13 Things I Love About You Birthday Mini Album

Hi everyone. I'm here today to talk about quick journaling gifts.  This project was featured on the Pebbles blog in September but my daughter's birthday wasn't until this month so I had to withhold this from my blog.  Thankfully she didn't see the Pebbles blog.

My daughter's birthday is a BIG milestone birthday.  She's officially a teenager! Since this is such a momentous occasion, I thought it would be nice make her a birthday mini album and write 1 note to her for every year with the plan for her to read one every day leading up to her big day.

I'm pleased to say that this is the first gift she was eager to open, before all the large gift wrapped boxes.  She also took it to her birthday lunch with family to show it to everyone.  To say she appreciated it is an understatement.  It made me feel special to make her feel so special.

I wanted this to be something that can be made relatively quickly and can be scaled up or down depending on the number of years the birthday recipient is turning.  Afterall, if you choose to make something similar for a 30th birthday, you don't want it to take too 30 years.  Since I wanted it to be quick and easy, I chose to keep the embellishments and details to a minimum, plus I wanted this birthday mini album to have plenty of space for a favorite photo and journaling highlights from each year.

  How to:

• This birthday mini album will have a finished size of 4x6" so your first step will be to trim your cardstock to 4x6". Be sure to cut a cover and enough pages for all the years you are celebrating.
• Choose your favorite photos from each year and print them no larger than 2.5x2.5".  Add them to your pages if you are handwriting your journaling. If you are typing or using your CAMEO sketch pens, you'll want to do the journaling before you add the photos.
• Next, add your journaling to the pages. You can choose to keep everything consistent from page to page or mix it and journal in different spots.  Make sure to leave enough space for your photos if you are adding the photos after your journaling.
• Lastly, add embellishments.  I chose to keep it simple by adding a few strips of paper, punched circle and the year. I stitched these elements to each page to make sure they were nice and secure.

Now I get to add a 13 year page.  I can't wait!

You may choose to wrap each day's page separately so that she opens a new one each day. Make sure to include a book ring so the birthday girl or boy can piece them together each day to build their birthday mini album.

Pebbles Supplies: Birthday Wishes Printed Bags Birthday Wishes Hip Hip Hooray (732557) Birthday Wishes You're Invited (732556) Birthday Wishes Make a Wish (732553) Prismatic Thickers (732831) Cottage Living Imprint Thickers (732776) American Crafts White Cardstock