A Father’s Day tradition we have in our family is writing stories and creating our own books. I think we started writing them in 2000, when Tuesday was only 3 years old. Quinn did his first story in 2002. And River did her first story last year. It has been such a fun tradition. I think the best part is getting out all the old ones and rereading them every year!
I use a template that I created in Publisher and type the stories. When you make a template, remember to leave a big margin on the left hand side for binding…if you don’t, some of your text and pictures will get cut off!
Then I print them out on thick stock paper. The children then add their pictures, usually using Sharpie markers. I love the Sharpie markers because they are the brightest and they don’t seem to fade. After all the pictures are completed….we head on over to our local teachers’ supply store, where they have a laminating machine. I get all the pages laminated….then we head on over to our local Kinkos/Federal Express shop and I use their work station to cut the pages all out and get them reordered……then I have them bind them for me. (Why don’t I just have the Kinkos/Fed Ex shop do the laminating? Because they charge about $1.50 per page!! It is much cheaper to go to the local teachers’ supply store..they charge you something like thirty-two cents a yard!)
I love the laminating because it brings the vibrant colors out and it protects the pages…makes them seem more like a real book! I always use a cover page…and then an inside dedication page that says the year.
The kids are always so proud of their stories and pictures! It is a great tradition or gift idea for any occassion!