I think everyone has seen the 52 reasons I love you playing card mini books on pinterest and around the blogsphere. I had originally planned to make one for Father's day but then I was sick around that time and I wasn't sure he was going to get "it".
So I held on to my supplies waiting for the right inspiration to hit... and then B had a tantrum because I didn't give him something little after I had bought something big and I realized it was time for an attitude adjustment... So I came up with the 52 REASONS WE'RE GRATEFUL
The idea is that when their hearts become ungrateful they have to go find the book and read the 52 reasons they came up with that they are grateful for. They read it even though they don't have to and even when we are out, if we just mention the book they remember some of their reasons and laugh. You will see why in a bit.
There are a many tutorials on how to make one but I thought I would give you my pointers.
Supplies:
- Pack of cards
- Sticker paper - I bought shipping labels. The 5 1/2 x 81/2 type. I got 25 sheets for about $10 versus 5 sheets of the glossy full size sticker paper. Of course mine wasn't glossy but I really didn't care. I have though 22 pages of labels left so I must come up with more ways to use it
- Marcee's Art Journal Papers - These are great for every type of page and when I saw them I knew they would work great for this project and make it just a little more interesting
- Washi Tape and Ribbon - only because I am mildly obsessed with Washi tape and own more than my fair share.
- Binder clips
- Hole Puncher - I used my heavy duty Memory Keepers punch and eyelet setter to make it fast.
To put it all together I just printed the journal papers with the picture or graphic we wanted and then cut them all out and applied it to the cards. I used a cardboard with the holes punched so my holes would all match up. This is a tip I learned a while back and is priceless when doing this sort of project. I ended up with the washi tape and the ribbon. Pretty easy. The hardest part is coming up with a list of 52 reasons.
I had originally wanted to distress my cards and do more of a vintage look on them but it became apparent quite fast that the kids would have nothing of that so instead we picked some graphics from Urban Wings Artography also from The Creative Pixel (All Sports and Be who you are) to complete the look. The Washi did end up looking better with this look anyway - and like I said before I really do love the stuff.
It is apparent that my kids started with some pretty deep topics of gratefulness: God, Faith, Jesus and salvation among others. But we soon ran out of some of these...
And moved on to stuff that we use every day and is vitally important in our household...
And then to some of their favorite things like tennis shoes and toys.
By the end we were happy that we had the imagination to actually complete the list! Actually they went way past 52... they kept going and going and it was hard to narrow it down to just 52. They suggested I make 2 books :)! Who know maybe...
To tell you the truth, I am just thankful that a project on my pinterest to do list got done!! Can't wait to see yours.
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