I have a confession to make.
You know those moms who have those amazing scrapbooks for each of their kids? With a page that looks like this for every day of their baby’s life, with to-the-minute accounts of when their baby first smiled, rolled over, waved, ate solid foods, wore a red onesie, saw a bird, played with their feet … you know the ones.
Yeah, that’s not me. I am a deadbeat mom.
David’s baby book is approximately 1/3 filled out, and he is 8. I didn’t even bother to buy one for Connor or Mason. I sort of have a rough idea of when they did things. Kinda.
Like I said. Deadbeat.
That is why I fell in love with this berry basket calendar from Design Sponge. It was one of the very first things I pinned on Pinterest, probably about a year and a half ago {if I were one of those scrapbook moms, I would know the exact date} but of course, being me, I only got around to making it in March. But it’s probably my favorite thing I ever made from Pinterest. I absolutely love it.
I pretty much followed the Design Sponge tutorial, but I made a few small changes.
Here’s what I used:
Ceramic berry basket that I got on clearance last summer at Sur La Table for $2.99. {Yes, I had this in my home for 7 months before I did anything with it. Told you: deadbeat.}
Large {4″ x 6″} lined index cards
Date stamp
Stamp pad
Instagram photos
I started off by cutting the large index in half. As you’re cutting them, you will start to think that there isn’t going to be enough room in the basket for all of the cards. But apparently when he invented them in the early 1800s, Mr. Berry Basket knew that someday people would want to stick 365 pieces of paper in there some day, because they fit perfectly.
Once you have all your cards cut in half, start stamping the date on the top. I suggest cutting a few extras, because if you’re at all like me, you will make some mistakes while stamping. And by “some,” I mean approximately 38. All you want on there is the month and the day, not the year, because every day, you will write down the year and then a small blurb about what happened that day. Grace from Design Sponge was able to write a small, one-line blurb, but clearly I am chattier than that, because what I write is usually 2-3 lines long.
I also use mine as a perpetual birthday calendar: at the top of the card, I write any birthdays that are happening on that day, so I will be able to say, “Gaah!! It’s so-and-so’s birthday today!!!” rather than “%^@&#!!!! Yesterday was so-and-so’s birthday!!”
Instead of vintage postcards for the month separators, I used Instagram photos that I had printed out via PostalPix. Because the pictures were 4″ x 4″, I just trimmed them down to 3″ wide. I also trimmed about 3/8″ off the bottom of the index cards so they would be shorter than the pictures. You can easily skip this step, but I liked the way it looked with the pictures sticking out a bit at the top.
So now, I have this adorable little calendar sitting right on my desk so I can remember to write something down every day {although naturally, with my deadbeatedness, I often end up doing 3 or 4 days at a time because I forgot}. Some days are a bit duller than others {i.e., April 12: Went to Otto’s for dinner}, but now I will always know that April 18, 2013 was the day that Dave saw John Stamos in Atlanta {because who doesn’t want to celebrate THAT anniversary every year??}; June 4, 2013 was the day we saw the bears and on June 8, 2013, Mason went pee pee in the potty for the first time.
Does this make me any less of a deadbeat mom? Maybe a teeny bit, just in this one instance. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.
{Linked to: Take-a-Look Tuesday, Get Your Craft On,Too Cute Tuesday, Tuesday To-Do Party, Show Me What Ya Got, Homework,More the Merrier Monday, Mop it Up Monday, Sweet Sharing Monday, Project Inspired, The Winthrop Chronicles, Lil Luna, DIY By Design, Creations by Kara, Your Whims Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Made by Me, From Dream to Reality, Wednesday Whatsits, Simply Create Party, WhipperBerry, The Fun in Functional, Pin It Monday}
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. Among others, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
This is such a clever, useful and cute idea! Thank you so much for sharing at Project Inspire{d} ~ pinning and sharing!
Have a great week.
Hugs, Mary Beth
I’m joining you in deadbeat mom territory. My son is 6, and I think I scrapbooked (sporadically) until he was about 18 months. I’m using Facebook as his baby book now!
I really love your idea of using instagram photos and the berry basket/perpetual calendar idea. Super cute and clever. I bet something like this would also work for kid artwork and all the stuff they bring home from school and you feel you must keep. You’d need a bigger version, of course, but the same idea would work.
Visiting from Project Inspired.
Too funny about using Facebook as his baby book — I used to have a family blog when my oldest son was really little, and once I started on Facebook I realized everyone was going to be seeing everything there, so I let the blog go. 🙂
That’s a great idea about doing something similar with kid artwork. I am always trying to figure out how to keep it without just shoving it all in plastic tubs!
Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂
I love the berry box idea. I pinned it, too, but being a much bigger deadbeat than you, I didn’t do it yet. Now I’ll actively look for a berry box. Adorable!
Thanks so much! A friend told me they have plastic ones at Target right now for about $3. 🙂
Hi Jenn! Hopped over to Sugar Bee Crafts! Now I need to find a berry box – this is such a great and simple idea! I love it!
We would love for you to link this up with us at Living Well Spending Less! You can link up any of your thrifty projects each Thursday – we would love to have you join us! http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/category/thrifty-thursday/
You’ve been featured on homework. Thank you for sharing your project on The Inspiration Board.
How exciting, thank you so much!! 🙂
Very, berry cute! I want one for sure!
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Kim
This is such a cute idea! =)
I’ve repinned!
This is just FABULOUS, Jenn!! Love it. Love that it’s a super cool ceramic basket, too!! Featuring you today. Thanks bunches for partying with me!!
This is super cute! It was one of the first things that I pinned too but I have still not completed mine! 🙂 Thanks for the reminder that I should get going!!
Hi Jenn,
I love this idea. Very clever. I should get going with the documentation of kids growth and fun memories. I usually use FB to record the same as Atta Girl Amy but this one is fun to do too.
I can totally relate. I had every intention of making scrapbooks for my kids, but I still haven’t gotten around to it, ugh! Anyways, I love this berry basket idea! So cute!
I love this. And that red berry basket is just fantastic. I think the Instagrams as dividers are even more cool than vintage post cards would be.
Happy SITS Day, Jenn!
This is genius. I love this idea and wish I had done this when my kids were little. Such a simple way to record the days. Happy SITS day to you! I love your blog!
I absolutely love this post and had to laugh because I am also a deadbeat when it comes to filling out the baby books….I have tons of photos and thankfully those give me the dates. However this is a great and clever way to keep track of stuff.