Yesterday, my precious nephew turned ONE! I can't believe he is already ONE! He has been such a JOY to watch grow up this past year, and I can't wait for many, many more!! He is my favorite little guy!!
To celebrate his first birthday, I wanted to make something really special for him. He lives in Austin, and none of his family lives close to him. (One set of grandparents and I live in Dallas, one aunt/uncle in Tulsa, another aunt/uncle in Chicago, an uncle in Tuscaloosa, and other set of grandparents in Birmingham.) He also has family members that have gone on before him that he won't get the chance to meet. Being a reader teacher, I decided I wanted to make him something that could help him learn his ABCs.... as well as his family members at the same time!
I looked on pinterest and found a bunch of ABC wooden blocks that people made with scrapbook paper. I liked the idea, but I wanted it to be more personal. So I did something similar...
I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 1 1/2 inch wooden blocks and a wooden box. I painted the blocks all different colors and put one letter on one side of each block. Then I put someone's name that corresponds with each letter.... so for example, the H block has "Aunt Heather" written on the opposite side. Then the remaining four sides have pictures of me! I printed the pictures on my computer and then mod podged them on to the blocks. (It was a LOT of pictures!!) I did this for every block. Some blocks don't represent a particular family member, but just have pictures of him with family members. I put numbers on those blocks so that he could learn numbers too. I then painted the box with family quotes and put the blocks inside! Below are pictures of the blocks! I am
obsessed with how it turned out!
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| ABC Letters! (I made a Z.... I have no idea how it didnt end up in the picture!) |
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| Numbers |
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| Grandparents Names |
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| Some of the pictures of his grandparents and great grandparents! |
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| Aunts and Uncles |
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| Some pictures of his aunts and uncles! |
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| ALL the blocks! |
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| Two of the quotes on the box! |
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| What the box looks like when you open it! |
After creating the blocks, I went on shutterfly and made this ABC book to go along with it! Each letter is again about a family member or something to do with him and it's filled with pictures! I also wrote a poem for each letter.
Here is the link to the book! I love love love this book so much!
I love love love how this present turned out! It's so personal and I think it's something he will play with and read for a long time! Happy first birthday, Carter!
