Shutter Sisters

photo love notes

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I think it’s great to be able to incorporate my photos into gifts for others. And the more personal the better. I created this box of notecards for my husband last year. The box includes 56 cards that have a photo of my hand on one side and are blank on the back. The idea was that I would write him one note a week for a year. Some were love notes, some thank you’s, and sometimes I just drew a goofy picture. It turned out to be such a great personalized gift and I thought I would share how I created it. Now, there are tons of different ways you could create something like this, but I’ll tell you how I did this one.

First, I found the box. The one I bought is about 3.5″ x 5″ from Borders (Paperchase brand).

After choosing the photo I wanted to use, I opened it in Photoshop and cropped it to 3.1875″ x 4.6875″ at 300 dpi. This one will go on the lid of the box. I chose to add some text to this one, but you wouldn’t need to. I printed it out on matte photo paper, but you could also use cardstock. Then I attached it to the lid with double stick tape.

Then I went back to my original photo file and cropped to 2.75″ x 4.125″ at 300 dpi. This is the size I used for the 56 cards because they would fit in the box with enough room to still get them out.

Next, I opened a new document at 8.5″ x 11″ and dragged my photo into it. I duplicated the layer 3 times and arrange them on the page. Unfortunately, I was only able to fit 4 on a page (you may be able to squeeze 6, but it was too close for me). This means I had 14 pages to print!.

Now comes the tedious part, cutting out 56 cards with an x-acto knife or paper cutter.

Last step! I cut a 6″ piece of ribbon and hot glued one end to the inside bottom of the box. Make sure you only glue about 1/2″ of the ribbon. That way, when you put all your cards in the box, the recipient will be able to pull on the ribbon to get them out.

I know my husband loves this gift and sometimes I go back and look through them all. It’s fun to read them and remember what was happening in our lives when I wrote them.

And because I’m feeling brave, here’s a bonus shot of one of my notes.

Comments

  3. wow What a great idea! My hubby would love the "love" notes too. And what a great gift idea for others! Handmade cards with Our photowork…

    =) Love this!

  8. Thanks for sharing such a creative and personal project. Was thinking about how one could do this for one’s children..writing notes to them at various milestones. Excellent ideas!!!

  11. i’ve got an anniversary coming up and this is such a great idea. I wish I had a post of this to share, but for my besties birthday, I took photos of things: both in nature and man-made that reminded me of her personality or our friendship. For example, I took a picture of a bee and wrote about how they are hard workers, a brick wall with a hole in it to show how she’s torn down my walls, and photo or the bolts on the railroad tracks to say she holds big things (her family, herself and friends) together. then i framed the photos (16 in all) and hung them up in her hallway. this way, when she’s having a down day, she can go there and know how i see her. i really had fun doing it. and it’s something different than just buying a card and writing a note, which is good too.

  15. very sweet….i love it. this would be equally as nice for a child. great idea. thanks for sharing 🙂

  20. I LOVE this idea and since I have a daughter that just graduated from college and moved away…..I am doing this for her too! But I think the photos will all be different. Like Dani’s idea.

  23. What a creative –lovely– thoughtful– thing you are!!! Like many others this has got me crazy with similar ideas… what a fantastic personal gift for anyone.

    TTFN — Claudia

  27. This is such a beautiful gift Paige. The kind that mean the most. I have not been able to find printer paper that does not have the company name watermarked on the reverse … but then again I live in an extremely remote area so we don’t get much choice up here. I love this remarkable gift you created and it was so generous to share with all of us.

  28. Just an FYI, I was playing with this idea this afternoon and you can actually get five photos per 8.5" x 11" page. Place three image layers horizontally in a column down one side and then two image layers vertically in a column down the other side.

  30. I love, love, love this idea!!! Got both an anniversary and Father’s Day coming up so may duplicate this for my dear hubby:)

  34. What a great idea! Handwritten notes are the best and the weekly discipline makes it harder to take things for granted. I am going to try this!!

  37. this is an amazing idea that i will definitely be using as a gift to each of my friends for their bridesmaid gifts. thank you thank you thank you!!

  40. This is an awesome gift of the heart. I’m going to use your tutorial and make a set, too. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing this touching gift idea.