Mandy's Melting Pot

I’ll admit it. I’m one of those crazy scrapbookers. You know the ones always taking pictures of everything and anything. I’ve gotten to the point of taking picture just for a certain scrapbook layout I want to do. Obviously it is something I enjoy to do, so I figured what the heck, I might as well kill two birds with one stone and use some of my scrapbooking time to make gifts for friends and family. I started this earlier this year for birthdays and Mother’s Day, but with the holidays fast approaching (less than 4 months left!) it is a great time to break out the ideas and get the ball rolling.

*The first is the most obvious — a scrapbook. I made my Grandpa a scrapbook of us last year for Christmas and he loved it. It even brought a tear to his eye, so don’t just think these gifts are for women! Simply collect photos through the years (or of a specific theme if you so choose), select an album size, pick out coordinating paper and embellishments and get to work. For gift albums, I like to choose 8×8 as it is much easier to complete, especially when you have multiple of these to do in a holiday rush.

*Another great idea is a Calendar. Similar to the scrapbook, you can simply pick out 12 events/photos to use or if possible, complete each month’s page with the occasions that occur in that month (Dec- Christmas, Nov- Thanksgiving, Aug- Back to School, etc. Use pictures of birthdays and anniversaries when applicable). You can find blank calendars at most scrapbooking/craft stores or you can even print and bind your own if you so choose. I recommend going ahead and writing in special events and occasions on the calendar before giving it.

That’s all for now. Next time I will talk about the many uses for Altered Lunch Pails and Altered Composition books. Both of these are great to use as gifts (and fun to make one for you to keep too!).