I’m so obsessed with this personalized holiday gift, I’m giving it to everyone I know this year

4 weeks ago 4

Finding a great holiday gift even for those you’re closest to can be a real pain. It’s not just about what they want or like. It’s also the fact that, if you’re anything like me, you want to get them something personal and unique. You don’t want to just throw a gift card or generic item at them. At least that’s how I feel about it. It’s the thought that counts so, naturally, put some thought into those gifts! But circling back, all of that is easier said than done. No matter how well you know someone it can be challenging to find a gift that truly matches their personality, likes, and dislikes, and delivers that unique experience that makes holiday gifting so damn special.

I’ve effectively stumbled on a way to give my family, friends, and loved ones an incredibly meaningful gift. A gift that signifies their journey and their individual experiences. It’s called My Life in a Book. As you might expect, the premise is simple. You take their photos and snippets about their life and add them to a beautiful hardcover book, essentially capturing and celebrating them, for who they are, and for all time. Well, for as long as the book lasts anyway and those can last centuries. You get the point. The books are made using high-quality printing methods, with fully unique and customizable covers, voice-to-text transcription support while you’re creating the book, and personalized story prompts. Let’s get into how it all works and why I want to give this lovely little experience to everyone I know this year.

My Life in a Book: How’s it work?

Stories for My Family from My Life in a Book with photos in background

Creating the book is done through a simple, guided process. In other words, you’re not just left to your own devices, hoping and waiting for it to turn out fantastically. From the very first question about your subject(s) to the final version of the book, you have support the entire way. So, you really have the opportunity to create a long-lasting and memorable keepsake. I’m a good writer, for instance, so the prompts will be a cinch. But picking out good, quality photos is not going to be as easy. My Life in a Book helps you get all of it right.

Preserving your memories has never been easier

Simply start by choosing a preferred theme for your story, like immortalizing memories, celebrating your partner, or documenting the journey of parenthood from birth to move-out day. Whatever the case, with your theme ready, you move on to the effortless prompt and management process. For a year, My Life in a Book sends you questions regularly, guiding loved ones to share their unique experiences. You’ll receive, update, and edit prompts and you can easily create your own. You can customize the frequency of those prompts, too, choosing between weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or heck, doing it all in one go.

If you don’t want to type everything out then you can narrate it all and the voice-to-text feature will transcribe what you need. How awesome is that? Plus, it’s great if you’re busy and don’t have time to sit down and do the writing prompts. You can just blurt it all out on the go and let the transcription tools do the work.

Throughout that time you can fully customize the story, including by sharing access with friends and family to get some feedback. They can leave comments or address various points and you’ll get real-time notifications as soon as an update is added. You can even edit the content collaboratively if there are other people you lean on or trust. Nephew an amazing writer? Let him in if he’s willing.

Other elements you can edit include colors and themes, fonts, imagery like custom photos or visual add-ons, and much more. As a proud father, personally, I plan to add some more context to the story, including things like my children’s first teeth — yes we still have them — pieces of fabric from their favorite blankies, pictures they colored, and all of that goodness.

When it’s all ready the gorgeous keepsake is sent right to your doorstep — or the recipient’s doorstep — and you can order multiple copies if you want to share, and even have them delivered internationally.

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Why it makes the perfect gift for anyone you’re shopping for

Stories for my Family book from My Life in a Book

I’m not only a father of two, but I also have two amazing nieces who live right down the street. Why do I say that? Well, thanks to the sheer amount of personalization available, it makes the perfect gift for everyone on my list. I can tailor each book to each person I’m gifting it to, ranging from my brother-in-law and his wife to my in-laws and, of course, my wife. Preserving memories, for example, is a great gift for parents and grandparents. Preserving childhood or baby moments is a no-brainer for new parents or even established parents. You can also create something totally unique for your partner, memorializing your relationship and every big moment you’ve had up until now.

So, basically, there are enough options for you to gift something unique to everyone you want.

The entire platform, My Life in a Book, started when the founder realized he wanted to preserve his mother’s memories. Despite visiting her nearly every weekend, they’d never talked in-depth about her life story. Wanting to capture her history and preserve it for generations to come, he began sending weekly questions. Eventually, he amassed a precious archive of all her best stories, so he took them all and put them in an elegant printed book that he could share with his family. The rest, as they say, is history. It’s a moving story, indeed, but it highlights how we all wish to somehow preserve these memories and experiences for the ones we care about.

I know I want to preserve these moments, and I want to share them with my family and friends. That’s exactly why I’m gifting a bunch of these for the holidays.