DIY Gift for Him: (25) Reasons Why I Love You



Monday I talked about Will's birthday (which was last Friday) and how we celebrated it. He turned 25, or how I like to think of it, he's been alive now for a quarter of a century! I'm the sentimental type and those dear to me tend to be as well. I always mull over gift ideas for weeks before holidays because I do really like to give things that have meaning. Because of this I tend to be a gift maker. I even handmade every single gift I gifted last Christmas! Handmade things just pack so much meaning, personality, and creativeness into a gift. Plus they are great for people, like me, who are on a tight budget but still want to show someone some love.

Ideally, if I had the cash to blow, I would have bought a whole slew of new backpacking gear for Will for his birthday. I know he loved my homemade things though. I thought it would also be a great idea to do a little booklet of sorts instead of a card. Since he was turning 25, I titled it 25 Reason Why I Love You. See below how I created this simple little booklet for him.




How to Make a Card Booklet

What you'll need: To create a booklet similar to mine you'll need some card-stock paper, cardboard (or another sturdy material) for the cover, foam stamps, paint, a paint brush, small letter stamps, ink, various pens and markers, other embellishments (stickers, die-cuts, etc) optional, a hole punch,  and twine.




Directions

  1. Begin by creating the cover for your booklet. I chose a thin cardboard like material that was already cut to a small size. Create the title for your booklet. I decided on {25} Reasons Why I Love You because it was Will's 25th birthday. I used foam stamps for the 25 (apply paint using a paint brush and stamp onto your surface) and regular letter stamps to write the title and then used some stickers as accents. I distressed the edges by rubbing them on the ink pad.
  2. Measure the size of the cover and cut pieces of card-stock into smaller pieces that will fit into your booklet. My cover measured 4.5 square inches, so I cut each page in to 4.25 inch squares. Cut as many pages as you need, and number them by stamping them with the same foam stamps you used on the cover.
  3. Allow any paint to dry and then make sure all pages of your booklet align. I rounded the corners of my pages to match the cover. This is not necessary, just an extra little touch. Punch holes in each of the pages and the cover to ensure you will be able to bind your booklet together. A good way to make sure all of your hole punches line up: Begin by marking where you want the holes to go on the front cover and punch them out. Then align different pages, one or two at a time, (centered) with the top of the front cover and punch through the holes you have already made.
  4. Go through and personalize each page of your booklet. Do this before binding it together! If you make a mistake you can make a new page without having to unbind everything. Get create with each page, writing and stamping with different fonts. Add pictures, stickers, different embellishments, or print out everything and adhere it to your pages. I chose to keep it pretty simple. Then bind your booklet together by feeding twine through the holes.
Here's a little peek inside my booklet!



The design/concept is simple for this little booklet, but you could make it so many different ways. Some other ideas for little personal booklets:

  • An anniversary gift, using the number of years you've been together to share things you love about that person. 
  • Highlights from the year (maybe one for each month), including pictures and things you did.
  • A trip highlight, including your favorite stories and places visited.
  • A collection of instagram photos printed out. How cute would this be?!
  • A booklet featuring highlights and monthly pictures from the first year of a baby's life.




Happy memory keeping!

6 comments :

  1. Wow, thats beautiful! I am wondering, what do you do for a living? What does your wonderful man do? If this is too personal, do not take offense! I own an etsy shop, and I am broke most the time too! I also made a handmade hat for my man for christmas and he never wore it but he loved it (he never gets cold. really. I didn't know this then. He is like a heater--kinda nice because I freeze in anything below 70) My husband designs software for the mounted police in Canada (he is a drone in a large company, but he loves his job) I had a job at a call center, but was fired due to lay offs about 2 months ago, and decided to give etsy full time a go before resuming the job search. Before the call center I worked at Ross (dress for less) and before that I worked various food service jobs for a million years (I hate food service).



    I'm sure you can tell that I really do like your blog. I know I don't "know" you as a person but I think you are just neat. Also I'm a year older then Will, and my husband is 28 (or as I like to call him, almost 30, because it makes him chase me around hah hah) Uh, pineapples :P

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  2. Wow--that turns out so cute! I can tell you put a lot of time into it. I'm currently trying to think of some idea to make my husband's birthday special without spending much money, too! I gave him a book similar to that last year...but maybe I can go a different route with the handmade plan....

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  3. Your gift is so beautiful! I used to make little love books all the time when Keith and I were long distance. They're such a beautiful way to package memories and feelings. Lovely gift.

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  4. I love reading your comments Carolynn :) I sent you an email!

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  5. Thanks Rachel! If your looking for more ideas, I've also made Will bow ties, a painting on some cool old wood, scarves, hats, etc. Another idea (if your husband is into it) would be setting up candles all over and having a romantic homemade dinner in bed! Always fun :)

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  6. That looks so beautiful!!
    I don't know if I'll be patient enough to try it though hahahaha
    But I must!
    Perhaps for my 3 yrs anniversary present for my BF!
    How long did this take to make??
    xxx
    Thia @ The Tale Thief

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