Sixty is a birthday that belongs to the whole family. By now there may be grandchildren, a retirement on the horizon or already under way, and six decades of photographs sitting in albums, shoeboxes and phones. The people buying the present are often the children and grandchildren together, and the most loved gifts are the ones that draw on all of that history.
Here are the ideas worth considering, how to turn old prints into photos you can use, and how to get the grandchildren involved in a way that actually shows.
What makes a 60th birthday gift special
It covers all six decades
A sixtieth is a natural moment to look back across a whole life: the childhood, the early working years, the family, the friends, the places. A gift that only reflects the last few years misses most of the story.
It includes the next generation
For many people turning sixty, the grandchildren are the centre of everything. A present they have helped to make means far more than one they have simply signed a card for.
It does not need to be a thing they use
By sixty, most people have the kitchen gadgets and the gardening gloves. What they rarely have is something that puts the people they love together in one place.
60th birthday gift ideas, honestly assessed
1. Sixty photos for sixty years
Gather a photo from each year of their life, or as close as you can get, and arrange them into one piece. Sixty photos happens to fit an A1 framed print exactly, which holds up to 60 photos on paper.
A Birthday Collage arranges the photos into the shape of the number itself, either filling the digits or tracing their outline, so the 60 is made of the life it marks.
2. The grandchildren's words around the family photos
Ask each grandchild for a few words about their grandparent: what they call them, what they do together, what they are best at. "Best pancakes", "always has sweets", "reads the funny voices". Put those words around the family photos in a word art collage and it becomes the grandchildren's gift as much as anyone's.
3. A family gathering
A lunch or a weekend with everyone together, especially if the family is spread out. Book it well ahead, and get a proper group photo while everyone is in the same place.
4. Their stories, recorded
Sit down with them, or ask them to talk into a phone, and record the stories they tell about growing up, meeting their partner, their first job. Families often wish they had done this sooner. It pairs beautifully with a photo gift.
5. Something for the next chapter
If retirement is coming, a gift for the thing they will finally have time for: the allotment, the walking holidays, the lessons. Best when you know exactly what they have been planning.
6. A milestone piece of jewellery or a watch
A traditional choice that marks the age properly and can be worn every day. Lovely, though it says more about the occasion than about the person.
Turning old prints into photos you can use
The early decades of a sixty-year-old's life are almost all on paper. You do not need a scanner to use them, but a little care makes a big difference.
Photograph prints in daylight, flat and without flash
Lay each print flat on a table near a window, hold the phone directly above it so the edges look square, and switch the flash off to avoid glare. Indirect daylight gives the most natural colours.
Fill the frame
Get the phone close enough that the print fills most of the screen. A small photo in the middle of a big table loses detail you cannot get back later.
Do not worry about borders and corners
Photos can be cropped inside the designer, so the white border, the table and a bent corner can all be trimmed away when you place the photo.
Mixing black and white with colour
Old black and white photos sit perfectly well next to modern colour ones. If you would rather everything matched, the designer can also show the whole collage in black and white.
Ask the right person for each decade
Their siblings or oldest friends will have the early years. Their children have the middle decades. Grandchildren's parents have the recent ones. Asking each group for a specific decade gets far more replies than a general appeal.
Getting the grandchildren involved
Let them choose words
Young children are brilliant at this. Ask them "what's the best thing about Grandma?" and write down exactly what they say. Spelling and grammar can stay as they are if that is part of the charm.
Let them choose a photo each
Older grandchildren can pick their own favourite photo with their grandparent. Knowing which one each child chose makes the finished piece even more personal.
Keep it secret together
Children love being in on a surprise. Just choose the date you tell them carefully.
What size and format
For sixty photos, an A1 print on paper is the natural fit. With fewer photos, an A2 gives each one more room. For a really large family collection, an A0 holds up to 100 photos on paper. Canvas sizes hold slightly fewer, and not every size is available in every country.
It can be made as a framed print, a canvas, a framed canvas or a poster hanger. Our guide to photo collage prints explains the differences.
Frequently asked questions
What do you buy someone for their 60th who has everything?
Something made from their own life. A collage of photos from all six decades, with words from the people closest to them, is a gift nobody can already own.
Do I really need sixty photos?
No. Sixty is a nice idea because it matches the age, but forty or fifty photos spread across the decades looks just as good. A word art collage looks full with far fewer, because the words fill the space.
Will old, faded photos look all right?
Usually yes. In a collage each photo is printed at a modest size, and the mix of old and new is part of what makes it special. Photograph the print in good daylight for the best result.
Can the whole family contribute?
Yes. One person does the designing, but anyone can send photos and words. It works especially well as a joint gift from the children and grandchildren.
How far ahead should we start?
Three or four weeks. Finding and photographing old prints is the slow part, and each piece is made to order, so allow for delivery too. Our delivery page lists the working days for your country.
Where to start
Ask one person in each branch of the family to find the photos from their decade, and ask the grandchildren for their words. When it all comes together, start creating the collage here. Designing is free and you only pay if you decide to print it.
If the sixtieth comes with a retirement, our retirement gift ideas may help too, and our guide to 50th birthday gift ideas covers gathering photos across five decades.