I am in full birthday mode now – with both kids’ birthdays in the next 2 months AND a joint birthday party to finish prepping for AND lots of friends and family with birthdays in August and September – there is a lot of sewing, crafting and planning to do! It just so happens that MY birthday kicks it all off this week!
In an effort to not get behind another year, I have been working on updating/creating my kids’ birthday books!! What’s a birthday book? Its a scrapbook for all of those adorable cards you get for your birthday as a kid!
I can’t take all the credit for this idea – it was actually my Mom’s idea! She made a scrapbook for me when I was little and saved all of my birthday cards for the first 5 or so years of my life (along with my drawings, etc). As an adult and especially now as a mother, I absolutely adore this album! Pictures of my book in a bit – but here are the current ones for my kiddos!!
Miss O’s birthday book – title page
So for the first kid – I completed her first birthday shortly after the party – but the last 2 years of birthday cards have been sitting in an envelope just patiently waiting for someone to put them in her book! Slacker I know! I figured I better get it done before another birthday goes by!! So years 2 and 3 have been updated and its so cute! My scrapbooking style is all about the pictures – I like embellishments but they need to be fast and easy – so I go for pretty paper and stickers!! The pictures really are the star and I cram as many as I can in!
Pictures from Miss O’s 1st birthday party
My formula for the birthday books is to have one 2 page spread of pictures from the birthday party. I try to get the birthday kid in there as much as I can, as well as pictures of the guests that attended. I think its a nice snapshot of the party and all the fun that was had. I of course have to include the invitation as well!
Miss O’s 3rd birthday party! (I need to get this party on the blog – it was awesome!!)
After the first photo spread the next 2 or 3 page spreads are the actual cards that she got with her gifts. There are no page protectors on this book, so she can look through the cards and open them up and see/read who the card was from. Its fun to see the different cards the same friends get her each year – how they match the theme or not – if her friend drew on it or actually made a card – so fun!
Cards from O’s first birthday
You can open the cards to read the messages!
Of course #2 needs his own birthday book too!! So I started one for Mr, V! I am using Creative Memories books – they have the strap hinge – so its really easy to add more pages, and since I am planning on updating these books for a few years I might just have to do that!
Cards from Mr. V’s first birthday!
And here is the inspiration for these books! My birthday book! Its not in the best shape and I really should re-do it – but the scrapbook itself is so cute and I really don’t want to give it up!
The cards from when I was little are so adorable – I love the illustrations – so 70’s but so cute!! My Mom’s approach was simple – one picture of me on my birthday, the cards and most years a list of the gifts I got from friends and family. I really am thankful my Mom saved them this way! Thanks Mom!!
Cards from MY 1st Birthday!
Sadly my birthday book is falling apart but it almost (cough, umm, cough) years old!
The illustrations are just precious!
Thanks for letting me share this little birthday book project – I hope my kid’s appreciate them as much as I do when they are older!
