How to Make a Baby Book: Print & Make a Sweet Gift

It always seems that as each season comes to life, it heralds the arrival of a fresh batch of new babies. The number of baby showers I've been to in the last few weeks alone have been enough to convince me that there's something in the water ...

As much fun as baby showers and births are, it can be difficult to find the perfect gift. There's always this horrible fear that what you get will be identical to what fifteen other people have purchased, or that what you bring won't draw the awww's and smiles from the mom-to-be that you'd hoped for.

With all the births and showers I've been going to, I decided it was time to stop breaking my wallet and going through paranoid paralysis upon knocking on the door. Instead of the commercial gifts just like what everyone else gives, I wanted something special and from the heart that the new mommy can use and cherish.

So. I made a baby book. This is a really fun and super-easy project that actually comes out looking like something you'd happily pay for. But you don't have to pay for it, which makes it even better.

This quick computer craft requires just a few minutes, a pair of scissors, some glue, and a ribbon.

Making a Baby Book - The Steps

I promise that this will be painless. My 7-year-old princess has helped me make a few and even she got it down with no problems. Here's what you'll need to get going:

*4 sheets of plain white card stock
*A color printer
*15" length of ribbon (at least 1/4" wide)
*Scissors
*Stick glue or rubber cement

1. The first thing you'll need to do is load the four sheets of card stock in your printer. Then, grab the boy version of the baby book here, or the girl version of the baby book here (or snag both and save them to your computer to print out anytime you like). You'll just need Acrobat Reader (a free download) to open and print the files. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, grab it here.

Once you have the files, print them out. You'll want to make sure your printer is set to print in "Landscape" mode, and if it has a setting for printing on card stock, go ahead and use it. You'll print each page on its own - not front and back.

2. With your pages all printed out, you're ready to trim them down and fold them. Go ahead and trim them first, cutting right inside the colored borders. If you have a paper cutter, it will be easier to make straight lines - but this isn't necessary if you're careful with your scissors.

After they're trimmed, you'll want to score the folds along the dotted lines indicated on each page. Each of the inside pages have just one dotted line, right in the center. The outside page - the cover - has two lines. This allows us to fit all the pages inside the cover without having things overlap strangely.

To make a better score, use the smooth side of a butter knife.

3. You're nearly ready to start gluing. Before you apply any glue, though, go ahead and arrange your pages in order so that you can "test" the layout of your book. The 15" length of ribbon will run across the middle of the book, glued inside the pages that are snug against the cover. (Reference the illustrations attached to this article).

4. Now that you're sure of how it goes together, you can start gluing. Begin by applying a very thin, even layer of glue on the blank side of your cover pages. Place the ribbon across the middle of the cover page. The blank side of page 2 will go against the left side of the cover, and the blank side of page 7 will go against the right side of the cover. Pages 4 and 5 will attach to the blank sides of pages 3 and 6.

5. With the pages glued, place the whole book under something heavy - a phone book will usually work well. Allow it to dry this way overnight.

Once fully dry, your baby book is ready to be trimmed (just trim off any pages that are seriously poking out), tied, and gifted!