Preserving Christmas Memories

Christmas....seriously?  I realize it's March, I know, I know, Christmas stuff should be put away by now!  I've had this particular project sitting next to my desk for quite some time now (2 years to be exact). 

My family loves getting cards, letters and pictures over Christmas and New Years from both family and friends.  There are so many wonderful stories and memories that it just wouldn't be right to throw them away.  I used to create scrapbook pages for all my pictures and letters, but that filled up fast...and not to mention... took a lot more time and effort to create.  Now I just simply punch and bind these treasures into mini-books by year.

Both books were bound using the Zutter binding system.  The cover and back of the book are made with heavyweight chipboard that I covered with patterned paper, stickers and die cuts.  This is so easy and extremely affordable and note, we only keep letters and pictures unless the cards are homemade (hint hint).   We enjoy looking back at years past....oh how quickly the years go by!

Maybe this project will inspire you to create a book of something special and dear to your heart!

Special Little Memories minibook - Complete

Here is a glimpse of the book I made devoted to our old house in WA.  I'm really happy that I did this book, even the boys enjoy looking at the pictures of where we used to live and the things we enjoyed while we were there.  Remember, it's not just the house, it's the memories that go with it.  Enjoy.

We miss our house and neighbors so much!   

(special note:  Not all pages are shown here)

I love this nifty "open" knob - this hardware is from 7-gypsies, they have some really cool stuff!

I kept this book very simple...a few pictures on each page of what I love, and some notes to share.

After making this book, I wish I had one from my childhood home - I'm going to see if my mom can help me gather some photos so we can put one together.  Hope this inspires you to create your own book of where you have lived and the memories you've created.  

Sneak Peak on my Special Little Memories minibook - Under Construction

 

It's time for me to get busy and complete some unfinished work.  I admit it, I'm guilty for starting and then storing some of my projects to work on new things.  This was a minibook I created to remember our old house back in WA.  I love the idea of creating an album that honors not only where you lived but the memories that went with it.  I'm happy we took some pictures that we can add to this book that will help our boys remember our old home. 

 

Materials Used:  Daisy D's Patterened Paper and Ribbons, BE House Chipboard, label buddy, key charm, white fibers, 7 Gypsies Open knob (my favorite!), K&co Brenda Walton stickers (I know, I know, can't stop loving K&co)

Accordian Album Gone Crazy

Glitz Pack, paper pack and my "Family" Album

I was web-surfing one day and saw this really cool accordion album on someone's blog (I'm sorry I can't give this person credit...what a cool idea they had!).  I decided I had to make an album similar to the one I'd seen.  I pulled out this very cool "Hey Dude" total boy, paper pack and created a "Family" album as you'll see in my next few posts.  I had so much fun making this album.  I have the pictures in the order that the album is opened...some pages flip up, others flip right and left.   I also put pictures on the backside of the album to maximize the amount of space I had to place my pictures.  I've decided, although there was some serious "cool factor" in this album with  all it's interactive parts, I decided that next time I will only have the album flip open left and right (not up and down)...easier for others to enjoy and it will sit nicely wide open on your desktop, counter or wherever you decided to place this.    

3x3 Minibooks

These minibooks are made of chunky style chipboard and can be filled with 3x3 pictures or smaller and are perfect to showcase 8 pages of that special someone.