A {Scrap} Book Without the {Scrap}

Scapbooking is gReAt. I lOvEd the days where I was able to spread out all of my stuff on the table and make cUtE photo layouts for my albums.

But then my twins came {17 months after my first}. And I panicked thinking, *insert drama voice here*

"I will NeVeR have another cUtE album again!!"
{because I didn't have time for a-n-y-thing!}

I stressed OUT over this because I suffer from a traumatizing past of seeing my mom {I adore her, for the record} always have wAy too many pictures stored in boxes out in our garage.

My mom is amazing, really, she is. She was single most of my childhood, worked, homeschooled, kept her house pretty tidy {considering all her other added duties}, very nuturing, sweet, caring, would-do-anything-for-her-kids type of mother, and always had a camera. I lOvEd that growing up.

Then a day came {pretty much after the birth of my son} where I realized I am terrified of having too many pictures of my kids and not a quick, easy, fUn way to see them {not having to dig through a box, in the garage}.

My nightmare quickly came to an end when I attended a MOPS meeting when Jack was a baby. A "legacy" speaker {that's not a proper title, sorry} came to speak on different ways to store pictures and such {lOvEd those amazing speakers at MOPS!}. The biggest concept I took away from that meeting was Birthday Albums.

I obsess over lOvE birthdays!! Seriously, if someone were to ask me what my favorite holiday is my answer would be my kids birthday {with 4th of July close in 2nd} without a doubt. I lOvE everything about birthdays...from the invitation and decorations, to the thank you card I send/hand out afterwards. I go cRaZy {as close to crazy as hubbs will let me}.
Highlighting birthdays within their photo album was major for me!

So whether you enjoy scrapbooking and have the time to do that, or you're like me and there is never enough time in a day for extras- here is a simple, great way to make sure each birthday/year (I do the whole year in one book every year) is organized and documented for your little ones to enjoy viewing. {you too, of course!}

* Buy an album {I like ones with a photo frame in the front to put their first picture of that year in--so for a 4th year album, I would use a recent 4 year old picture of my child. It's amazing how those little faces change in just 1 year!}. One with a side to write a little note by each picture is gReAt too!

* Paste {I dig those little photo square thingees for scrapbooks} that years birthday invitation to the inside of the front of your album. Have fun decking it out too with simple stickers! I lOvE when I can match the stickers to that years party theme *squeal* {jump for joy}

{this is my beginning stages for this one- wished I had a cuter one to post, but they're all in storage right now until we move}



* Then glue/paste/square-sticky-thing your "thank you" from the party on the inside of the back. I also get a little crazy with theme stickers here too!

* Fill it up with pictures! So easy and usually pretty cheap too.

My kids love to pull out their "books" throughout the year to see and remember the fUn stuff we did.

I love that it was fUn to make {handmade is my favorite}, easy to put together, and forces me to get the album done before the next birthday hits!! The girls' birthday is coming up on New Years so I'm working {so last minute this year} on putting their books all together!

What is your favorite way to document each year with your children?

Happy Memories! {high five}

Linking up to Tip Junkie



Love, Me
(Colleen)