I know we live in a digital age, but I still love to hold a photo in my hands.
It feels more personal. More meaningful. Have you noticed this? When you bother to print out a photo, it’s that one shot you love enough to frame, rescued from a sea of Instagrams, most of which you’ll never look at again.
Not only do I frame photos, I make photo albums, anally organized in perfect chronology. I even drop cute kid pics into cards for our grandparents–you know they’re too old to be messing with Picasa and Flickr! So when I got my hands on an HP Photosmart 6520 e-All-in-One Printer, I was stoked.
This baby prints surprisingly high quality color prints at a moment’s notice, which was really helpful when preschool suddenly needed a family photo for my kid’s cubby.
Viv, Mommy, Daddy and Owl
And it can print wirelessly from my computer (or directly from a memory card, or even from Snapfish) which means I didn’t have to find room for it on my uber messy desk. It’s on Dave’s. Thanks, honey!
I’m just getting started, but I’ve already thought of 5 fun ways to use a photo printer:
1. DIY Postcards – Did you know all it takes to make a postcard is a photo with a stamp on it? If you’re low on stationery or short on postage (only 33 cents – bargain), using a photo as a postcard is a cute and personal way to say “hi,” “thanks” or even “save the date.” (Mail as is, or adhere to card stock to prevent rips.)
2. Baby Gift – An amazing (yet inexpensive) gift for a new baby or 1yo is a small, teethable photo album filled with snaps of family and close friends. Parents can use them to ID the VIP’s (“That’s your Grammy and Grampy”) and tell silly stories about all the people who love baby. Plus, the gift giver gets to include herself in the album–that’s a straight line to favorite aunt status.
3. Wedding Planning – It’s not that I’m not into Pinterest, it’s just that I also love tearing stuff out of wedding magazines and putting it in my binder. Now with a photo printer, I am unstoppable.
The bride likes lavender
4. School Projects – Growing up, when I had to do a 4th grade presentation on Alaskan baby seals, I snipped images from National Geographic and rubber cemented them onto poster board. I’m not sure what kids are doing now – maybe they beam baby seal holograms from their iPads – but I have to think color prints will come in handy once Viv hits elementary school.
5. Sexy Surprise – When I was pregnant and full of hormones I thought it would be fun to take a topless belly pic for Dave.
Oh yeah, I went there.
I wasn’t at all embarrassed to have a friend snap my picture, but I hated having to send it out for printing and desperately hoped that only computers and robots saw my pregnancy boobs, and not some guy named Carl. (Seriously, when it comes to snapping saucy selfies, EVERYONE should be using prints instead of emails. If only Anthony Weiner and Brett Favre had photo printers, they might still be best known for politics and football.)
Have I given you any good ideas?
I was furnished with an HP Photosmart 6250 e-All-in-One Printer from Staples for my review, and it’s rocking my world. I’ve been fixated on photos, but it also makes regular B/W and color prints. Plus it copies, it scans, it faxes and I’m pretty sure it will do my taxes if I ask it nicely.
If you have any creative suggestions for me and my photo printer, please send them my way. I promise I will be wearing a shirt.