ABC. . . A Scrapbook for Me

This craft idea has become my token baby gift at church and for friends. I typically will purchase an 6x6 post bound album with one pack of refill pages. I will decorate the front page different ways depending on what supplies I have available. The front page usually will say something like "My First ABC Book" or "My ABC Book" or sometimes I will even personalize it. Each letter of the alphabet has its own page. The pages will include a 6x2 strip of paper that goes down the side of the page along with a letter of the alphabet, the title, and decorations that either go along with the theme for that page or the theme for the book.

I try to leave a lot of room so the new mom can place at least one picture on that page. This has been a hit with moms who do scrapbook. They can crop pictures to fit more than one picture on the page and even add other dimensions to the book. However, it has also been a hit with moms who do not scrapbook because all they have to do is stick a picture on the page and they are done! Here are some examples of things each letter can stand for in your book:

A - awaiting your arrival, airplane that brought you to us, aunts

B - bouncing baby boy, beautiful baby girl, big brother

C - cutie pie, cousins

D - daddy

E - exhaustion

F - footprints, first family, foto

G - giddy grandparents

H - hospital help

I - important information (name, date, weight, time, doctor, we named you _____ because ________)

J - joy you bring

K - kisses

L - love and laughter

M - mommy

N - nursery

O - one day old

P - proud parents

Q - quiet times, quilt

R - relatives

S - splish, splash . . . first bath, showers

T - tiny parts

U - ultrasound, uniquely you

V - visitors

W - welcome home

X - x-tra special

Y - you, you've got mail

Z - zzzzzzzzzz

Of course, you can really personalize it to fit the recipient of this gift. You can also do an ABC book for anything - a school year (what a great gift for the teacher), a toddler, first year of marriage, Bible verses, etc. Just have fun and let your imagination go wild!