Last Minute Photo Gifts Made Easy

I love photos.  I think we all do, don’t we?  They are so easy to take these days, now that we have our cameras right in our phones, right in our pockets… but even with that technology, there’s still something so special about having actual prints.  I love gifting photos to special people, and one of the people who I wanted to do a little something for this Easter is Raya’s babysitter, Michele. (Finding time to give something to her can be another story – after all, we call Michele when our schedule is full!)

I realized that if I wanted to put a gift together for Michele, Wednesday might be my last chance to see her before Easter.  I realized this on Wednesday morning, of course – ack!  So I took advantage of Walgreens’ mobile photo app to send in my photo order, and have it ready and waiting for me after work.

The mobile app is awesome. I’ve been using it for a while now to send photo prints of Raya to my mom.  If I know I won’t see her for a few weeks, I can send photos of a trip to the zoo to the Walgreens down the block from her house.  I can send them from the car before we even get home, and she can pick them up within the hour!  My mom LOVES prints to put in her brag book (and I love the ease of technology) so this is a perfect sharing method for both of us!  You have the option of printing from your phone’s album, taking a photo on the spot, or printing photos from your Facebook album.

You just select your photo, and upload it.  Easy peasy!  The app walks you through the whole process.  I had shared Raya’s 2-year portraits on Facebook, so I was able to grab those right from my album to print my favorite one for Michele.

The part about the app that I like best is that my iphone has some really wonderful photos – you know the ones I mean, the candid shots.  The moments you only managed to snap a photo of because you keep your phone close at hand.  Like sneaky breakfast-in-bed shots.  ;)

These end up being some of the best ones!  So I love how easy it is to order prints and put them in Raya’s album along with my normal DSLR shots.  (If you’re curious how the app works, I have a mini-tutorial in my Google+ album – pop on over and take a peek!)

We were in and out of Walgreens in under ten minutes.  They are always super fast at the photo counter.  #HappyHealthy

Then we picked out a frame and of course, a little bit of chocolate to sweeten the gift just a little more. ;)  (It’s just not Easter without chocolate!)

While we were browsing down the Easter aisle, Raya managed to snag this little bunny off the shelf.  (Hey, he was on sale, and awfully cute, so I let her get him.  I know, I’m a total pushover when I am about to leave her with a sitter for the evening.)

Another cool feature of the Walgreens app is that you can keep your Balance Rewards card right on your phone.  Not only can I check my points balance, but I can also just bring my card right up on-screen and have the cashier scan it, which is SO much nicer than digging in my wallet for my card!

I was able to get a sweet and easy gift put together before Michele arrived and I had to head out!  Whew!  What are your go-to last-minute-gift ideas?

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I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Walgreens #cbias #SocialFabric.