Gift Idea: Board Book for a Parent

Papa Bear suggested that he and I only spend $25 on a heart-felt, handmade present for each other this past Christmas. I loved the idea and I loved what he ended up giving me.

He bent the rules a bit by designing a simple silver locket and having a local artist make it. (He used his monthly "spending" money to pay for the rest of the locket). It's so lovely... I wear my locket every day!

My present for him was a more literal interpretations of the rules we set. I had bought the Blank Slate (TM) Board Book Kits (2-Pack)for other Christmas presents for family members. The kit came with four books, so I set aside one for Papa Bear's present.

Materials Needed for Board Book

1. A book (you can make your own or buy a pre-made one, which ended up only costing me $6 or so for each one).

2. Good quality photos (I love Ritz Camera because they don't use an ink-jet to print their photos but use actual dye).

3. Glue (I just used Mod Podge).

4. Alphabet Stickers (the cost can add up, so you may just want to stick to one color - the good thing is that you can keep the leftovers for another project).

Making the Book

1. Pick a theme (I chose to make an alphabet book. There were only 12 pages in the book, so I couldn't do the entire alphabet. Instead I started with "a kiss" and ended with "love." The first photo is of Papa Bear and Lina. The last is of Mama and Lina).

2. Pick photos to go with words (I had a huge stash of photos to pick from and brainstormed ideas for each letter and then attempted to find a corresponding photo. This was the most time-consuming part of the project).

3. Glue photos (I chose not to cover the photos in Mod Podge because the baby wouldn't be chewing on this book, it is kept well away from her reach).

4. Position the stickers on the page.

This was much simpler project than the book I made for Papa Bear two Christmases ago. It would make a sweet and easy Valentine's Day present - I think I spent maybe an hour and a half on this project (as opposed to ten hours spent on his previous Christmas book). My only recommendation is to order the books now! They took almost 2 weeks to arrive. Have fun!