Gift Idea: First 100 Days Scrapbook

Since this qualifies as something families can do together, I am sharing it today!

A friend of mine got married this weekend so I can finally share this post!!! I wanted to give her something she would be able to hold on to and that would create time for the two of them to spend together. I took the idea of the “The First 100 Days” from how each school year the kids celebrate the first 100 days of school. Then I added a few special touches to the gift by adding a couple of things that are traditions in our family and pulling it altogether in a wooden crate I bought. True to who I am, I never took pictures of the final gift (excuse to do it again?). But I did manage to take a couple pictures that I took to show a friend I had previously made a different scrapbook for. Here’s a peek:

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I bought the scrapbook at a local crafts store. It has 100 pages and is a mixed media journal. This made it sturdier for adding materials to without worrying about the binding breaking. I didn’t want to do a traditional scrapbook because of space, though I love doing those as gifts for others.

I then took four months to complete the project by learning about them. I included pages with their favorite pictures of them together, a picture from one of their first dates (if not their very first) where I happened to see them together and snap a pic, and a pic from their engagement night. I left them space to include a honeymoon and wedding photo. Next to each page with a photo, I left space for them to write down why it was their favorite or why it was my favorite pic of them.

I included recipes I loved and ideas for things for them to do together. Asked them questions and left room for them to fill in answers. I also shared some thoughts on marriage and quotes I enjoyed. Additionally, I shared the meanings of their names and the meaning of the date of their wedding, as well as some thoughts I had for them specifically about their union.

It was so much fun to work on. My daughter helped me with the flowers by coloring and painting them. We then looked up the meaning, as they were their favorite flowers.

With the book, I included a jar of buttons and an understanding of the meaning of it inside the front cover of the book. The idea behind the button jar is that you give one another a button when looking to connect with one another. My daughter and I thought it would be a fun way to make conversation and have an inside joke that carries outside the house when you see buttons. You can use it for awkward conversation as well as fun moments together. Just as buttons are used to hold things together, conversation is so important to maintaining healthy relationships.

We also included a notebook with 365 thoughts and room to leave one another notes. This is a family tradition we have long had where we give my parents a notebook each year for Christmas and they leave each other notes in the mornings. Now that we have a multigenerational home, we all leave one another notes and it’s fun to look back and see notes from the past years.

Being a writer, I couldn’t forget to give a pack of my favorite pens! So I included those for them to write the notes and write in the scrapbook.

This is a fun do-it-yourself gift idea that you can do as a family activity or by yourself. It is great for wedding gifts, birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, or just because. (The last one I did was an actual scrapbook in which I stalked a friend’s social media and sent her a scrapbook filled with old posts and memories as well as some thoughts of my own to remind her of how valuable and loved she is and how much she inspires others.)

I will start sharing and re-sharing some gift ideas since some take time to create and ship to loved ones. While I hate that it is already time to think about the holidays, the truth is, it is showing up all around us!

~Shell