Baby Shower Scrapbook Pre-Assembly

I always wanted to be the crafty one and I never was.  This summer everything changed.  I finally found my inner crafter!  Now I am both handy with my tools and nearer to crafty and I love it!   I was part of a group of girls who threw a baby shower for our friend Michelle this summer and someone had the idea to leave a guestbook so that everyone could leave a congratulatory note.  I just did not like the idea of leaving blank book with no pizazz!  So I created my first scrap / memory book and it turned out great and was so special to Greg and Michelle!  Much more so than a empty book.  You could also do something like this for a gift at a shower and create a page for every month of the baby’s life or for pictures of big “firsts”.  I would have loved that!

First, I used my usual 40% off coupon at Michael’s (seriously I think you get them every time you check out – good for one item) for an 8×8 scrapbook in chocolate brown, one of the colors in the nursery!  I then went back the next day with my coupon from that purchase to buy a pack of little boy like paper that was SO cute. 

I cut the paper so that there was 1/4 inch on all sides. I liked the look of showing the black paper and I wanted a solid canvas for the pictures and cards.  I used a simple Fiskars cutter.

Cute Paper

After making my pages I decided to go all out and make small envelopes to put the little notes in.  There was nothing pre-made that matched my paper or was the right size.  Crafting is like furniture – if you need something of a certain size – you DIY!  I found an envelope template online.  I cut my template out of the thickest cardstock I could find in my craft closet so that I could use it to make all of my envelopes.  In total I had 15 pages.  This took a LONG time to do, especiailly for a first timer, but it was so worth it!  The scrapbook pages have two sides so both the inside and outside of the envelopes look adorabe!  You simply fold the two small sides in and use glue to attach the bottom that will fold up.  You can choose whether to leave the envelope opoen as I did or close it.   I will now be making all of my envelopes.  They are so precious!

Envelope Template

Outside Envelope

Inside Envelope

Once I had all the envelopes ready I attached them to my pages, trying to make each look good as far as coordinating paper and envelopes.  I then figured out the right size cardstock to slip into all of the envelopes so the guests could easily write their notes and slip them in!

Page with Envelope

Page with Photo area and Sticker

I finished by using a little box of alphabet stamps to create the little placeholder on the cover.   They could replace it with William’s picture if they wanted.  I used some of my paper scraps to make a little border.

Scrapbook Cover

Greg and Michelle loved this very personal touch for their guestbook.  The guests wrote very personal and endearing notes.  It was worth the time and effort and it inspired me to do some actual scrapbooking for my own family.  This in itself would have made it worth it!

The whole shower was beautiful – in case you missed it I also posted a DIY on creating a Simple Gerbera Flower Arrangement.  These would be perfect for any shower or wedding or party!  It was a pleasure to create these things for this special shower, for a special friend.

I am linking up to Kimba’s DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.  Head on over and check out all the great projects!

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