A birthday book is a special journal or scrapbook used to record memories and wishes for someone on their birthday. Filling a birthday book with heartfelt messages, photos, inside jokes and more can create a thoughtful, personalized gift to look back on year after year. When making a DIY birthday book, you have lots of creative options for what to include inside.
Some key things to consider putting in a birthday scrapbook are:
Handwritten letters and notes
One of the most meaningful things to tuck inside the pages of a birthday book is a handwritten letter or note. This allows loved ones to pen heartfelt, sentimental messages conveying how much the birthday honoree means to them. Letters can be left blank inside the book for people to fill out at a birthday party, or you can secretly collect them ahead of time.
Short handwritten notes from various friends and family are also very touching. Blank note paper or cute note cards can be included with the book for people to write quick birthday wishes on. Handwritten items feel more heartfelt than typed text, and give the book a personal touch.
Photographs
Including old and new photographs in a birthday scrapbook helps capture memories and show how far you’ve come. Consider adding:
– Childhood photos
– Pictures of important life events and holidays spent together
– Photobooth style strips or polaroids taken over the years
– Photo collages documenting your relationship or time as friends
You can print photos directly onto the pages, slip them into photo sleeves or place them in themed scrapbook paper frames. A birthday book full of photographs becomes a treasury of nostalgic moments.
Inside jokes
Part of what makes friendship so fun is those silly inside jokes and memorable moments that only you share. A birthday book is the perfect place to celebrate them! Jot down funny stories, film quotes, song lyrics or quirky memories that have special meaning between you and the birthday boy or girl.
Making a page with all your funny nicknames, listing embarrassing moments or writing out the story of an epic prank all help capture the spirit of your unique bond. Include doodles and stickers to illustrate the jokes too!
Birthday wishes
Of course, the most essential item to incorporate is plenty of warm birthday wishes! Consider setting aside pages in the book specifically for birthday messages from loved ones. You can prompt them to share hopes and dreams for the upcoming year, recall favorite memories together, or express what they admire most about the person.
Encourage friends and family to get creative with crafting their well-wishes. They can write poems, add decorative lettering, include song lyrics or even make their own artwork. Notecards, fun stationery and colored pens give them supplies to make their messages extra thoughtful.
DIY paper crafts
Handmade paper crafts and decorations make wonderful additions to a personalized birthday book. They show all the care that went into making something from scratch. Some ideas include:
– Origami animals or shapes
– Cute paper flowers
– Paper garland banners
– Paper picture frames with photos inside
– Cut out paper letters spelling out messages
– Coloring book pages, mazes and sketchbook paper
You can also use patterned scrapbook paper and die cuts to create beautiful pages and accents. Add in some glitter, ribbons, stickers and washi tape too!
Ticket stubs and memorabilia
Adding in ticket stubs, receipts and other small memorabilia turns a birthday book into a scrapbook of your history together. Movie, concert and plane tickets, museum passes, receipts from favorite restaurants or other mementos from special adventures all tell the ongoing story of your friendship.
You can tape or glue items in directly, or use inserts, pockets or ribbons to tuck memorabilia inside the pages. Souvenirs like pressed flowers, festival wristbands and vacation postcards work nicely too. It creates a time capsule of your best times celebrating life together!
Recipes
Sharing favorite recipes and homemade treats is a delicious way to show you care. Handwrite or print out recipes for the birthday person’s preferred foods, comfort dishes or your own signature creations to cook together. Include festive cocktails, baked goods, family dinners and recipes with nostalgic ties.
For a fun twist, you can use the book’s pages to make recipes themselves by attaching pouches to hold ingredients, like cocoa packets, tea bags or seasoning mixes. This adds an interactive element so you can cook up birthday surprises right from the book!
Bucket list ideas
A birthday is the perfect time to make exciting plans for the future! Use your birthday book to inspire upcoming adventures together. Include lists of desired destinations to visit, new hobbies to try, concerts to see and restaurants to try.
Having this compiled in one place can motivate you to put new activities on the calendar and make long-time wishes come true. It also shows how much you want to be part of the birthday boy or girl’s life in the years ahead.
Birthday mad libs
Mad libs — those fill-in-the-blank word games — are a fun way to create cute, personalized stories together. You can make up birthday-themed mad libs pages to tuck inside the book for the birthday star to complete. Leave blanks for them to input silly nouns, verbs, adjectives and names.
Once finished, the mad lib stories will capture their personality and sense of humor. Let their wacky word choices tell amusing stories andbirthday wishes to make them laugh.
Word search and crossword puzzles
Word puzzles like crosswords and word searches are great activities for passing time at a birthday gathering. You can create puzzles especially for the guest of honor using their name, favorite things and special memories as clues and answers. These feel much more meaningful than generic puzzles.
Consider making puzzles based off favorite movies or music, hometown city, alma mater, career or other personal interests. Have guests work on the puzzles and they can be saved in the birthday book as mementos.
Reading list
Books can transport and transform us — give the gift of literature by creating a custom reading list in your birthday book! Suggest books you think the honoree will love and explain why, like inspiring memoirs, fascinating historical novels or fun fantasy series.
Include a mix of old favorites and new titles to check out. You might even bookmark beloved passages that made you think of them. A personalized reading list shows how well you know someone’s tastes.
Music playlist
Like books, music also tells our personal story. Make someone a special birthday mixtape, either as an actual CD or a playlist code they can access (through Spotify, Apple music, etc).
Include songs with meaning from different eras of their life, special dance hits, favorite artists, nostalgic singalongs or tunes that remind you of shared fun times. Even just listing song titles that have significance in your relationship makes for a heartfelt gift. Who doesn’t love a personally curated playlist?
Birthday time capsule
Make your birthday scrapbook extra memorable by turning it into a time capsule! Have the honoree fill out birthday survey questions about their life at this age – favorites, goals, hobbies, advice to their younger self, predictions for their future, and so on.
They can complete this birthday survey annually, while using the book to document each year with memories, achievements, new experiences and milestones from that age. Reading past survey answers lets them reflect on how much has changed.
Gift vouchers
Treat someone to experiences, goods or services they’ll love! Tuck gift cards or your own homemade vouchers inside the birthday book offering things like:
– Movie tickets or gift cards for streaming sites
-Ice cream or coffee date
-Dinner at their favorite restaurant
-Tickets to a sports game, play or concert
-Supplies for their hobby
-Promise coupons for shoulder rubs or other favors
Vouchers make the birthday fun last beyond the big day itself. Customize them based on inside knowledge of what lights up the recipient’s eyes and brings them joy.
Comics
Drawing custom comics starring the birthday boy or girl and referencing inside jokes or funny memories is a playful gift idea with lots of creative potential. You can tell stories illustrating beloved memories, tease them about pet peeves or create their superhero alter ego.
Even just silly stick figure doodles add a fun, lighthearted element. Don’t underestimate your art skills – focus on telling a meaningful story through pictures and captions. The honoree will appreciate the humor and personal touch.
Poems
Channeling your inner poet to write a birthday rhyme from the heart is a touching gift idea. You don’t have to aim for Shakespeare – just speak sincerely about your fondness for the birthday star and appreciation of their friendship.
Funny poems teasing their quirks can also create laughs. If poetry isn’t your forte, you can find inspiring quotes from books, songs or famous thinkers that express your feelings. Handwritten in your best penmanship, these show more care than another card.
Newspaper front page
Make them the star headline of the day! Design a custom newspaper front page all about the birthday VIP. Highlight their accomplishments, fun facts and positive qualities in creative news articles, photo captions and birthday announcements styled like headlines.
You can keep it lighthearted and funny with stories like “Local Woman Miraculously Survives Another Year!” or take a more heartfelt approach with praise for the impact they’ve had on you and others. This personalized paper is a one-of-a-kind memento.
Birthday interviews
Interviewing friends, family members and the birthday star themselves can provide meaningful content for your book. Questions can cover favorite childhood memories, proudest moments and dreams for the future.
Compile the best stories, advice and well-wishes gathered from these interviews on decorated pages in the book. Audio recordings of the interviews can also be turned into keepsake QR voice messages. This adds layers of personalization while showing how special they are to others.
DIY paper games
Tap into the fun of arts and crafts by making your own paper games to include. Ideas include:
– Cootie catchers / fortune tellers
– Paper dolls with outfits to color
– Pin the tail on the donkey
– Paper finger puppets
– Tic tac toe or dot game boards
– Spinning wheel with questions or prompts
These handmade additions encourage playing together and make the book interactive. Let their inner child come out and play!
Gratitude lists
Expressing gratitude is a perfect way to celebrate life and friendship. Have the birthday boy or girl fill out lists in their book detailing things like:
– What they’re grateful for in their life right now
– People they appreciate and why
– Simple pleasures that mean a lot to them
– Blessings over the past year
– Hopes and goals for the year ahead
Compiling these reflections on gratitude gives perspective on what matters most at this stage of their journey. It becomes a thoughtful keepsake to revisit.
DIY coupon book
Nothing says “I love you” like a handmade coupon book full of favors, IOUs for quality time together or treats to pamper your loved one. Homemade vouchers for things like a weekly homecooked meal, a backrub, a walk in the park, choosing the movie for movie night, etc. show you want to indulge them.
Making each coupon distinct with decorative paper and art makes them extra thoughtful. This thoughtful gift will remind them all year of your love and willingness to help make their dreams come true.
Birthday advice
Mark the birthday by offering advice and well-wishes for the upcoming year. Ask loved ones to write down their advice for living a good life and wishes for the honoree’s future.
Compile the thoughtful gems into a treasure trove of loving wisdom in your birthday book. Whenever the honoree needs inspiration and encouragement, they can turn to this collection of heartfelt insights from people who want the best for them.
Blooper reel
Laughter cements friendships – celebrate inside jokes and funny memories by collecting your best “blooper reel” moments. Document embarrassing mishaps, spontaneous dance-offs, unflattering selfies, or other lighter, hilarious slices of life you’ve shared.
Seeing candids of your most ridiculous, unguarded moments together shows a wholehearted willingness to just be yourselves – goofiness and all. There’s nothing better than a friend who helps you laugh at yourself.
DIY stickers
Making your own custom stickers with doodles, photos or special text is an artsy way to personalize a birthday book. You can draw cute cartoons or decorate printable sticker sheets.
Messages like “Happy Birthday!”, “You’re Amazing!” and “Make a Wish” work nicely alongside images or shapes with special meaning in your friendship. Let them sticker-bomb journals, laptops or scrapbooks to keep your memories close by.
Bookmark
Help your bookworm friend keep their page by creating a personalized bookmark for their birthday book. Make bookmarks that check all their favorite boxes: pretty artwork, sentimental quotes, silly doodles, laminated photos, washi tape, ribbons and beads for texture, etc.
Or go practical by attaching a fancy tassel or charm so they can easily find their spot. Write birthday messages on the bookmark that they’ll see each time they use your gift. It’ll remind them of you whenever they cozy up with a new book.
Secret notes
Use your birthday book to playfully sneak in sweet notes for the recipient to discover later. Tuck in folded paper notes between pages or underneath photos, stickers on gift cards or drawings on bookmarks with hidden messages on the back, secret code words under UV pen, origami notes inside folded boxes – get creative with it!
These concealed notes give them the fun of finding and unraveling surprises even after the party’s over. Hide little love letters, inside jokes, lyrics from their favorite song or inspiring quotes to delight them.
Prediction time capsule
Have the guest of honor use the birthday book pages to record predictions about the upcoming year of their life. They can make forecasts about events, accomplishments or changes they anticipate in areas like career, relationships, personal growth, health, hobbies, travel and more.
Seal up the predictions and only open them on their next birthday! Then celebrate with a look back at what they guessed right about the year. Their predictions give a snapshot of who they were at this point in the journey.
Sketches
Show off your artistic abilities (or lack thereof) by filling the birthday book pages with silly doodles and sketches starring the birthday VIP. Draw them as a superhero, cartoon character, majestic unicorn or whatever suits their personality.
Add speech bubbles with quips that capture their humor and wit. You don’t need advanced skills, just the willingness to laugh at your own funny creations. Doodles are a playful way to light up their day.
Get the party started
Use your birthday book pages to get the celebrations started! Include playlists of the birthday boy or girl’s favorite tunes, printable party props like photo booth props or bingo cards, masks and party hats to color, recipes for signature cocktails or appetizers, and invitations or event schedules to upcoming birthday activities.
Building excitement for the festivities ahead makes your gift feel like the official party starter kit. Get ready for fun!
DIY stickers
Making your own custom stickers with doodles, photos or special text is an artsy way to personalize a birthday book. You can draw cute cartoons or decorate printable sticker sheets.
Messages like “Happy Birthday!”, “You’re Amazing!” and “Make a Wish” work nicely alongside images or shapes with special meaning in your friendship. Let them sticker-bomb journals, laptops or scrapbooks to keep your memories close by.
Conclusion
The possibilities are endless when creating a heartfelt DIY birthday book for someone you love. Fill the pages with your inside jokes, favorite memories, thoughtful wishes, creative talents and lots of handmade love. Personalize it with their hobbies and interests in mind.
Most importantly, let the book capture the unique spirit of your relationship and how much they mean to you. Whenever they flip through it over the years, it will remind them of the special place they hold in your heart.