5.24.2006

WFMW - Scrapbook on a Wall

(hosted by Shannon)

Once upon a time I was a single student / young professional and I dreamed of being a scrapbooker. My visions of grandeur included volumes of memories meticulously and creatively documented in beautiful 3-ring binders that I would regularly pull out and peruse with my children and other people who visited and cared to see actual pictures of first slobbers, first steps, first kisses, and all the other "moments" of our life.

But then I had actual children, whose lives I wanted to preserve in all their die-cut and beribboned glory, but we decided we would rather eat than buy the pretty paper and other necessary accoutrements, and the time it took to create became hours of frustration because little hands kept grabbing the scissors or bumping the unglued layouts, and the fact that my scrapbooking table was also the breakfast, lunch and dinner table just meant chaos. So I packed it in, and this is what I do now, instead:

The inspiration was this, one of those photo mats around our engagement photo that everyone signed at the wedding reception. We look at it all the time, notice names, remember the people, and love the photo, whereas if the guests would have signed a pretty little book with a silk ribbon bookmark, that book would be gathering dust in our spare bedroom turned extra-large-closet-of-stuff-I-don't-need-to-unpack-therefore-I-won't.


Anyway, later I rescued an acid-eaten photo of David as a sleeping baby and put it, together with a poem (slightly adapted) from a love letter he wrote to me, and hung it in Calvin's first bedroom. Very sweet and memory-provoking on a lot of different levels...I cried when I made it, David cried when I showed him, Calvin cried lots of times while lying in his crib under it, and I think David's mom really liked it, too.



Another time, I gathered some favorite photos after Henry was born (I was feeling nostalgic for Calvin's lost babyhood - only nineteen months and already a big brother...sniff, sniff!), happened upon Michael's twice yearly 50% of frame sale and bought six identical frames with mats, put my little pictures in and hung them on a wall in our living room. I change the photos out every now and then as other special moments happen, so it's like an evolving scrapbook, and we see the cute moments more often than if they were in a book on the shelf...or in a box in "the room."


And last Christmas, I made these out of my favorite Christmas pictures of the boys and they are now part of our holiday decorations...Henry eating wrapping paper on his first Christmas and Calvin methodically opening a gift with those too cute PJ's (50% naughty, 50% nice).

Documenting memories this way helps me get a creative "fix" every now and then, they are visible and accessible, less expensive and leave me time to spend with my kids making actual memories. And it also doesn't seem like such an endless project either, because sometime I'll be out of wall space. Of course, then I can work on filling the Grandmas' walls.

It does look better in person than it does in these pictures. I was in a hurry to post before this became W-F-M-Thursday. Same excuse for the number of times I used the word, "moments."

Scrapbook on the wall works for me!

(Um, could someone tell me how to get the cool WFMW header on my post...?)

9 comments:

the lizness said...

I love the scrapbook on the wall!! How very different. Now we will all go copy you.

the wfmw header - go to shannon's blog and right click on it. save picture as "something" "somewhere" on your computer. Then, upload the picture. I usually center mine, but that's just my preference.

I came back today to get the chicken recipe :) mmmmm good

Nettie said...

Great Ideas! It does seem like the scrapbooks don't get viewed enough for all the work that goes into them.

(I right click the image of the wfmw header, click on "save image location", then open my post, click on the add photo icon and ctrl+v in the url location box in the right.)

Amy said...

Great idea! I am not a scrapbooker, but I do love to look at pictures. This would be a great idea for me! Thanks!

Code Yellow Mom said...

he, he, he...thanks for the help with the header - I thought it was a special HTML thingie or something.Now I know it's just a picture. Works for me. :)

Anonymous said...

You are SO creative! :)

Angela said...

I LOVE what you did with the little picture of Cal...er David, what a fabulous idea. I would love to copy it but I've never gotten a love letter. I could make some kind of collage out of news links about Peak Oil or Senate Majority Leaders Jay has sent to me in emails---that could be sweet, don't you think?
And I LAUGHED OUT LOUD at "and Calvin cried many times" you are such a funny girl.

Gabriela said...

They are all so cute. Good thinking! I am not a scrapbooker either. I know I would buy all the stuff and it would sit there mocking me.

Therefore, I blog. :)

Anonymous said...

I love this idea. I'm a sucker for framing family photos, old and new, and I especially like the scrapbooked ones.

If you have trouble getting the graphic, e-mail me (address on left column of my blog) and I'll walk you through it.

Katherine@Raising Five said...

Okay, I am having trouble believing you have No Fashion Sense if you can put together wall art like this. I have 12 years and five kids worth of pics that will never have accoutrements even remotely so artistic. I am completely inspired! Do you glue the different pieces on like a scrapbook page or do you just mash them against the glass?

BTW, thanks for linking me. I love your blog, and I'm doing the same for you!

Have a great day!