my three weeks of stalking the camp website for glimpses of my girls in the nightly photos are coming to an end. in just a couple of days i will see their smiling faces in person!! but before that, i had to create my usual photo gift from some of the pics, so they could see what i saw and have their friends sign them. in previous years, i've made collages with autograph space around them, cd case "frames" with a main picture and smaller ones tucked in, and other similar items. last year was an autograph style photo book with ring binders and chipboard covers. we're going on eight years at camp now, so i'm kind of running out of ideas, but somehow, at the last possible minute to get them mailed on time, i came up with the idea of mini flip books. when the photographer takes pics of a group, she mostly stands in the same place during an activity and snaps the kids individually as they move past her - it's not a perfect flip book, but it kind of works, especially for activities like the slip and slide or jumping on the blob. so i printed the pics as a contact sheet, cut them apart, leaving a little margin at the binding edge, created a wrap-around cover, and used mini binder clips to hold them together. i tried stapling them, but they were too thick for my stapler. in the end, the binder clips were even better because they grip tightly and give you a handle to hold while you flip. they're kind of small for autographs, but i left the back covers free and they each have three. sometimes it's fun to write tiny! i guess i should start thinking about new ideas for next year. although that rarely works - my last minute ideas are usually my best!
:) lexi
