Hey y'all!
Did you know it's only 13 weeks till Christmas? Whattttt.....that's crazy. That also means that things are about to get busy, busy in the Hot Wheels shop. I already have a few orders for Christmas gifts, from smart people who plan early (please note: I am not that prepared.ever. I am often finishing my own Christmas gifts at 11:00 on the 23rd).
I thought it would be fun to share with you a few ideas for easy handmade gifts. Last year I shared a
Holiday Wall Decoration I have made a dozen times. All the ideas I will share over the next few weeks have been made multiple times by me and are really pretty easy with a few skills (everything can be done by beginners-
pinky swear). If you have any questions-leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.
OK, so the idea is simple: one page per month. A clean and simple layout- space for one 4x6 picture and a card for jotting down all those little memories. Easy for mom or dad to stick one picture in and write a few words(or just throw the picture on there until you get more than 2 hours sleep, lol).
Parents LOVE these- it takes the pressure off of them to create the perfect baby book. It allows them to document a little bit of this really special time without alot of fuss. Remember those fill in baby books your mom (tried, but failed) to fill in for you? These books are MUCH easier.
I like to make each page a little special by adding a few embellishments-usually whatever I have in my stash that fits the colors I am using. I overlap the card and the embellishments over the photo mat (sized 4.5" x 6.5") slightly, so when they slip the picture in it looks a little more finished-like they assembled it themselves! I noticed that alot of baby books you find at retail stores would have generic layouts, very cookie cutter. I think mine keep it simple but are full of personality
For this little girl book I used digital papers and cards I bought at BeckyHiggins.com. I just resized them and printed them out. Super easy and I LOVE the pink and orange together!
Check out this boy version I sent out to a customer last week:
One the cover page I usually add a larger photo mat (sized for a 5x7 photo- so it's 5.5" x 7.5") and the baby's name. Sometimes I use stamps and sometimes I use letter stickers
I mean, how cute is Nicholas? If you can take your eyes off of him you can also see for this book I made the photo mat more of a polaroid style. That gave me the white space to embellish and add the month.
OK, I only had one picture of little Nicholas, but come on.......
its a winner. I wanted to show you a few of the months so you can see how I changed up a few things to make it look unique.
In each book I also include some kind of pocket so you can keep cards, hospital bracelets, teeny-tiny socks....Instead of a plastic pocket for this one I decided to stitch my own. I love these papers from Studio Calico and I think they really made this book so awesome!
So, there you go- and easy baby gift idea that is a guaranteed hit! Easy to customize- you could make it bigger/smaller, add space for two pictures a month, or even document one photo a year! When I give this as a gift I usually add an acid free pen and a roll on adhesive-again. You could also include a gift card to
Shutterfly so they don't have to think to hard to get their pictures developed. The idea is to make easy for mom or dad to use it! Like I said earlier, I tend to shop my stash for things to include in these albums (unless it is a custom order), but I did link up to the products I have used to make it easier for you! See below
I have these listed in my shop and currently have a one week turn around, but I am sure I will get much busier the closer it gets to December.
Don't be a Nancy-Come-Lately- just order it now ; )
Thanks for stopping by and make sure to check out all my Etsy listings
here. Have a great week!
xoxo,
Michelle
Products Used:
8x8 Photo Album
Wood Veneer
Project Life Baby Products (the cards and paper I love)
Roll On Adhesive
Really Great Pens
