Thanks to fashion stylist Susie Sheffman, we got an idea for Father’s day! This lo-tech project that mashes up favourite books with family photos gave us the giggles and it’s easy too!
You could order a tailor-made photo book on Shutterfly but why not surprise dad with this project we spotted at Susie Sheffman’s house when we interviewed her for a Real Mom profile. Sure she’s a creative director and fashion stylist who has dressed celebs like Taylor Swift but she’s also a mom with an amazing imagination. When her kids were young (and when online photo gifts weren’t a thing yet), Susie would cut and paste photos into story books and weave them into tales that celebrate any family occasion. “For years the kids and I made cards with cut-out faces, and then I got the idea to do these personalized story books,” she says. She even broke into pop-up books eventually—now, that’s a challenge I’m not quite ready for yet.
The result certainly isn’t polished or chic, but its full of heart, laughs and a brilliant way to spend time with your kids making something funny—and easy—for Dad that he’ll appreciate.
Before you start, Susie says “The hardest part is getting the font style and size to match up. It’s great if you can find pics of everyone facing different directions and don’t completely cut off the neck.” That’s sound advice from a pro in more ways than one.
I started my book and picked Mo Willem’s Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale because when Camille was younger she had her own bunny that she was obsessed with and we’ve been fans of the series since she was small.
Here’s some of my progress so far. Camille’s already seven-years-old so I had to dip into the archives to match her up with the toddler in the book (just don’t tell John about it. I told him he can’t look at the blog again until after Father’s Day)…
