dress up

This is for that little princess. Find one of your favorite dresses you have worn - maybe from prom or your wedding. On your daughters birthday put the dress on your child and take a picture. Each year watch your baby turn into a woman as she tries the dress on year after year. Eventually the dress could become passed on to your granddaughter. Little boys could do this idea using on of dad's treasures athletic jerseys.

White walls

This project requires a bit more work, but I think it would be super fun!! Allow for the child to have one white wall in his or her bedroom. Through-out the year allow for the child to doodle on the wall or hang whatever he or she desires. On your child's birthday take a picture of the wall and then repaint the wall white for another year of creativity. ENJOY!

Interview with you

Another birthday idea I was able to start doing this year was an interview with the birthday child. My little guy turns four this month and is at a great age, but I could have done this last year as well. Anyway I asked him basic questions: how old are you? name? favorite colors, foods, person, toy, movie, song, etc. I recorded them for a page in his scrapbook, but you could even do this via video camera. You could have one whole disc on birthday interviews. ENJOY!

Birthday fun

Since today is my son's 4th birthday I will share a what we do to make birthdays special at our house. He is woken with a special rendition of "Happy Birthday". Each year we take my son out for lunch on his birthday to his favorite spot (he is four so that usually ends up being McDonald's. For dinner he picks out the meal with reason and the location for that meal (the beach, home, floor, in front of the tv, etc). We end the day with whatever family activity he chooses (movie, tag, big fort, etc). What do you do on your child's special day?

time capsule

At my son and daughter's 1st birthday I had each guest bring something they could put inside a time capsule that each child would open on their eighteenth birthday. Some people brought predictions others brought small gifts or pictures. I have yet to think of a creative way for them to open them on their eighteenth birthday, but that will come maybe you can help come up with a fun time capsule opening party? Anyway to make the time capsule I simple asked for an empty pizza box at pizza hut and decorated it myself with pictures, quotes, favorites, etc. I know you can buy empty paint cans a Michaels as well, but use whatever works be a little creative or buy a decorative box (scrap booking people are not going to like the decorative box thing, so I sure creative memories has something that could be used as well). Good luck let me know if you are doing this or something similar.

birthday letters

Starting on the day my son was born I carefully put words on paper about my feelings on that day and my excitement for the upcoming year. Each year after that on his birthday I wrote another letter to him stating this years past accomplishments and what the year ahead holds. I date the letter and put it in his file ( I keep a special letter file for each child). Someday when he is out of the house (way way way in the future I hope!!!) and off to college I will give the letters to him, but in a special way. 19 days before his birthday I will mail out my first letter to him, the letter I wrote on the day he was born and I will continue to mail the letters in the order I will mail them one right after another with the last one being the one I write on his 19th birthday.
O-kay so this may be a little tricky for me because my son's birthday is in July, but I have 15 years to figure it out. Any ideas on how you could show your son/daughter how much they were loved and are loved on their adult birthday?

table cloth handprints

Each year around birthdays we take out the paint and add a hand print to a white table cloth. It is so neat to see how a child's hand print grows each year.
Someday this will lay upon his graduation table or will hold his own children's hand prints. Looking forward to adding 2010.