Tuesday, January 3, 2012

DIY Toddler Photo Book

Christmas is still up at our house.  The tree's gone, but everything else is literally piled and sitting on our hearth, ready to be packed away.  I decided it's a better use of my time to write this than to pack it up.  Wise, I think.


I wanted to share just onemore Christmas craft with you guys, made by me.  Seeing as how I've done very little the past few months in the way of craftiness, I had to make sure I put this one out there.  And I think it's a fun gift idea for others who have nieces or nephews!


My niece Lyla loves to look at picture frames around my mom's house, carrying them around and pointing out the people.  Selfishly, I want her to look at my picture often to make sure she doesn't forget about me between visits.  So I wanted to make her something a little more portable and toddler-friendly.
Forgive the photos.  It was literally Christmas Eve and gifts needed to be wrapped!
Basically the only reason this book worked was because I happened to have photos of both my (ie - Lyla's mom's) side and her dad's side of her family because we all took a trip together for my sister's wedding.  Otherwise, it would have been a little one-sided and biased towards my family!  




I made this for Lyla because I knew how much she likes pictures, but I definitely want to make one for the other niece in my life!  I just might have to swipe some Facebook pictures to capture the other side of her family!!  


I tried to include Lyla in everyone's photo when possible.
  


There were 10 whole pages in total, with 16 photo pages.  


I didn't take any in-progress shots, because, well, I didn't.  But it's easy. 


You need:

  • Scrapbook paper (12x12) - I cut mine down to about 7x7
  • Photos
  • Hole punch
  • Ribbon or ring
  • Printer
  • A paper cutter helps a ton!
  • Tape
  • Access to store that does lamination
  • Imagination (ha!)
I did it front and back to save on lamination costs and added a colorful non-photo front and back cover.  I found that it was better to just tape the two sides together with little tape circles than to glue it.  That way, there is no rippling, and the lamination glues everything flat together anyway.  

The lamination was the most expensive part - about $1.50 a sheet - but it's super durable and hopefully will outlast a toddler's wrath for a little while at least.  So far she really liked looking through it and pointing everyone out.  Once she can read the words will help too.  Oh, and I included a few pictures of just her in there by herself - big hit!  Narcissistic toddlers...

So there you have it.  My burst of creativity for the month.

4 comments:

  1. THIS IS AN AMAZING IDEA!!!
    Now, if I had just thought of this myself... I could have created an entire book of photos of myself and labeled them "JOSEPH'S FAVORITE AUNT". And then I'd win in the battle for favorite aunt. By brainwashing him! :)

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  2. What a great idea! I love that fact that it is low cost and home made oh and educational!

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  3. This is a great idea! I got a laminator for Christmas so next time just come to my house! :)

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  4. My SIL made a few of these books for Jacob (one was a phone book, which he LOVED... he loved to make phone calls), and they were absolutely cherished... they still are in fact. It's so fun for them to have a personalized book, especially if there's a few pics of themselves in there :).

    Very, very sweet of you!!

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