laracaz
09-27-2008, 02:04 PM
For my Dad's 60th birthday, I contacted several of his friends and had them each send a (copy of) a photo along with a letter, recollection or sentiment. I gave each friend a page where I put the photo and the text. I titled the book "WD the First 60 Years" and used a great photo of him waterskiing. For the title page I included a copy of the email/ letter I sent out to his friends and family as well as a birthday wish from me.
I began the book in B&W with photos of where he lived as a child and pages from his mom and sisters as well as a memory page dedicated to his deceased father. These pages were all black
My dad happens to be very athletic and adventurous, so I organized the next section of the book by sections like "rafting", "motorcycles", "boating and skiing", "travels", etc. Otherwise I would have done it by decades. I put lots of color photos. I also dedicated several pages to his wedding and the pics and writings from my stepmom. These pages had grey or white backgrounds depending on which looked better.
The rest of the book I filled with the letters and photos from his friends. Most of these had black backgrounds with white text. Each person got at least one page, sometimes two (I had a 50% coupon ;)). These were great fun- some were serious sentiments and some were jabs or humorous. Some sent several photos, some sent only one.
I left several blank (grey) pages at the back of the book for guests to sign at the party and I brought several nice black pens for them to use.
We presented the book to him at his party and had everyone sign their page and/or write a brief message. It turned out so great that several people asked me if I did this professionally and/or suggested that I start a business doing this. He was incredibly moved and everyone was super impressed with the quality.
I did a similar book for my mom but hers was more of family photos and memories and not letters from friends. I left space on the sides of the pages and wrote in the titles of the sections with a silver paint pen. Wish I could have used a fancy script and turned the title sideways but the software wouldn't let me. (hint hint)
I'm now planning one for my grandmother's 88th birthday this January and a recipe collection for my mom and aunt including our family recipes and photos of my grandma. These make such great gifts and are so affordable with the coupons and the paperback options!
This book was so personal I don't feel comfortable placing the link online but I've tried to be descriptive and hopefully someone will find it inspirational!
I began the book in B&W with photos of where he lived as a child and pages from his mom and sisters as well as a memory page dedicated to his deceased father. These pages were all black
My dad happens to be very athletic and adventurous, so I organized the next section of the book by sections like "rafting", "motorcycles", "boating and skiing", "travels", etc. Otherwise I would have done it by decades. I put lots of color photos. I also dedicated several pages to his wedding and the pics and writings from my stepmom. These pages had grey or white backgrounds depending on which looked better.
The rest of the book I filled with the letters and photos from his friends. Most of these had black backgrounds with white text. Each person got at least one page, sometimes two (I had a 50% coupon ;)). These were great fun- some were serious sentiments and some were jabs or humorous. Some sent several photos, some sent only one.
I left several blank (grey) pages at the back of the book for guests to sign at the party and I brought several nice black pens for them to use.
We presented the book to him at his party and had everyone sign their page and/or write a brief message. It turned out so great that several people asked me if I did this professionally and/or suggested that I start a business doing this. He was incredibly moved and everyone was super impressed with the quality.
I did a similar book for my mom but hers was more of family photos and memories and not letters from friends. I left space on the sides of the pages and wrote in the titles of the sections with a silver paint pen. Wish I could have used a fancy script and turned the title sideways but the software wouldn't let me. (hint hint)
I'm now planning one for my grandmother's 88th birthday this January and a recipe collection for my mom and aunt including our family recipes and photos of my grandma. These make such great gifts and are so affordable with the coupons and the paperback options!
This book was so personal I don't feel comfortable placing the link online but I've tried to be descriptive and hopefully someone will find it inspirational!