Baby’s First Photo Album (DIY)
As soon as we found out we were going to become parents, my husband and I knew there were certain things we really wanted to do. One of these things was to make our baby a “baby book” to document the first year of her life.
In today’s fast-paced and very digital world, people hardly print photos anymore. This is something I am trying to make sure I actually stick to. Having photos on social media and our hard drive is just not the same as flipping through the pages of an actual photo album.
There are albums and baby books that are already set up for you, but we didn’t really find any we liked and we wanted our daughter’s to be a mix of a scrapbook and photo album. So, we decided to build our own. We are really happy with how it has turned out so far! I wanted to share the process here on my blog.
You Will Need:
- 1 Large photo album
We got ours at A.C. Moore, but they have it on Amazon too. they have a variety of fabric ones. We chose a simple black one. - 1 package of plastic sheets to put photos and mementos in.
You’ll want the kind that has a paper insert. You’ll be attaching your photos to the paper with either glue or tape. One package usually comes with about 20 sheets, sometimes the binders already come with some to start. - Stickers, stick on letters for baby’s name, etc (all optional for scrapbooking)
- Photos!
We always keep an eye out for photo printing deals. CVS in my area has the best print quality as far as pharmacies go. Online, Shutterfly is pretty good too!
We started our baby book out with our maternity photos, ultrasounds, and photos of her nursery. Then, after she was born, we added in her hospital bracelets, the welcome letter from City Hall that we received, and very first photoshoot. We also have a couple of pages that include photos of her meeting family members and friends for the first time.
I also added a page to keep all the cards people sent us to congratulate us on her birth. I’m the kind of person who is too sentimental to throw out cards, so this was the perfect way to keep all her cards in place!
From there, we update the book with our favorite photos from each month of her life as well as photos from special milestones, such as her first Thanksgiving and Christmas.
How To Put Together A Page
In order to get photos to stay nicely in place, we use double-sided tape. In each plastic sheet, there is a paper insert. We remove it and figure out how we want to place the photos. Once decided, we put the tape on the back of each photo and carefully place them on the sheet. Once the page is complete, we simply slip it back in the plastic sheet and its done!
The finished product of a page is always so satisfying! It is also a great way to bond with your spouse as you go through the photos and reminisce about how much your little one has grown.
Flipping through the pages only 5 months after Julia’s birth makes me realize how much she has already changed! The final product at the end of her first year is going to be incredible!
