52 Reasons

So if you are a crafty sort of person like me, you've no doubt have been on Pinterest to see this cute gift idea made out of a deck of cards. Basically, it's a little book that is generally called 52 Reasons Why I Love You, or 52 Things I Love About You.

Not only am I a sorority girl (which is you should know one thing about most sorority girls, is that they LIVE for crafting, especially gifts), but I also inherited a strong crafting gene from my mom. So it was no surprise that for my first year anniversary to my boyfriend (which is today! September 10!), that I would make him something. Not that I haven't already done that for his birthday, Valentine's Day, and Christmas. But this 52 Reasons idea definitely seemed perfect on so many levels.

First, we always go back and forth with reasons why we love each other, usually trying to outdo each other (maybe that's just me?). I also liked the idea because (correct me if my math is wrong, that is a very sore subject area for me) there are 52 weeks in a year, and we've been together a year.

And plus it just seemed adorable.

So I went to work. And being the sorority/college girl/procrastinator that I am, I saved all of it for the night before. No self-respecting college student does anything, not even cute, adorable crafts for their significant other, ahead of time.

With a grande size Starbucks Salted Caramel hot chocolate and a Disney movie off Netflix on hand, I went to town.

In case you're wondering...I used:
-1 Deck of Cards (Target for like $2.68 or something)

-A Hole Punch (note: while the Up and Up Target brand is only 99 cents, mine was sorta frustrating to use because it took a ton of pressure to use it. Plus it'd get stuck)

-Binder rings (Office Maxx, a bucket of like 12 for $6.99. Sadly the smallest quantity I could find) in 1 inch by the way

-Black Ribbon

-Red and Black Cardstock

-Red Hearts and Pink Chevron scrapbook paper

-Mod Podge

-Elmer's Permanent Tape/Glue stuff

-Cool scrapbook scissors

-Optional: Starbucks Beverage

And there are a ton of instructions out there on the web (trust me, I researched), so I think for the most part I'll spare you all the gory details. But here are some tips:

-Be as careful and precise as possible with the hole punch. I found out that binder clips are fantastic at keeping the cards perfectly straight.

-Mod Podge (which I started using after I ran out of my tape glue stuff) isn't the easiest, cleaniest, or best glue for this project. But it worked.

-Try numbering them! I totally forgot, and poor college student I am, refused to print out another five sheets to add them.

-Use cool scrapbooking scissors (the ones with the cool edges) if you can't cut a straight line to save your life like me.

-If you have awesome handwriting, handwrite it!

-Add cool little pictures and captions!

-DON'T toss the Jokers. You need them for the cover and back cover pages!!

-Have fun with it! Get as lovey dovey/goofy/sexy as you want! I did a mix of a lot of favorite memories, goofy moments, and things that I absolutely adore about him!

-While 52 may sound like a lot, it's not! Be selective!

Here are some of mine!

{Spending almost all day, everyday with you last school year}

{How you are almost a food taller than me}

{For leaving me breathless after every kiss}

{Taking the chance to date me, even though you were afraid of being hurt}

{For loving me}

{Cuddling and sleeping in bed together}

 And finally, my last page!

So I hope that overall you liked my book I made him. I loved this project, it was fun and easy and something that I hope to do again in the future as maybe a little gift?

And even though he doesn't read my blog, I want to say happy anniverssary! It's one of those things that just flew by and now here we are, at a year! Best year of my life and I can't wait for more!