With my grandkids, as with most kids, "Read to me" is a familiar plea. I stumbled upon a wonderful way to put the family digital photos to decorative use — delighting my grandchildren and creating a perfect read for us.
Every child has an ABC book that pairs alphabet letters with pictures: a is for "apple"; b is for "banana." I created personalized alphabet books to preserve family memories. My tailored pages boast a for "Aunty Beth" and b for "Baby," as in my grandbaby, Blake.
The project was born when I saw blank journal books at my art-supply store (office-supply stores have them, as well). I bought one for each grandchild — not knowing exactly what I'd do with them. The next day, while shooting pictures of my son-in-law, about to deploy to Iraq, and little Blake (soon to be daddy-less for six months), I had an epiphany. I made a list of photos of the two of them together, fitting subject matter to each letter in the alphabet.
Crafting My Own Special Alphabet
All told, I made six books. For each, I listed the letters a to z and identified appropriate family photos. Admittedly, some were a stretch, such as m which stood for "my dog," and p, which stood for "pretty Madison." Sometimes I took a new snapshot to suit my plan — such as my kids standing in front of a sign, "New Orleans City Zoo."
Next, off to my scrapbooking software. Grandparents.com's article Scrapbooking's Gone Digital gives a great look at available programs. Using MemoryMixer, I set the program preferences to make pages that would fit the journal books, 6 x 8 inches. Advanced users can try Photoshop Elements or software packed with digital cameras.
The process is similar to making a scrapbook. Set up a page. Drag photos to it. Choose a background image or pattern from the scrapbook-program libraries. MemoryMixer's "custom" option is cool. I searched "cartoon baseballs" at GoogleImages, saved one to my computer and MemoryMixer turned it into a background.
The software automatically sizes backgrounds to page dimensions. I lightened the image until the colors were subtle. Note: Backgrounds should enhance pages, not overshadow them.
Next I laid out my photos, dragging them around until I achieved the preferred effect. It was easy to add draggable embellishments from one of the libraries: paperclips, brads, ribbons, and tags. I included a photo of everyone's favorite Yorkie Poo, my "Ernie," for e. I used cartoon dog-bone images and, in MemoryMixer, made them small. I copied and pasted them until bones lined up to border the whole page. Really cute!
To finish each page, I used the journaling option. For the e page, I chose a font and typed a large, colorful e, then my dog's name "Ernie." I didn't use more text, but you could if you wanted to.
Putting It Together
I saved the pages in MemoryMixer then printed each at 6 x 8 inches on inkjet photo paper cut to the same size. Using a glue stick, I fixed each sheet onto a page in the spiral-bound journal. I worked patiently, setting up two or three pages to dry at a time, laying pencils between each so they didn't stick together.
Then I used art supplies to create special covers and title pages for each child's book. The cover photos, surrounded with doodles created by Grandma, made everyone giggle. The title? ABCs With Tyler's Closest Friends. Each book featured a different grandchild's name in its title.
Working on this project, I passed pleasant hours sorting through photos until I found perfect fits. Now, learning is engaging and fun for my little guys living far away. When we get together, it's awesome to flip to my favorite page, G Is for "Grandma," with them.
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