My brand-new phone, the one I bought specifically for the camera and the storage (yes, I paid for the upgrade), is already telling me it's full. Again.
I wish I could blame my apps. Nope. Like many (most?) if us, it's pictures of my kids, videos of my kids, and our WhatsApp family thread.
So yes, I need to do some photo sorting. But that's just the top of my list of year-end cleanup projects I keep putting off. There's the photo book I swear I'll make every year. There's the stack of preschool art I can't throw away and can't figure out where to keep. And there are grandparents who'd love to see this year in some form other than 400 WhatsApp messages.
This year I'm letting somebody (or something) else do most of it.
In this issue:
✅ The photo sorter I'm buying this week (it never uploads your kids' photos)
✅ What to do with the art pile, starring your kid as head curator
✅ The free year-in-review video your phone will make for you
Psst: Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe HERE → it's free!
🤖 Sort the camera roll first, then make the book
👉 I've been putting off organizing our photos for about 36 months (not that I'm counting). Our sad little digital photo frame is 18 months behind. So I'm genuinely stoked I found this.
Jade at Tales Told sorted and printed 11 years of her family's photos by hand. Then she built the Memory Machine so nobody else has to. You point it at your photos (phone, old laptop, that hard drive in the drawer). It sorts them by year, sets aside the duplicates, blurry shots, and screenshots, and picks the best shot of each moment. You check its picks, and it hands you print-ready files.
My favorite part: your kids' photos don't get uploaded to an AI company. I know plenty of people use AI to sort photos, but that's always been some of my hesitation. This runs on your own computer, never moves or deletes your originals, and (per Jade) Claude, which sets it up, is blocked from opening your photos.
She's launching it this week at $67 AUD (about $44 US), and then the price goes up. You'll need a computer and a paid Claude plan to run it. Here's the waitlist. I haven't tried it yet, so I'll report back.
Then make the book. Two that do most of the design for you (heads up: both mean uploading your picks, since they're printing them):
Mixbook Story Mode: give it your photos and a few words, and it designs three versions of the book for you to choose from. Softcovers start at $14.99 for 20 pages.
Shutterfly Make My Book: upload 20 to 800 photos, and an actual designer sends you a finished book within 24 hours. The design is free, you just pay for the book.
🎒 Make your kid the art curator
👉 If you have a stack of preschool art you can't throw away and can't store, let the artist decide what stays. Then you're not the villain who recycled the turkey hand.
The setup: spread the pile on the floor and let them pick their absolute favorites. Those originals are the keepers. They go into one folder or bin per kid per year.
Everything else gets photographed before it goes. Lay each piece flat near a window (daylight, no flash) and snap it. That way you still have the whole year, just not on your counter.
Then pick what to do with it (decide before you recycle anything, since two of these need the actual paper):
Hang it: some artists turn a pile of kid art into one big collage. Kiddo Art Collage has you mail in 50 to 70 originals, then layers 20 to 25 of them onto a ready-to-hang canvas (30 by 30 inches and up). It takes about a month.
Hand it off: Artkive sends a box that holds 300 to 400 pieces, so you can send this year's pile or a few years of keepers at once. You mail back the originals, they photograph everything and design a book, and you approve a proof. It's a $39 starter kit, then books from $75, plus $20 to get the originals back. (Not cheap, but you do basically nothing, including the photos.)
Do it yourself: drop your photos into the same app you're using for the photo book. A 20-page Mixbook softcover starts at $14.99.
⚡ Let your phone make the year-in-review video
👉 Not up for a book at all? You don't have to edit anything. Your phone's photo app will make a short movie for you.
On a newer iPhone: open Photos, scroll to Memories, tap "Describe a memory," and type something like "the kids in 2026, all the happy stuff." It pulls the photos, picks a song, and plays it back. (This needs an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, per iPhone Life.)
On a Samsung Galaxy: open the Gallery app, select the photos and videos you want, tap Create, then Movie, and choose the automatic highlight reel (Samsung's steps here).
If you use Google Photos (on any phone): open the app, tap the Create tab, then Highlight video, and pick the people or dates you want (Google's steps here).
Coming soon: Google Photos also drops an automatic year-end Recap in your Memories. Last year's arrived December 3.
Send it to the family thread instead of 400 more photos.
It's not a photo book. It is, however, done.
Which one are you most likely to actually do this year?
🧳 This Week's Work WTF
Inspired by real life events.
Tuesday, 2:15pm. Email from your boss: "Can you pull together a quick 2026 recap for Friday? Highlights, wins, learnings."
What we wish we could say: "Highlights: kept two small humans alive. Wins: one of them now uses a fork. Learnings: never leave a knotted hair tie within reach of a three-year-old's nose."
Steal this response: Whatever you'd normally say. It's a recap. You've got this one.
K that's all. You're the best and we love you.
-CK "Storage Full (Again)" Fuller (Editor) & the JB Crew 🫡
P.S. Next week: it's the 100th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which feels like a good excuse to start a parade-in-pajamas tradition. Plus a couple of ways to make Thanksgiving with little kids about more than waiting for dinner.
Quick note: Some links in here may be affiliate links. You know the drill- if you buy something, we might earn a small commission that helps offset the time we spend making JuiceBox. Thank you for supporting this project of ours.