This post is a part of the Fantabulous Christmas Favorites blog chain put together by a great group of bloggers. The theme this week is Favorite Christmas DIY Ideas. Be sure to check out all the great ideas shared at the end of this post!
A big part of Christmas in our family happens in the kitchen and most of it happens around the kitchen table. A couple of years ago I wanted to make a recipe-themed photo book for my mom’s Christmas present, but it just didn’t come together like I thought it would. Instead it morphed into something more. Something better. It became Around the Table, a photo book about life around our family’s kitchen table (and in the kitchen) through the years. It turned out to be one of the best gifts I ever made.
It turned out finding recipes from my mom’s childhood and my childhood was nearly impossible. What I found though, was lots of photos and the table theme started to come together. It was clear that whether it was a picnic table at a campground, my grandmother’s enormous, heavy dining room table or our own family kitchen table, many of our best moments happened around a table.
Recipe for a Kitchen Memories Photo Book
Gather your pictures. Half of the fun was sitting in my old bedroom surrounded by boxes of photos and a scanner choosing photos. It took hours to scan them (and stealth to scan them without my mom figuring out what I was up to.) Choose photos from all different “table” angles. I included photos of my mom as a baby and toddler in the kitchen, my grandmothers cooking, family doing homework and studying at the table, and all of us dancing and singing in the kitchen.
Choose a photo book website. I used Picaboo for this project, but I also have had great quality projects from Mixbook and Shutterfly. Right now is a great time to keep an eye out for photo book deals on daily deal sites like Living Social and Groupon.
Choose your backgrounds. I loved this part. The food/kitchen theme meant I had a lot to choose from. Tablecloths, tiles floors, recipe cards and even some of my own photos made great backgrounds.
Write an Introduction. It wasn’t easy, but writing the introduction set the tone for the rest of the book. Remember to include the date. Of course, I forgot to include the date…
Arrange photos & add captions. This took as long as sorting and scanning them, but it was fun tweaking each one. I tried to tell most of the story by grouping photos in themes like cooking, birthdays, family dogs, studying & reading, and growing up.
Proofread….again. Fifty times if you have to. Somehow while I was making this book, I changed all the frames to orange in one click and sent in the order. Bright orange wasn’t a mistake I could live with so I had to fix it and re-order. The upside? I have my own copy now.
When the package arrives with your freshly printed book, I guarantee you won’t want to give it up. Just remember how much your mom, aunt, father or grandmother is going to love it (Or just order two copies, one to give and one to keep). My mom loved loves this book. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to top it. I hope one day someone will make Around the Table Volume II for me.
Interested in more fantabulous Christmas DIY ideas? Check out these posts!
Blessed Learners – DIY Santa Origami Board Borders
Called to Be a Mom – DIY Digital Scrapbook
Creative K Kids – DIY Thank You Gifts/Ornaments for Teachers with Free Printable
Denverista – DIY Photo Booth Backdrop & Props for Fun Family Photos
My Life Abundant – DIY Christmas Thank You Notes
Surviving Toddlerhood – DIY: Super Simple Styrofoam Snowman
Still want more? Head to our Fantabulous Christmas Favorites Pinterest Board!
I’ve never seen anything like that before, what a COOL gift!
I love it! I have done regular scrapbooks like this–and I have all my recipes typed up, so it would be easy to snip them and make them photos! I bet your mom did love it–mine would too.
So very impressive! I love the idea behind those photo book! My little brain tells me just to gather random photos and create a book, but you, oh my! And you took so much time scanning all those photos! Lovely!
What a wonderful idea for a photo book. I have thought about making one with my families recipes, but this is just too cute that you have done! Wonderful idea for a gift.
I really like this version of a scrapbook! I did the original scrapbooking years ago and I had a glue paper mess EVERYWHERE!! Ha! I’m telling you it was a mess!! That is why I stepped away from doing that version of a scrapbook. I do like this idea much better!
I loved making (paper) scrapbooks but found I was spending a lot of money on paper, stickers and other embellishments. It seems like making them online is expensive but I think it might even be a little cheaper…and it’s faaaaar less messy!
It is fabulous. I never make any scrapbook at all. I am pretty sure that everybody would be very happy and honoured to receive this one. Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful idea! I’m also thinking those “secret” family recipes would be a special addition. I bought a couple of books off Groupon last month, maybe I’ll use this idea for one of them. 🙂
What a fabulous idea. And I especially love how your family has obviously carried on this table tradition whether you knew you were doing it or not.
We all just seem to be drawn to the kitchen table rather than the living room or somewhere else. I don’t know why!
This is such a fantastic idea! I really like this, especially to make recipe books for your kids of their favorite meals once they leave the house. Thank you for a wonderful project that I can’t wait to get started on.
Ooh! I like that idea, too. I never thought about making one for someone I cooked for. Thanks!
My stepmom would die and go to heaven if I could whip up a book like this! I will pin for the future! I hope you consider adding this to my family Fridays link up party!
I will certainly try! I’ve never done one before 🙂
This is a great idea. I love doing a personal gift on these things! Great job!
What a lovely keepsake gift for any time of year! Terrific idea and your book loves great. I pinned this to my “parenting” Pinterest board so others can see this idea!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing on Family Friday’s Link-Up Party!
You’re welcome! I’m glad I tried it out 🙂
これは、多くの人々は通常の話いけないという意見の別の種類です。時々私はReditにこのようなものをFAV。これはユーザーのために最善になる場合は、この時間イムわからないが。病気にかかわらず、サイトの周りを見て、何か他のものを提出します。
品質情報の人々は、これは本当に重要な見つけるためにバインドされています。私は、おかげであなたは先に述べたことのいくつかの手掛かりを持っていました！
男はスパムここで私が非常識なドライブします！それらをDelte！私が持っていた
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