PROJECT LIFE: The Beginning

Last week, Justin and I were supposed to be road tripping to a resort in Tennessee as our final little 'single'  vacation before baby arrives (We realize we still have lots of time left, but we have a busy couple of months coming up and I'm not sure how comfortable a 8 hour road trip will be in a month or so...) but he had some things at work come up at last minute and we weren't able to go. 

Although I was really bummed, I decided to keep my week off from work and get some things done around here! It was actually really great to have some 'me-time', because I know before too long those moments will be few and far between! 

I got in plenty of walks with Bella, did lots of reading, made a quick mini blanket out of some scrap 'minky' fabric I had leftover from the baby quilt I'm working on **(which will hopefully be finished in the next couple of weeks!)**

If you haven't heard of Minky ... or FELT it, I highly suggest you do! It is THE. SOFTEST. MATERIAL. EVER.

AND.... I spent LOTS of time kicking off my NEW LONG-TERM PROJECT!! This project is very much like my Project: 365 that I finished up in December, as I hope to post my progress weekly. 

I've never been much of a scrapbook-er, mainly because of the time that goes into each page - I have a problem committing so much time to any one layout and I have WAY too many photos to only put just a few on each page ... so THIS is the answer! 

PROJECT LIFE.

(Ironic how I keep choosing these projects named... Projects!) 

Project Life is a form of scrapbooking, but focuses more on recording daily life memories and moments rather than big events. It also requires much less of a time commitment, and records the small things everyday that are often forgotten. Instead of working on ONE page for ONE event, Project Life has specially-designed pages for quickly slipping in photos and journaling cards to write down quick memories, events, etc. Check out Becky Higgins' website for the complete low-down. (she's the genius behind the idea!)

I bumped into the idea on accident while checking out my friend, Lindsey's website and she opened my eyes!  (Thanks, Lindsey!) and the more browsing I did online, the more people I found doing amazing things with this idea!  

I started off the project by picking up a basic 3-ring scrapbook binder at Hobby Lobby and ordering a variety pack of different page protectors and some blank journaling cards from Amazon. These things should get me through the whole year! (with some journaling cards that I make myself - or find free printables online!)

I'm going to use my first book as a form of a 'baby book' to record all the memories/events/moments from Baby Boy's first year - starting with my pregnancy and our preparations. I've gotten a pretty good start on the first 5 pages, which I've shared below! (They aren't completely finished, but I couldn't wait to share!)

I was so excited for these little boxes to show up in the mail!!

Using some scaled-down 8 1/2 x 11 page protectors, I was able to display the 'baby pages' I've been making every month while creating layers in the book!)

What's nice about these pages is that the ultrasound photo that is currently in a frame in the nursery can easily be slipped into the top left slot when I switch it out of the frame!

This project is a perfect way to organize the 'little things' that I hoard collect - like appointment cards and receipts for special items!

I'm hoping once baby arrives, I'll be able to fill one spread (2 pages) every week for the first year of his life. The pages come in 6 different layouts, allowing for lots of photos/journaling cards or just a few, whatever I get done that week!  (I like the no-pressure take on scrapbooking - I might actually be able to keep up with it!) I highly suggest you check out Project Life - go to Becky Higgins' website or Google it - it's amazing what other people are coming up with!


Let's just say the nesting has begun... or is continuing... I'm pretty sure I've been 'nesting' since I found out I was pregnant :)