SB's Sweatshop of Love: We Are a Family

Family Scrapbook

So, as promised, this week, I am writing about the gift that I gave my sister for the shower last week. We have had SUCH a busy week, it seems like it was SO long ago already.

Jeremy & I have been busy little bees getting ready for our wedding. I went to my friend, Cathryn's earlier this week to cut out some material for the groomsmen & ushers' gifts. Yesterday, I played hooky (don't judge!!) and worked on sewing their gifts & the bridesmaids' gifts for 11 hours! WHEW! More on those in another post!!

Also, Mosby met some Boston Terrier friends this week and we proceeded to have a play date right in our new friends' front yard. They lived REALLY close to us and Mosby had a blast. I tried to snap a picture or two, but they were having too much fun to sit still long enough. Good to know that Mos is a completely normal Boston! Here's the best picture I managed to snap. We will definitely be back from more fun & (hopefully) better pictures!

Mos is top left, looking out the fence.

Anyway, later today, we are headed back to Michigan for our last shower. This trip will also include a make-up trial, a hair trial, applying for a marriage license, meeting with our florist (and good friend) Nathan, and hopefully beach time, Grandma time, and some friend time. Good thing we are staying until Monday!

OK, then, down to business. My craft this week was a HUGE group effort.

First, the idea for this craft was stolen. Yup, that's right. I'm a thief. But an honest thief, at least. My VERY crafty friend, Lizzy, comes from a VERY crafty family (which is often the case). When her sister had the first grandbaby, her other sister made this cute craft for her. I loved this idea and stored it away for this very occasion.

Now, the basis of the craft is this. In families that are spread out all over the country (like Lizzy's nephew's) or all over the world (like my future niece/nephew), it can be hard for the baby to know/see/recognize all of the family members. So, gathering pictures and putting them together in one book is a cute way for the baby to keep everyone straight.

As you can probably guess, here's where even more of the group effort came in. Tony, my sister's fiance, is from the Seychelles (a group of islands of the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean). His family, much like Tony, are world travelers. There are family members in Europe, Australia, New Zeeland, and back home in the Seychelles. So, I commissioned Tony to gather pictures of all 9 of his siblings, their significant others, and kids. He came through beautiful and thoroughly (as Tony always does).

Then, I used the magic of Facebook & Snapfish and a little help from my parents to gather pictures of our family.

Finally, I put them all together in a scrapbook. Here are some of the results!