Keeping Memories

I used to scrapbook my memories and I loved it but once my kids were born, things changed. I found that I don't have time for everything so some things I had to give up.  

I still document my kids photos but I do it through a self published book for each year.  So, what do I do with all the rest of the stuff? Those prints that I had hanging on my wall at one point but have now been changed with a more current photo. And what about the haircut, or lost tooth, or report cards, etc., etc. The list goes on. 

I have decided (for now anyway) to use a standard 8.5 x 11" binder with page protectors. My kids are big enough to help out, which I love. Now the dilemma of where to put things is gone. What I love about this is that I'm all caught up really quick and if I want to scrapbook down the road these things, I can still do that. 

Below are a few examples of some of the pages in the binder. I used to print my kids hands and feet.  Now those pages are safely protected and can be easily seen for all to enjoy.

A small envelope with the hair of her first hair cut. And yes, she is standing in my fridge - how time flies from when they were small.

I used an envelope with one end cut to insert the report cards we get throughout the school year.

journal

Here is a journal I made for a mom with a newborn and a preschooler.  She is busy (aren't we all?) and wants to document life and I thought this could be the perfect spot to jot down notes.  The idea behind this journal is it can be used daily, weekly, months or whenever you think about it. It is meant to be simple.  There is a page for every day of the year but no year marked in the book which means you could use this journal for a year, two years, etc. It's really up to you.  What I love about this book is that it can be filled with notes, drawings, things collected and much, much more. Wouldn't it be fun to give a child this book and they can document their life for that year?  I left the cover plain so that it can be decorated in the way this mom wants.

Here is how I made it.  

• school notebook (found at the dollar store) taken apart
• created bundles (signatures) of 5-10 pages and made sure the fold was crisp
• stacked all the signatures together
• stamp every page with month and day
• make front and back cover out of chipboard (decorate if you want)
• score front cover approx. 1" from spine edge
• decide how many holes you want (this is more of a personal preference thing)
• I drilled the holes into the book - nice and fast
• binding was a Japanese bookbinding technique (I followed this example but there are lots more options if you search)

And there you have it, a great journal for yourself or someone else