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In my last post, I wrote about what Life Books are and how they can be used in an adoptive family. This time I want to talk about how to make a Life Book. As I stated before you can be really creative and fancy or just use the basics, the important thing is that you have a Life Book for your child to use.
Any one who knows me, knows that I am not crafty at all. I have the imagination, just not the talent to make what my head pictures. When I was in Ethiopia I bought beautiful fabrics to make Life Book covers. I imagined beautifully done Life Books rich in color, texture and words. I soon realized I just needed a Life Book, not the most beautiful Life Book ever made, just a book with my kiddos’ history.
I made Mita and Enu’s Life Books by designing a photo book online. Shutterfly, Snapfish, Wal-mart and many more places allow you to make nice photo books, no talent needed. I put a recent picture of each of them on their covers and used all the pictures that we had been given in Ethiopian of the girls’ lives and the pictures we took of their family members and some of our travels in country and wrote simple captions on the. I know someday I will make another book, with some more things added to them. I may even used the material I bought someday, but for now they have their books and they love them.
There are millions of scrapbooks and scrap-booking supplies to help you make a Life Book. Scrap-booking experts need no advice here!
I have heard of some families using a three-ring binder and plastic pages to make a Life Book. The advantage of this, as well as scrapbooks are that you can pages to them in the future, while photo albums and photo books normally have a set amount of pages.
If your child is very young and not able to have all of his/her information right now, making a board book or small album may be what you need at this time. Just a few words and a picture or drawings are all you need to have a source of comfort and knowledge for your little one.
I have added some other resources for you for your adventures in Life Book making.
I would love hearing about your Life Books, how they were made and what you included.
Life Book Kits/instruction
books
An example of an open adoption Life Book
