From Memorabilia to Embellishments

Three out of four of us in the Davis household will celebrate a birthday in May, June, and July. Jackson is up first with his second birthday on May 9. I know I say it every year but seriously, where in the world did the last year go. I'm so not ready for him to be two...

or Drew to be five...

or me to be 30! Eek!

Every year I plan and plan and plan Drew and Jackson's birthday parties. Sketching out the cake design, buying and making fun decorations, coming up with a menu, trying to find the perfect gift, and I love it! Sometimes I wonder if I'm a little weird though because the party ends and I've managed to attach some sort of sentimental string to my heart with the left over party gear. Does anyone else do this?

All the cute theme plates, cups, napkins, hats, streamers, balloons, etc. I can't seem to throw it away. And it's kind of a pain in the ass. It never makes it to the "home" in the right closet right away. For the first few days after the party it usually sits on the edge of the kitchen counter in a neat little pile. Eventually I clean up the kitchen and the stuff is carted into our bedroom and either sits on the floor beside the door or on top of the dresser. Then Mike sees it and puts it back in the kitchen on the top shelf of the pantry. Finally, after a month or so I actually put it in the right box with all the other keepsakes.

Well, after Drew's last birthday I went to put up the party leftovers and opened the lid to the box to find that it was almost overflowing with keepsakes. Eventually those boxes were going to pile up. I decided then and there that it was time to do something with those keepsakes. Something that was putting them to good use so they weren't just sitting in a plastic box on the top shelf of a closet collecting dust.

And this layout was my solution. Why am I not using those keepsakes on my scrapbook pages? It was a major "duh" moment.

• as seen in Creating Keepsakes magazine

Hello! (Insert heavy sarcasm here.) Scrapbooking and memorabilia together? What a brilliant idea.

The "Curious George" title was from a cup, the blue "Curious George" balloon was from a plate and George in the bottom right corner was from a party hat.

Not only am I using the keepsakes from the party but I've also got super easy embellishments that fit the pictures and theme perfectly AND now I don't feel bad for throwing away what was left over. Now that sentimental attachment is preserved on something that we enjoy looking at, not hiding in box. Plus I don't feel silly for keeping a scrapbook page. A paper cup, however, is another story. :)