Sunday, January 27, 2013

~memory book with old valentines~


Are you one of those people who saves cards
for sentimental reasons but you never
really know what to do with them other
than stash them in a box?
 If so....here's an idea
for a Valentine or anniversary gift.
   
 Each year I try to top the Valentine I made the year prior.
After nearly 20 years of this, it's getting difficult and I'm 
running out of ideas and energy. Last year I
couldn't figure out what to make for Valentines so
I got to looking thru all the Valentines we've
exchanged over the years as inspiration. 
Yes......we have kept them in a little box along with
other cards and letters we've exchanged thru the
years. After that much time, it's become
quite a collection. Rather than make a Valentine
for him last year, I decided to make a memory book
with all of the Valentines we have exchanged over
the past 19 years. This is how it turned out.   
I used this hand made binder that my aunt (who's really
my 2nd cousin) gave us a couple years ago .
It's made from wood that she stained and constructed
herself. This was just the project I was waiting
for to fill this monogrammed binder!   

I gathered up all of the Valentines we've exchanged
over the years and put them in chronological order.
I bunched a few of them together and tied with
ribbon or tulle and placed that in pockets I 
sewed onto the page (cardstock).
Each page is a little different and you could
design them to your liking.      
 This folks, is the first Valentine I ever made him.
19 years ago......1994. We were so poor and the only
supplies I had were pictures, yellow legal paper,
crayons, tape and pink toilet paper (remember when they
used to make colored toilet paper?). I think they
stopped making it because it turned out the dyes
in it were a bit too "harsh" for some people's 
who ha's and nether regions.    

 
I decorated some of the "pockets" with smaller sized
Valentines I'd made. If the Valentine was double sided
I made a color copy of the back in order to see
both sides and the message.   
 Once I had the pages done, I put them in thick
plastic page protectors so the cards won't fall out.
 I always make my Valentines and write a simple 
message. My husband on the other hand, buys
the most beautiful, sappy and love sick card
he can find......and I absolutely love it!

 Another way to display them is to place them
on your cardstock and make a slit in the page
protector to slide the card thru. That way you
can actually open the card and see the message.  

 For those years when we had a long distance 
relationship and had to mail our Valentines....
I used the actual envelope as the pocket and stuck
that right to the cardstock with a bunch of 
Valentines in it.  As you can see, I also scattered
a few pictures of us together througout the years.  
 It's a bit thick and bulky but it's just fine for where it 
sits, on display in our window ledge.  

I will add a page to it each year with our Valentines.
You know what that means now......
I gotta figure out what the heck type of Valentine
to make this year.    

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3 comments:

susie said...

I LOVE this idea for our family, I'm gonna do the same thing with mine. Love you xoxo

Jolie said...

wish i was more organized by putting our cards in "holiday" order. i have them all by year and mixed with everything else from that year! just thinking about going through it makes me exhausted!

this gift is truly the best gift for you kids when they grow up. they can look at the love their parents had for each other and have it all in one fabulous book.

Linda said...

Babe-You are so thoughtful and creative-I love it-what a memory for you, Jay D and your precious darlings!

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