
Funny story: Last Christmas, as he has done every Christmas (and birthday, Valentine’s Day and Anniversary’s for that matter) – John went above and beyond my wildest expectations for what “Santa” left me under the Christmas tree. That man, he has a way of knowing exactly what I want even when I’M not sure what I want! Nonetheless, at the end of the night – I went back into all the bags, dug through the wrapping paper that didn’t stand a chance to my unwrapping skills (picture the Tasmanian Devil cartoon) and wondered where on earth the card could be. Poor man, he married a writer – the cards always matter. Sure, the gifts were wonderful – but truth is, if one day we weren’t lucky enough to afford such elaborate gifts – a floor picnic over a bowl of ramen noodle, a looong hug and kiss (or twelve), and a homemade card would do. There’s just something about the written word.
Since then – he hasn’t missed a beat .

When it comes to heartfelt cards, our wedding guests stole the show. Envelope after envelope we discovered cards of all shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. Some made us laugh, and quite a few made me cry. In fact, the people I least expected wrote us the most amazing notes. I wanted to find a way to have these around 5, 10, 15 years from now to reread and perhaps, one day share with our kiddos.
Growing up, going through my mom’s box of memorabilia was one of my favorite things to do…and each time I went through pictures, cards, and other knick-knacks, I’d discover new reasons to love the mementos of my mom’s past. But enough already! Though my album-making method is nothing fancy – I am already dreaming up other DIY albums to stock away the beautiful, beautiful letters and cards John gives me.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Two sheets of card stock paper in the color of your choice (make sure you decorate before you laminate them!)
Laminating sheets/machine (I went to Kinko’s to do this part)
Single hole-puncher
Binder Rings (size dependent on the amount of cards you want to include in your album)
I decided to go with two orange-colored sheets of card stock paper. I had a few cookie bags and ceremony programs leftover from the wedding and thought this would make for great flap decorations. I taped them down to either side of the sheets. Make sure not to tape them too close the edge of the sheet since you’ll be punching holes into it!

After laminating the sheets, I trimmed them down to size of the biggest card in my stack PLUS 1/2 inch. To decide where to place the two holes on the covers of the album – I took the smallest card in the stack and punched holes as close to the edge as I could without running the risk of ripping it. Then came the fun part – punching holes in the dozens and dozens of cards using the first card as a reference. My suggestion is that you pay the extra $10 for a GOOD single hole-puncher and not go with the $2 like I did. Once you’re done punching holes in all the cards – thread them all from largest to smallest into the binder rings – and voila – you have an album! What other “themed” albums would you make if you were going to make your own?
