Mother's Day photo book: work back from the date
Confirm Mother's Day in the recipient's country, then work back through delivery, proofing and photo collection. Give each person contributing a defined page or task and check the printed proof.
Mother's Day falls on different dates in different countries. Confirm the occasion and the recipient's date before setting an order deadline.
A printed book has to be finished well before the day. The date that matters is the day you order, not the day it is given.
Make your photobook
Arrange your photos on A4 pages, check the proof and order a printed copy.
Questions to ask a child for their page
- What is your mum best at?
- What does she always say?
- What do you like doing with her most?
- What does she cook that you like?
- Where is her favourite place to go?
- What makes her laugh?
- What would you make her for breakfast?
- How old do you think she is?
- What does she do when you are ill?
- What would you like to do with her this year?
Count back from the day
Find the delivery time for your order and add a few spare days. That gives the latest order date. The book should be finished and its proof checked a week before that.
Stop collecting photos two weeks before the book is due to be finished. Anything later goes into a digital copy or next year's book.
Record four dates together: collecting closes, first proof, corrections complete and order placed. Check whether delivery is to you or directly to the recipient before working backwards.
Pages children can make
Give each child one page with their name at the top. A child too young to write can choose the photos while an adult writes down exactly what they say about them.
An older child can take the photos for their page: her chair, her shoes by the door, the view from the kitchen window, her handwriting on a shopping list.
An interview page works at any age: the questions printed small, the answers in the child's own words, and a photo of the child taken the same day.
A page can also come from an adult child, friend or other person she chooses. Set the page count from the contributors who want to take part, rather than from a standard family outline.
- Scan a hand outline at full size and put a photo inside it.
- Let each child pick the photo that goes beside their name.
- Date each child's page.
When a partner makes it
A partner or another organiser can collect the files and arrange pages. Leave time for each contributor to choose their own material before checking the complete proof.
If she takes most of the family photos, she will be missing from them. Ask grandparents, friends and the other parent's phone for photos with her in them.
Ordering the printed copy
Print sizes decide your layout, so pick one before placing photos. A tbf scrapbook book can be ordered in print as A4 portrait or A4 landscape after a print proof; square sizes cannot.
If the printed copy will not arrive in time, give the PDF or the digital book on the day and the printed book when it comes.
Steps
The children's pages
Each child's page side by side: a photo they chose, their words written down, and a photo of them taken this year.
Photos she is in
Four to six photos with her in them from the past few years, taken by other people, with the year under each.
Her things
Close photos of objects a child photographed around the house, laid out as a grid of six with no captions.
The interview
The questions small down one side, a child's answers large beside them, and the date the interview was done.
Questions
Which Mother's Day date should I plan around?
Use the date observed by the recipient in their country. Confirm it for the relevant year, then check the printer's delivery information for that address before setting your order date.
How many pages should it have?
A short book is easier to finish on time: one page per child and four to six spreads of photos.
What if the book will not arrive in time?
Share the finished digital version if that suits the recipient, and give the paper copy later. Check the actual order status before promising a replacement arrival date.