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Suzanne O'Brien Studio

organize and enjoy your memories

March 7, 2012

Little Box of Awesome

The last few weeks I have been thinking about creating our 2010 family album [2009 & 2011 are done, thanks to Project Life.  2008, I will get back to you eventually].  While mulling over what format/design/style I want to use for this project I reached in my drawer yesterday and pulled out the box of notes I had taken during that year. As I sifted through the notecards, laughing at the quotes that could only come from the mouth of a 4 year old,  I immediately thought, “this is a little box of awesome”.

My systems for recording ideas and quotes have changed through the years.  In 2010 I decided to keep notecards nearby to jot down all of those little thoughts and sayings that I have learned are quickly forgotten if not immediately recorded.  Right now, I am soooo happy to have these.


I am not the first person to talk about the importance of recording these moments, just someone who is so glad she did it.  For more inspiration and ideas check out this recent “Jot it Down While It’s Fresh” post by Becky Higgins. Or write the memories directly in the metadata of your photos. Or use an online journaling tool such as Oh Life or an app such as Day One.   Or pick up this book if you want something a bit more formal.

Just write it down someplace.  It all counts.

Linking up today with This or That Thursday.

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FILED UNDER: Memory Keeping

March 2, 2012

Little Book of Birthdays

Since a certain person writing this happens to have a birthday coming soon, I decided to focus on birthday books for the PhotoBook Friday theme this month.  This week I’m sharing some ideas about documenting kid’s birthdays through the years.  Here are 5 ideas to help you capture the growth of your child over time.

1.  One of the annual birthday traditions we have in our family is to head to the mall to get birthday photos taken.  Nothing fancy here but easy, relatively inexpensive and predictable.  The consistent white backdrop helps to keep the focus on the most important thing – the growing birthday kid!

Here are some pictures of the Little Book of Birthdays I created with these images…

 

I think of this book as a draft version as I plan to continue adding to it – we’ll see how long I can convince them to keep this up!

2.  A similar “birthday through the years” idea that I love is a Birthday Q&A book.  Each year ask the birthday boy/girl the same list of questions.  Include a picture of them and you will have a cumulative record of their growth and changes over the years.

 

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3.  Another simple and cute way to capture those annual details is to jot down your child’s “favorites” each year on their birthday.  You can then add this text to their picture and you have the makings of a incredibly personal and meaningful birthday book.

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If you like these 2 photos, I created a Pinterest board for similar inspiration here!

4.  A Top 10 template such as this one could also be used to create a fun photo book highlighting a child’s growth from ages 1-10.

5.  And of course you can’t go wrong creating an annual birthday photo book that highlights your favorite memories of your child from the past year.

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I hope you enjoy these ideas for documenting birthdays through the years.  I’d love to hear about any traditions you have to capture those birthday milestones!

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FILED UNDER: Memory Keeping, Photo Books, Photo Books - Family, Photo Books - Special Events

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