For Baby



Welcome Baby

Next week there is a Baby Shower and I have been asked to make a little book that guests can write in their favorite tip, book, quote, bible verse, stuff like that.  Then the book will be given to the new mom.  The baby is going to be a boy, so I thought of sail boats and blue.  I really like the combination of Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery.  I was playing around with that idea, when I remembered that I had some Simply Scrappin' Kits that have lots of cute pieces left from some of my son Zachary's baby pages.  This one used Bashful Blue, Old Olive, and Cajun Craze. Once I got them out from my stash, it was easy to put it all together.  Honestly, if you've never thought of Simply Scrappin' Kits before, you should really check them out.  They come with 8 sheets of solid colored card stock and 6 sheets of double sided Designer Series Paper.  On top of all this fabulous paper, they also come with tons of die cut embellishments that co-ordinate with the paper.  I tend to forget I have them, but this book came together so fast, because everything is designed to work together.    

On to how to make the book.  You can make your book any size you like.  My book is 5 x 5 inches.  I cut some card board I had saved up.  You can actually cut some cereal boxes too.  They are thinner and easier to cut.  If you use a cereal box, make the covers two layers thick.  I then cut my paper one inch bigger (6 x 6 in this case).  I wrapped the cardboard by trimming the corners from the 6 x 6 paper.  I attached the paper with sticky strip so it wouldn't pop up on me.  I then added a sheet of 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 card stock to cover the inside.  You will need to make two of these.  Once you have your covers made, you can decorate them any way you like.  This is a great project to have all the students in a class make a note or picture for a teacher, or for a bridal shower, a mother's day or father's day book from the kids. So many ideas going around in my head!  Anyway, next you need to punch a hole in the top corner of your covers.  The tool I use for this is called a "Crop-a-dile".  It is great for the tough jobs.  It can even go through some metals and cork and several layers of paper at a time. 

  I punched a hole in the front cover, then placed the back cover on top and marked the spot with a pen. Then punch the back cover.  You can use many things to hold your book together.  I choose a "binder ring" which is very inexpensive and easily available at office supply stores.  

I dressed the book up a little more by adding some ribbon to the binder ring.  We will add the pages and hopefully the new mom will like her book.  I hope you enjoyed the project too!  I used many discontinued products on this project, but each book with be personal to the maker so I figured it was no big deal.  Many discontinued items end up on Stampin' Up!'s Clearance Rack, so check it often for the best items!  

Since I mentioned Simply Scrappin' Kits, I thought I would show you one that is not discontinued :)

This one is from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  It has Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, and Soft Suede.  Check out all the embellishments!  You can make so many scrapbook pages, but you can also make cards and other projects too!