Christmas in September: Personalized Book Gift Ideas

I’m sure you know that books make great gifts, and I’m sure you’ve heard of Christmas in July, so today we’re going to step it up a notch with personalized book gift ideas for Christmas in September.

It’s something I’ve been doing for several years now, and it takes away all of the gift-giving stress in December! It’s pretty amazing, actually. It’s a great idea I can’t keep to myself. So let me help you out.

I’ve actually got a whole plan laid out for you to make it as easy as possible!

Why September?

I first started doing this years ago, and at the time I had kids at home. My 11-year-old daughter wanted to have some friends over the first week of December, and I suggested we could do a little graham cracker gingerbread house party with them. It was pretty simple–I just bought candy and frosting and graham crackers and we called friends. When one other SAHmom dropped off her son, she said, “Wow, I can’t believe you are doing this in December! I’m slammed and stressed this entire month.” And it literally hadn’t occurred to me that other people would be so busy.

And that’s what I hope to offer you with Christmas in September!

You could certainly do this in July or right now if you like, but starting in the first few days of September the way I will outline for you has three benefits:

1. You spend time in September and October. This means you don’t spend time in November or December when things get busier.
2. You spend money in September, October, and November–not December. This means you’re spreading out the cost of your gift-giving, and I’ve built in time here for you to wait for a sale.
3. You can actually join a contest I hold every year if you like! It’s called the Annual Christmas Challenge, and it starts September 1. Find all the details here–there’s even a $20 gift certificate up for grabs!

Why Personalized Books?

You’re probably not asking this question, but just in case: they’re meaningful, unique, and gifts that keeps on giving. As just one example, a year after my mother graduated to heaven, I made a life storybook using her photos and mementos which I scanned. I gave it to my dad, my sister and her family, my brother and his family, and myself and my family for Christmas that year. It keeps on giving because we can pull it out on her birthday or Mother’s Day and “spend time with” her again.

Or, you have a chance to tell someone what they mean to you. Or, celebrate a special vacation or event that happened during the previous year. Or just share favorite photos through the years.

The Christmas in September Plan

With a little planning, you can have those 3 fantastic perks that I listed above. I’ll outline it here, but the Christmas in September Plan is outlined here as well, along with a printable gift list worksheet page, live links to video tutorials, and a lot more gift ideas than I’ll be sharing here. But, in a nutshell, the plan looks like this:

DURING THE FIRST 3 OR 4 DAYS OF SEPTEMBER:

• Head over to my best recommendation for high-quality DIY books (here at this link) and explore the possibilities under the “Create & Print” tab along the top. Click around to see the book templates to get ideas. (The templates are all free, and so is the easy peasy software program you’ll use to create them. As I mentioned in my first post here at Between the Bookends, serious quality and photo privacy matter a lot, so that’s included, too!)
• Make your gift list, and include corresponding prices because that will come into play in the next step. My goal here is to get the best price, so keep in mind that you’ll get a sale of some kind and an extra 5% off with the Trick Up My Sleeve I’ll tell you about. If you’re thinking about a cookbook, I have more details at my May post, Creating a Cookbook for Savoring Connections.
• Tally up the prices, then take 35% off of the full price. Then take another 5% off of that. Take the total amount your intended gifts will come to after those discounts, then divide by 3.
• The last thing to do is open your free account at the website and then click the “Products” tab. And then do the Trick Up My Sleeve! 🙂 Find “Forever Club” from the “Products” drop-down menu and join at whatever level fits the divide-by-3 number you got. This is basically just layaway. It’s a savings account, of sorts. (With “interest” through an extra 5% savings on your books.) For example, if you came up with $100 in gifts, you can pick the $30/month level. Forever Club will save you 5% on your final order, and it spread out the cost, too! (Yes, 3×30=90 but you will apply the $90 you’ve deposited and can just pay the remaining $10+tax/shipping when you order the books.)

DURING THE REST OF SEPTEMBER:

• Gather photos and start creating your first book (or other gift–even a calendar or towel can tell a story)! You can find video tutorials on how to upload and organize photos here and on how to create a book here, both from your computer and from your phone, if you need them.
• Finish about half of the books/gifts you’ve chosen for your gift list by the end of September.

DURING OCTOBER:

• Forever Club automatically renews each month on the same day you joined it, so you’ll let it renew this month. It’s like a bank account, as I mentioned, so if you chose $60 last time, it will add another $60 to what you’ve deposited and will spend for your book order.
• Finish the rest of the books. If you go a few days into November, that’s OK, too. (The one called Family Adventures below can be used as a family yearbook or a tribute book or a vacation book or anything you can think of!)
• Keep in mind that if you have any questions along the way, I’m happy to help! 🙂 I really am! I want you to have an amazing December giving amazing personalized book gifts. My contact info is here.

FINISHING UP IN NOVEMBER:

• Again, let your Forever Club renew at the beginning of November. This gives you the 3 months of your chosen dollar amount of deposits that I mentioned before. You do need to be a current Club member when you place your book order to get the extra 5% discount, so don’t quit Club just yet.
• Next, just watch for sales. Books are typically 35% off but do go as high as 50%, so that’s my favorite time to order. You can watch for the sales here, but I recommend the Photo Circle option here so you can plan ahead.
• Just remember: Click the blue “Apply Club Dollars” at checkout so you can use all the money you’ve saved up since September with those Club deposits.
• You’ll want to place your order before November 30, and books will be on sale 50% off at some point in November. I always hope for before Thanksgiving because then my Christmas shopping is D-O-N-E!

AFTER ORDERING YOUR BOOKS:

Aside from stalking the progress of your order online (you’ll feel like a kid waiting for Christmas!), the only thing left to do after you’ve ordered your books/gifts is to decide if you want to stop your monthly Club deposits or not.

Do you want to make easy digital scrapbooks or family yearbooks this way, gift something for an anniversary or Mother’s Day or a birthday or a special teacher in coming months? You may be ready for a self-care activity like this one in the new year.

If not, you can stop the December Club deposit by logging in to your Forever account, hovering over the person icon at the upper right, then clicking “My Account” from the drop-down menu. At the left, you’ll see a link called “Recurring Payments.” Click that and you can make changes from there.

I Love Doing Christmas in September!

Really. This Christmas in September thing feels amazing. Let’s just have a good time in December! Let’s just enjoy it! Let’s just focus on the Reason for the Season. Sit down with a cup of your favorite hot cocoa and rest in the glow of twinkling lights.

I’ve given “reasons I love you” books, my mom’s life storybook that I mentioned earlier, a baptism book, and I’m sure some other ones I can’t remember, but the consistent gift I give my family is a family calendar. It, too, is a gift that keeps on giving that tells a story!

And there’s just nothing like a personalized book or a personalized gifts to open on Christmas morning.

If It’s Hard to Keep the Secret

And, honestly, the hardest thing about giving these books and gifts is actually wrapping them and hiding them and waiting to give them away!

So if you have as hard a time as I do, share them with me and my Photo & Story Treasures friends. We’re very good at keeping secrets. 🙂 Snap some photos and head over here to share them with us.

Mum’s the word!