It's as easy as A, B, C.

Last fall I was looking for a gift idea for my friend's grandson, Oliver. I wanted to make him something special for his second birthday--something interactive he could enjoy without too much fuss (or worry about wrecking anything).

When my kids were little, I made them each ABC scrapbooks. Each page (or two-page spread) featured a letter of the alphabet, along with family photos and photos of things or activities representing that letter. I filled in the space around the photos with die cut shapes, stickers and other fun embellishments to reinforce the alphabet theme.

My children would grab their books off the shelf and look through them whenever they had the chance. It was amazing how much the albums helped them remember relatives' names, learn their letters, and expand their vocabulary.

With that in mind, I thought Oliver might enjoy having a book like this of his own. I started with Club Scrap's Easy Dozen Album Components. The album is a great size at 8.5x11 and it has a unique "landscape" orientation that fits a child's lap perfectly. Since I wanted the album to be kind of masculine, I used plain and printed papers from their (now extinct) Hypno kit for the covers and inside pages. (You can still purchase Hypno printed papers HERE.)

I cut the alphabet letters with dies from my stash. I used additional shape dies and Hypno printed cutaparts to decorate the pages. I had only a few photos of Oliver and his family, so I added those where appropriate. His mom and dad can help him add more photos as time goes on.

Hopefully Oliver will enjoy his ABC book as much as my children did. Each book serves as a well-worn, well-loved keepsake from their childhood. After all, isn't that the reason we do this scrapbooking thing?