What's a Faux-llection? Well a faux collection of course! What's a faux collection? Well we're glad you asked! It's the easiest way to collect awesome items without filling your home with "stuff and things." It allows you the nostalgia without the clutter and is perfect for any size space or any type of item. Here's how to get started:
The idea of keeping a faux-llection is an easy one. All it really involves is a camera and a keen eye. Instead of hemming and hawing over bringing home yet another horse statue to add to your collection, snap a quick picture instead. Photos? That's what this is all about? Isn't that called a scrap book? Well, sort of, that's where modern technology takes you out of colored printed papers and puts a cool sleek book in your hands.
Since taking photos doesn't require you to have a car or truck to haul items home in, you can "collect" items of any shape, size and most importantly — price! The only thing you'll need to ensure is that your camera is set at a high resolution (300dpi is standard hi-res) and then when you have a large grouping of photos (or a large amount of small groupings of different things) you're ready to make them into a book.
A book? Isn't that like…hard? Nope! Not anymore it isn't! Although there are several websites that offer on demand, short run printing, I'm a big fan of the folks over at Blurb. They're making printing as easy as click, click, send! You can check out the pricing list from Blurb above, it's all based on if you'd like a hard or soft cover or black and white art.
Being able to find that movie ticket stub from your first date — or the love note your significant other packed into your suitcase when you were away from work (without digging through shoe boxes under your bed) — is priceless. Even if you think you must have the tangible items, having a book that's easily flipped through and shown to friends and family is a convenience I'm willing to bet you'll love!
What do you think about the idea of a Faux-llection? Is it fun or a total fail? Let us know below!
Image: Blurb, Flickr member odetothebigsea licensed for use by Creative Commons
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Comments (9)
My husband and I have been making Blurb books for the past 3 years - one commemorating every year of marriage! That way, 25 years down the road and about 20 laptops/computers/memory cards/etc later, not only will I not have to deal with photos falling out of badly adhered albums, but I won't be worried that somewhere along the way I lost a favorite photo!
We totally love Blurb, and I would encourage everyone to use it. It's truly simple, and inexpensive, and a fabulous way to commemorate/collect anything.
I think making your own book is a great idea. If I bought and displayed every accessory I fall in love with I would have to move out of my adorable house. So - taking a shot of it - putting it into a book and placing it on my coffee table so I can fantasy-redecorate is a very fun and timeless idea. My Publisher is another site that works well for these books.
Maybe you could take pictures of all those musty old books and get rid of some of that clutter on your bookshelves....
this is totally an ad - yes?
aust - Sorry you feel that way, but it isn't. We've been self publishing with Blurb for quite sometime and used them in this article because of their ease and accessibility to those who don't have design or layout skills that other sites require you to have (or submit work already laid out).
There are several publishers out there who don't, but we don't always like suggesting things we haven't tried out ourselves first!
If you've used another one, let us know how your experience went!
I <3 Blurb. We did our wedding album with them- a giant, hardcover coffee table thing, and it turned out gorgeous. All our relatives immediately wanted copies. The quality really was outstanding.
This is a neat idea- especially for travelers! I may not be able to fit all those Virgin Mary statues into my carryon, but I can fit my camera into my purse!
oh dear, i used to take my scraps to the copyshop to have them bound ... with those awful little holes! a book, now that's better. up until now, i thought photobooks were only for cheesy holiday pics.
ps. love the first few sentences.
I've used blurb several times to create books. The result is a perfectly printed, professional looking book stunningly printed and bound. I will say however their software is a nightmare (i'm using a mac, maybe it's easier to use on a PC?) and one-off books are a bit pricey, but well worth the quality.
don't really understand what it is so hard to judge.