Monday, January 7, 2013

2013 Year In Review Album

     I like to begin every year with an album prepared to document what my family does throughout the year. I've made one for the last several years. Here's my album for this year.

 
I cut up an old Scrabble board to 7"x 12".
I punched three holes in the side and bound it with office rings.

 
Here's the inside cover.
The circle in the center of the red flower says, "Life Documented"- fitting for a month by month album, huh?
 
 
This is the first two-page layout which is for Jan. and Feb.
I bought a piece of pattern paper that had a small Bingo card for every month. So I cut it up and put one on every page.
The brown envelope in the center is for extra bits that I collect throughout Jan. and Feb.
I placed a different envelope in between every month for the little extras.

 
This is the second two-page layout which is for March and April. The envelope in the center is actually a 6.5" manila envelope trimmed down. I adhered the paint strip sideways and attached it along the sides and bottom so it would be a small pocket on the large envelope.

 
This is the May and June layout. The shiny part of the photo on the right is actually a clear envelope I made from a transparency.
See how the month- themed Bingo cards work as titles on each page?

 
Here's one more layout for October. I used an old Yahtzee score sheet as an embellishment on the back of a large office envelope.
Throughout the book, I tried to carry through a "game" theme using items like playing cards and the month-themed Bingo cards.
 
 
This is my album from last year. The cover is actually the cover from an old encyclopedia- it was the #12 book of the set. Get it? For 2012. . .
 
 
 
This is one of the inside layouts. For this book, I alternated a piece of pattern paper with an office envelope from beginning to end. You can see more of this book here and here.
 
 
For my 2011 album, I used pieces out of a kit I had purchased. It has a 6"x12" clear cover and various pattern papers throughout. I added envelopes whenever I needed the space. The nice thing about this album was I had lots of room for photos.
 
 
Here is a photo of the June layout from this book.
 
 
2010 was the first year I started this type of album. For the cover, I cut a clipboard in half and bound the sides with two office rings.

 
Here is the April layout from this book. Once again, I alternated paper with envelopes throughout. Every other month had an extra insert for more photos like the short ticket page above.
 
I like to use envelopes as pages to allow room for extra photos and memorabilia.
 
This type of album is a fun and basically easy way to document your year. By designing your own album, you have room for just a few photos or many photos.
 
Thanks for stopping by and God bless. 


Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

 This post is linked to Making the World Cuter, Craft-O-Maniac, and Skip to My Lou.


1 comment:

  1. What a great idea! This looks easy to set up at one sitting and then is fun for the whole year. I also happen to have a spare game board that I've been trying to think of a use for, so this is perfect. Thanks for the inspiration!

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