How to replace radio buttons with images?

Yes, there is! This is an example of the simple ways:

No need for javascript

CSS

.radio_item{
display: none !important;
}

.label_item {
opacity: 0.1;
}

.radio_item:checked + label {
opacity: 1;
}

HTML

<!--RADIO 1-->
<input type="radio" class="radio_item" value="" name="item" id="radio1">
<label class="label_item" for="radio1"> <img src="img_url_here"> </label>

<!--RADIO 2-->
<input type="radio" class="radio_item" value="" name="item" id="radio2">
<label class="label_item" for="radio2"> <img src="img_url_here"> </label>

FIDDLE

• DEMO: http://so.lucafilosofi.com/is-there-an-easy-way-to-replace-radio-button-with-images-and-a-colored-border-fo/

jQuery

        $('input:radio').hide().each(function() {
            $(this).attr('data-radio-fx', this.name);
            var label = $("label[for=" + '"' + this.id + '"' + "]").text();
            $('<a ' + (label != '' ? 'title=" ' + label + ' "' : '' ) + ' data-radio-fx="'+this.name+'" class="radio-fx" href="#">'+
                '<span class="radio' + (this.checked ? ' radio-checked' : '') + '"></span></a>').insertAfter(this);
        });
        $('a.radio-fx').on('click', function(e) {
            e.preventDefault();
            var unique = $(this).attr('data-radio-fx');
            $("a[data-radio-fx='"+unique+"'] span").attr('class','radio');
            $(":radio[data-radio-fx='"+unique+"']").attr('checked',false);
            $(this).find('span').attr('class','radio-checked');
            $(this).prev('input:radio').attr('checked',true);
        }).on('keydown', function(e) {
            if ((e.keyCode ? e.keyCode : e.which) == 32) {
                $(this).trigger('click');
            }
        });

• full code in demo source;