Three-in-One Fun

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It's the year in numbers... a perfect craft to remember the good times with your family.

Materials

Instructions

With any desktop publishing or graphic design software, create 2 identical templates, each with four 1 3/4- by 7 1/2-inch rectangles spaced 3/4 inch apart, with a 3/4-inch margin on the left and a 1-inch margin on the right. (This size fits just right on a horizontal 8 1/2- by 11-inch page, and grouping four cuts down on copying costs later.) If you don't have the software, ask a local copy shop if they can do the design work for you.
In one rectangle on one template, make the front of the bookmark/ornament by adding photos, drawings, or anything else you'd like to share. Jon's family included an explanation of the gift, a brief poem at the top, and captions beneath each image. When you've got yours just the way you want it, copy and paste it to the remaining three rectangles on the page.
For the back, ask your family to help you remember all of the fun (and funny!) things that happened during the past year. In one rectangle on the second template, list those events Harper's Index-style, as shown. Copy and paste into the remaining rectangles.
Print both pages and make double-sided color copies. Laminate them with a home laminator (Jon used Duck brand's ezLaminator, $60; www.duckproducts.com/products) or at a copy store (usually around $1 to $2 a sheet). Cut them apart (some copy shops may need you to separate them before laminating, so ask before taking them in). Punch a hole in the top and tie a ribbon through each.