Turning Nova’s Art Into a Photobook!

When we came home with Nova nine months ago, I set aside a drawer to keep her toddler art in. I knew it would add up fast, but nobody warned me just HOW fast.

I framed the first painting she ever made. I remember how surreal it felt. Fast forward and in what felt like no time at all, the drawer was bursting … literally.

I couldn’t close it. I’m so happy she’s making art almost every day, and it’s a huge priority for us to keep making more. So I realized it was time to start making photo books because I can’t keep all the art in that drawer forever. Plus, this format makes it easier to actually look at and enjoy!

If you have a child who is making more art than you can keep up with, I highly recommend making one of these books! This will be the first of a series for us. Once the drawer fills up again, I will print another book.

This post is sponsored by Canon HdAlbum Photo Books—I’ve used their software for several photobooks now and am still so excited about the quality of these books! They have several options for creating them, too.

The Pro software gives you a lot of customization options, including layouts and design options, so it’s super flexible for whatever type of book you want to make.

Here’s a photo of maybe 1/3 of the art we’ve accumulated in 9 months. It’s crazy how quickly it adds up!

This book begins with Nova’s very first painting—some ornaments we painted at Christmas. I can’t believe that only nine months ago she could barely hold a marker or a paintbrush. You should see her go now!

I mixed photos of Nova’s art with photos of her making art. I plan to continue doing this.

Here’s a few of Nova’s projects from her school. I only keep the best of the best when it comes to school art since a lot of them are just coloring sheets or glue stick projects.

These photos make me so proud. I am so happy I started making these books now because I can already see how it’s something I will need to stay up with in order to keep them organized.

Nova’s first big paintings. It was a big day, about a month ago, when she suddenly developed an attention span to paint several large paintings in each sitting. I obviously have a photo on my phone of every single one!

Our painting picnics. The day I sent these images to my mom she wrote me back and said that she read that Georgia O’Keeffe’s earliest childhood memories were painting on a picnic blanket in her front yard when she was 3 years old. Made me cry!

That’s it for now! I am so excited to keep this series going! I just had the idea to make each one of the spines a different rainbow color. I think I will display them in Nova’s bedroom so it’s something she can be proud of.

And obviously I will keep them all in the 8×8 Canon books so they match!

Thanks so much for reading!

xx – Elsie