini 11 and what she's planning on doing with the prize. "My best friend was recently in hospital and unfortunately, due to COVID, she was only allowed one visitor. I stayed with her the whole time and we made such good memories. As a thank you, she treated me to an instax mini 11, so I could capture important moments in my life and display them in my bedroom. As hard as 2020 has been, I couldn’t have made it this far without my best friend, so I have planned to split the $11,000 prize with her." #fujifilminstax #instaxmini11 #mini11giveaway

A post shared by  Fujifilm instax Australia (@fujiinstaxaus) on Oct 7, 2020 at 9:33pm PDT

For those of my friends who are parents, I recommend instax as a fun way to involve the kids on photo projects too - without them getting their hands all over your phone. They're available in really cute colours like Blush Pink, Sky Blue, Ice White, Charcoal Gray and Lilac Purple for the mini 11. Check out the full instax camera range here.

2. A special scrapbook for a family member.

I feel like scrapbooks will never go out of style. There’s just something so raw and exciting about them.

For scrapbooking, I’ve found that using the instax mini Link smartphone printer is perfect. With the mini 11 camera, you take a photo and it prints straight away, however with the mini Link, you can print photos directly from your smartphone via the instax mini Link app. That means you can dig into your archives of travels, events or other memories and give it that instax 'instant' vibe. GAME CHANGER.

Here's my scrapbook project. Image: Emily Vernem.

Now instead of rummaging through and ruining old photo albums you can make your smartphone photos look as real and authentic as instax camera snaps. It's definitely the kind of Christmas gift that my mum or dad would appreciate.

It's a little game-changer, this one. Image: Supplied.

 

3. The good ol' framed photograph, but reinvented.

I believe that framed photographs are always overlooked. And yet whenever I receive a gift like this, it always ends up being one of my most prized possessions. 

Framing instax prints looks so clean and minimalistic. It makes the perfect gift because it will literally go with EVERYTHING - it's so easy to move these around a home and bring that touch of personalisation to a space.

And you don't have to decide between which single photo is your favourite - just pop a few of them in one frame and experiment with the layout. See the pictures below for some inspiration:

Frame multiple photos at once. Image: Fujifilm.

4. A surprise pop-up DIY installation for a loved one.

DIY installations can make your home so much cosier and allow you to have cute personalised wall decor. You can completely customise the look of these, and they are so easy to make. 

All you need is to attach the photos onto a piece of string with pegs and hang them up on your wall. You can either have the string hanging horizontally or vertically against the wall, whatever is suitable to the area. 

If you're feeling super festive, hang it on Christmas lights like below.

Pegs and lights: It's that easy. Image: Fujifilm

5. Just the best personalised card ever.

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Whether they're near or far, send your loved ones little envelopes of joy and special moments! 💙 #fujiinstaxaus #instaxprint #instax #baby #babyannouncement #diy #instantprints #dontjusttakegive

A post shared by  Fujifilm instax Australia (@fujiinstaxaus) on Sep 22, 2020 at 8:28pm PDT

One of the simplest yet most effective gifts is a personalised card. I love making these for my friend’s birthdays and for Christmas as well.

It’s really simple. I usually just print out four of five photos and place them in the card as a little surprise OR I glue them to the front of the card in a sort of messy collage style. You literally cannot go wrong.

Similarly to scrapbooking, for this I would use the instax mini Link to print out my favourite photos to pop on the card.

I’m also super excited to make these for Christmas because, although 2020 has been rough for most people, I believe it’s important to remember and showcase the good times.

If you're looking to make the best photo gift, explore Fujifilm's instax range and get inspired now. For more tips for creating DIY displays, head to instax's blog for extra inspiration. 

Feature image: Emily Vernem/Getty.