Making a Personalized Baby Book

Making your own personalized baby book is the best way to keep the memory of your new baby's first months (and years) alive as the years go by. And the best time to start planning your baby book is before your bundle of joy has even arrived. By getting clear on the keepsakes and memories you want to include now, you'll be able to easily organize a beautiful custom baby book to enjoy for many years to come.

Custom baby books also make an ideal present for an expectant mother. If you've been to as many baby showers as I have, you are probably know that finding the right gift can be a nightmare.

To make matters worse, there's always the chance that you will bring the same gift as one of the other guests at the shower! Making a custom baby book is an excellent alternative because it ensures that your gift will be special and on-of-a-kind. Personalized gifts also tend to evoke the most "ooohs and aaaahs" from the other guests, because they come from the heart, not from a retail department store.

If you're ready to give your wallet a break, and at the same time, give a personal gift that will truly be unique, a great choice is to create a personalized baby book for the new mother. She'll appreciate all your hard work and thoughtfulness, and you will feel good knowing that you gave her a present she could not have gotten anywhere else.

Making a beautiful custom baby book is not really so difficult. You just need the right materials and a guide to get you started. We'll review the basic steps in the paragraphs to follow, and include some tips on making your personalized baby book something really special.

Assuming you have access to a color computer printer, you can get started right away. Here is a list of the main items you will need:

• Paper
• Photos
• A hole punch
• Scissors
• Glue stick or rubber cement
• 1/4 inch ribbon

You should begin by organizing your baby photos and then reprinting or photocopying your favorites for use in the book. Then cut a few sheets of paper to size and fasten them using 1/4 inch ribbon. Use the hole-punch to cut appropriate sized holes for the ribbon to pass through, but be careful not to get too close to the edge.

Use a glue stick to glue the photos onto the pages in chronological order and of course, you will probably want to write notes, details and observations underneath each photo to remember the exact occasion.

To make your baby book more of a family affair, it's nice to add in photos of other family members when they were babies too! Your child will really enjoying comparing their own baby photos to those of other family members when they get a bit older.

And that's really all there is to it. You can get as elaborate with the designs as you like, or choose to keep your personalized baby book simple and classic--it's entirely up to you.