I learned how to make these really fun mini scrapbooks from the awesome book Creative Scrapbooks by Donna Downey. There's a whole series called Yes It's a Scrapbook and they are all must haves. They are what first got me scrapbooking off the page so to speak, and looking at everything new in a new hmmmm...what kind of scrapbook can I turn this into kinda way. Donna's one of my all time favorite scrapbookers and all around creative people.
This one I made several years ago, when still in New Mexico in celebration of my Godbrother's wedding engagement to his lovely wife Karen. The front and back covers are made out of paper covered chipboard and the insert is made out of one sheet of 12X12 paper. There are spots for four tags
I bound mine with ribbon and added a personal message on the backside. I've made several of these as gifts and they are always well received. People think they are just the neatest thing.
Here are some detail pictures of how I embellished the four tags, the front and back. On the back I left room for the couple to add some of their own notes to make it a special keepsake for them.
It's So Very Creative, where I was one of last week's favorites for my altered Starbucks bottles and caddy treat holder. Cheri is having a month long giveaway called Sharing the Love. There will be several winners each week and there are already several fun things up for grabs. So head on over to check it out!
Did you know seven out of 10 Americans do not consume the daily recommended amount of fruit? Every 
This year ER is into gluing and as always I have a big selection of paper scraps leftover from scrapbooking. She enjoyed making the 
Currently, there are forty-five titles available in 
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the 
While I enjoyed reviewing this format, at $11.95 per 
Hip Hip Hooray! Super WHY whips up a whole new reading-powered adventure when the Super Readers soar into the pages of a cookbook for the very first time! Super WHY and the Cookbook will premiere January 29 on PBS stations from coast to coast (check local listings).
We are all comforted by the thought that his son, Brad's father Phil, has greeted him in Heaven. So it is not good bye Grandpa Norman, but until we meet again. You will be missed and were loved very much.
To transform the empty bottles and container, start by rinsing and cleaning out the bottles. Peel off the labels. Then paint the inside and outside of the box. I used several layers because I didn't prep them with gesso, which is kind of like artist primer.
She is obsessed with coloring ALL the time. She scribbles and scribbles, one little mark on each page and then rips them out. In no time at all she has an enormous stack of bits and pieces. Then she likes to wad them all up and carry them around with her in one of her little purses. Can she remember the letters in her name, oh heck no, but if I happen to throw one or two papers away, somehow she can tell exactly which one is missing. But this really isn't about that, that's another issue I have to deal with. Right now I'm going with the if it's ripped out it gets thrown away rule, and that seems to helping. Now at least my house doesn't look like a paper shredder.
We recently got a fantastic new book for our home library. I am always interested in children's literature, but this one really got me excited. It's a simple concept done very well. It also happens to be perfect for my daughter, right now. Children ages 2.5-6 will enjoy it a lot.
The reader picks flips through the first and second set of panels finding an animal picture for each, that the story will feature. In the third section they find the picture that has both animals from panel one and two to complete the story. As the story is completed the animals add up.
My daughter really likes this one:
Another thing that I like about this Flip Along Fun is it's sturdy laminated board book cover and pages, not only will it stand up to years of little hands using it, but you can easily use it for desk top easel activities. Perfect for teachers to use during center times with small groups. It would be a great tool to use with parent volunteers leading small groups to review and reinforce math concepts. Students could use a book to make their own addition story, have the parent read it to them, and then copy the problem down into their math journal. To challenge the students, you could also have them reverse the problem into a subtraction problem.
It's midway through January 2010, so naturally I am working on finishing up scrapbooking the holidays...from um..2008 that is! I won't mention that I still have a few things from '07 to do too, oh whoops, I guess I just did. To make things easy on myself I mainly used a coordinating kit I by 
The approximately 5X7 inch spiral notebook has ten cream pages with coordinating stickers and patterned paper that all came in the set. As I wanted to fit an entire month of pictures into this mini, kinda along the lines of a 
To remedy that, I pried the spiral binding open and and added red and green cardstock pages, cut to size, as well as some velum quotes which gives it a fun eclectic look. Use the cover as a template to know where to punch holes on the new sheets. It was easy to add the extras and push the spiral back into place. 
Assembly was really quick, pick only one or two pictures to represent for most of our events that month, lay them out in order, and then place them to get a feel for how the book would lay out. Then cut the photos and large paper blocks. The small size meant it was a great way use "okay" photos that could be cropped fairly small.
I used a tape runner to stick everything down because I want the book to be handled and looked at. But I also don't want any thing falling off. Once the pictures and papers were down, time to go back and embellish. Some stuff is from my horde of crafty goodness but I tried to really use up the kit's contents. Only one square and a few random letter letter stickers are left, pretty good huh? Hmm...judging from these pics, I must really like using my large scalloped scissors to make little borders! 
Are you wondering...what, no journaling? To make this book go quicker, get lots of pictures in it, and have them be the focus I used a tip I learned from 
Have I mentioned the one of my favorite parts is of the book is how you can see through the velum and get a glimpse of what's next, so fun! Okay back on topic...through out the book scalloped circles and paper scraps were used to make small labeling spots as needed. To further streamline the process I handwrote the journaling spots, which is hard for me.
The glittery red poinsettia design was preprinted on the cover. I added a fun rhinestone title, 3D reindeer sticker, and a cute picture of ER in a metal frame to the front. I love having a full season of memories all in one place and more imporantly DONE. Well except for some ribbon I may or may not tie onto the spiral.
I finished 95% of this in one sitting, granted it was a long sitting but still. It's nice to work hard and have a finished product. How do you make hold onto your holiday memories? Do you have any ideas for streamlining the process? I'd love to know what you do too.