Now I Know My ABC's...

I know you have all seen a million and one abc books out there...but how many of them were tailored just for your little ones? Well, if you're willing to put in a little bit of busy work, and a whole lot of imagination, I've got just the book for you. And this one will not be left on the shelf to gather dust. This one will be treasured for a good long time. The one in the photograph happens to be 5 years old, and used everyday. It can't be torn. It can't get soggy. It can't lose its shape. And it will not lose it's appeal...I promise!

1.  Your first step is probably going to be your longest step, but not without it's rewards. You get to sift through your photographs and find one that best represents each letter in the alphabet...

My daughter's name happened to start with the first letter of the alphabet...how lucky is that?

One side of your book pages will have a letter, and the other will have a photograph...

These were the cupcakes at her 1st birthday party...

You'll find once you get going, you will be inundated with possibilities! 

2. Your next step is to cut 27 squares of black card stock, each square being 4inches by 4inches. I chose black card stock because it goes well with whatever you choose to put with it, but you can decide on which color suits you.

3. You also need to cut 2 more 4"x4" squares out of a patterned card stock of your choice. These will be the front and back covers of your book.

Now that you have all that searching,measuring and tedious cutting done, the fun begins!
You can start pasting and cutting and scrapping and creating your book!

 4.  * This next step is important, or your book will not have the right ratio of pages to photos...
The front cover is decorated only on the front side. Leave the inside of the front cover blank. Now the back side of the letter A will become your "dedication" page, if you will. This is what mine looks like on the back side of the ABIGAIL page...

Now when you flip this page, you will have the start of your ABC's. Each letter should have a 2 page spread. It doesn't matter if your letters or photos are on the right or the left of your spread...you can choose what looks best to you!

Here are some photos of a few of the pages in Abigail's book, to help you along...

D is for Duck was created with a rubber stamp, pencil crayons, and alphabet stickers...

F is for Fairy was created with rubber stamps, water color pencils, and a sticker which I sanded with a sanding block.

J is for Jessie was created the same way. Jessie is the name of my older daughter's mare. Try and use photos of things your little one loves most...this way it will mean much more to her!

M is for Mumma was created with cutouts and rub-on letters...a very simple page, not a lot of fuss.

O is for Oweeee! Another simple page. but with a lot of emotion ;)

Q is for Quiet is just a sanded sticker on cardstock. The rest is printed on the computer.

V is for Velveteen Rabbit has a photocopied page of Abby's favorite book as it's photo.

X is the toughest letter...so here's an easy solution! X Marks the Spot! This was printed out on the computer and glued to card stock.

And Z is for Zebra...I snapped this photo at one of our many trips to the zoo. And boy, was I glad I had! What else do you use for a z???

This is the inside of the back cover...I couldn't bear to leave it blank. I'm a color junkie, and it had to be addressed! So I made it into a love note page.

When you have all your squares decorated and pasted, take them to get them all laminated. When you trim the laminate, be sure to round the corners so little fingers don't get poked. Then punch 2 holes in each little square. Then add your 3 inch binder rings to them to hold them all together...

I tied various pieces of ribbon and rick-rack around a section of the rings so the book looked just that much more fun. And there you have it!! All done and ready for your little one!

This project is not an overnighter, so don't beat yourself up if it takes you months to finish!! I worked on this a little bit every time I scrapbooked...my friend was making one too, so we got together and built our books whenever we could. 

I hope you have as much fun building your book as I did! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!