Message from Maggie:  As a thirty something, all of my friends are having babies and those babies are turning into kids.  Rather than send along a registry gift for every milestone, I have begun to create these little personalized children’s books.  Using simple two line rhymes you can create these personalized books, too.

I created this book For Charlie, my friend Laura’s daughter who had a baptism I was missing in Chicago, IL.

And I created this book For Huddy, my friend Molly’s son since he has a new brother on the way in San Francisco, CA.

Recommendations:

1. Review my sample books above to inspire your creativity.
2. Start by thinking of a theme.  For Charlie’s book I transitioned from talking about famous women to sharing how lucky she is to have been blessed with such a great mother.  For Huddy’s book transitions from talking about his great family into the addition of a brother makes it even better.
3. Begin drafting two line rhymes.  If you get stuck check out rhyme zone to get you out of a jam.  
4. Add a personalized note.
5. Create a silly title.  Here I used a reference to a 90s Vanilla Ice song.
6. Find a special photo or two to include.  In Charlie’s book I included old photos of me and her mom.  In Huddy’s book I included a photo of him at the back of the church on our wedding day.  
7. Create the book using a platform such as iPhoto.

Cost:

• Create books using iPhoto for around $20

UPDATE 4.6.16: Check out another custom book For Harper.