Babies n Mii

The year 2020 has been an interesting one so far and with quarantine rules in place, creative activities have taken the centre stage especially for parents. As Father’s Day was nearing, I was thinking of making a unique DIY gift for my husband on my three-and-a-half year old son’s behalf. I thought of a few ideas such as a greeting card,  a gift basket, daddy’s toolkit, etc. but none of these convinced me. Finally, while reading story books to my son, I thought of making a customized book that both my husband and son could read together. More so, a personalized book with fun things and memories they both like doing and creating together. With this thought in mind, I settled on making a book.

Initial thoughts that I gathered to pick the theme and work on it:

• Pick a theme: First, I had a theme in my mind that the book should be talking about “Papa” (my husband) who is “Aarav’s” (my son) superhero. My son has been obsessed with superheroes lately, and so I thought this was a perfect theme!
• Book Design: Next, I wanted to make a see-through book where each page has a see-through spot which displays a constant picture (I cannot settle on simple things! that’s just me!!)
• Content: Lastly, I wanted the pages to talk about things my husband and son did together

Things You Need:

1. Print outs of the story. I wrote this story for about my husband and son from the things they do together. Here is the downloadable DIY See- Through Book Template.
2. A drawing of papa and kid(s) (my son drew the picture of his papa and him; he is 3.5 years old and I loved his own imagination)
3. Colorful construction paper
4. Cardboard sheets for the book cover
5. Gift wrapping paper for the book cover
6. Markers and crayons
7. Book binding rings
8. Printed pictures of papa and kid(s) (optional)
9. Clip art pictures relating to your story (I used all pictures from Google)
10. Hobby Knife/Scissors
11. Glue
12. Hole punch

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Making the Book:

1. First, print the story for your book (you may use the link above for the template)
2. Next, stick the printed story paper on the construction paper. Stick only one (1) story paper per construction paper
3. Now fold the construction paper with story paper stuck on it into half (vertically) giving it a feel of the book; do this for all the pages
4. Use the printer paper for papa and kid(s)’s drawing (if you/your kids are drawing it use the printer paper or cut the drawing and paste on the printer paper/construction paper as you like)
5. The paper with the papa and kid(s)’s drawing must be the last page of the book. Take a measurement of the faces (papa and kid(s)) may be using bottle-water lid or coins which ever are closest in the measurement
6. Mark each page with the measurement and using the hobby knife/scissors cut out each page to make see through space to see the faces of papa and kid(s); follow the same drill for all the pages
   

   

   

   

   

   

Now that the pages for the book are ready, let us make the book cover.

1. First, cut the card board into two (2) one piece for the front and other for the back; ensure it is a little bigger than the pages
2. Next, Cover the card boards separately in the wrapping paper
3. You may use transparent plastic wrap on the wrapping paper to secure the cover and avoid tears or wear off (this step is optional)
4. Using the hole puncher make 2 or 3 holes depending on your own choice
5. Compile the book by arranging the front book cover, all the story pages, and back cover and bind it using the binding rings

The book is now ready. You may decorate the front cover by pictures of papa and kids(s) or other craft. Because the theme of my book was Superhero, I make popsicle stick Superhero showing my husband and son! Some additional things you could do is add some pictures in the book, or have hand prints of papa and kid(s).

Enjoy your own see through book and don’t forget to share it on Babiesnmii Facebook page.