8 x 8 autograph book

[123SA]

I went totally off the deep end and premade 8 x8 pages for an autograph book, for both DD6 & DS4. They each have 40+ pages. There is a spot for a 3.5 x 5 photo and a tag for signing about 3x 5 and of course embellishemnts!

Any suggestions on how to cart this stuff around the parks? How to give it to the characters to sign? I Have the sandylion disney albums to put them in eventually, but I am not sure that carrying that around would be convenient --that would be 4 albums. Right now the pages are just in the boxes that the albums came in without page protectors. I had thought that I won't separate the pages by kid, but by character. That way I am not looking for 2 Mickey pages in 2 different spots. I could make a table of contents so I can find them easier. Also, I won't carry signed pages to the parks. But what to carry them in? Your help is appreciated!

We leave on Nov 30 -- 17 days!

 

[DisneyArk]

Wow, your books sound wonderful! How large are your "tags for signing"? The fluffy characters (Mickey, etc) write really large and some of them even have stamps that they use. Plus some will want to personalize the message, so you want to leave them enough room.

You'll need something hard for the characters to write on. Have you considered bringing clip boards?

If your autograph tags are not already glued down in the book then you might consider just bringing those into the parks. Is your scrapbook something that you want the characters to see or only something to keep your memories in?

Our backpack usually gets slung around and crushed during our days at the parks - and so everything inside gets wrinkled. If you want to ride the rides then you need to come up with a way to keep your pages from getting ruined.

Hopefully you'll get more help from others here.

 

[123SA]

The tags are 3 x 5. Hopefully, they are large enough. I will bring my own stroller, so I can eave it in the stroller while were are on rides. ALso, I'll use a large ziploc to protect them from spills I'll have to find a clip board to try it out. Thanks for the idea

 

[DisneyArk]

It sounds like you have a good plan. The ziplock back to keep out moisture is a great idea!! My DH put a cold water bottle into our backpack and the condensation made everything in the bag damp.

Be careful about leaving anything you really want to keep in the stroller. We've always rented a stroller, but I've seen several threads about people stealing strollers and things from the strollers. People also report that their stroller was taken by mistake and a stroller that looked just like it was left instead (but without their stuff in it).

I would say that most people don't have this happen, but I'm sure you would rather lose the stroller than your autograph pages that you've spent so much
time on.

Also, make sure you take some blank pages into the parks. Once my sons got into the autograph thing, they wanted to stop and get one from every character. In fact a few times DH and I were wondering who the character was.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

We leave the day before you and I am also wondering how to carry around 2 8x8 autograph books. Also over 40 pages in both, and that was after I crossed a few off the list. LOL

I read on here that someone had paper clipped the pages to the page protectors and then put them into the page protector after it was signed. That is what I plan to do. I have both my girls books in the same order, character wise, and the characters pages are organized by what type.... ex; all the princesses together, the fab five together, playhouse Disney together.... you get the idea.

I haven't figured out how to carry them around. I don't think they will fit in my backpack. I might have to bring a special purse or bag to keep them in so that I can quick grab them out of the stroller to ride a ride. There is no way I am leaving them in the stroller.

 

[123SA]

I love this board -- confirmation that I am not the only one crazy enough to embark on such a project. I still have no solution and we leave in one week now. I am not going to separate them by kid -- I'll keep DD6 's Mickey with Ds4's Mickey etc. I can't separate them into groups like you because DH would never be able to find them. So I'll do alphabetical in 2 (I hope) boxes, No page protectors until we get back to resort. table of contents in ziploc bags, clipboards to attach page to for signing and like you I need to find a bag.

I am going to leave it in my stroller, just not exposed. I can't stand the thought of trying to lug all of that, the camera, and kids onto a ride. Risky I know.

Hopefullly, after Christamas, my pages will be together and I can figure out how to post them. I'd like to see yours too. What is the layout of yours?

Happy Thanksgiving. If you see me struggling with my 2 kids and fancy autograph pages, stop and say hi!

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

Happy Thanksgiving. If you see me struggling with my 2 kids and fancy autograph pages, stop and say hi!

You do the same! LOL

Mine are all different layouts. I started this in June and thought "Oh I have plenty of time to make really cool pages". Of course I put it off and now am rushing to finish it. I still have a few pages to make but now many.

I will post pics when I get back Have a great trip!!

 

[missesdisney]

123SA,

How did it go on your trip with the autograph books? I am doing personalized ones myself in a few weeks and would love some tips on the best way to give them to the characters, carry it, order the pages etc. based on someone's experience.

Thanks!

 

[Michele]

Pictures, please!?!?!

 

[123SA]

Wow -- an old thread!!! Okay. I carried the pages not in their protectors in the boxes that came with the albums. I didn't want to deal with getting them in and out of the page protectors. I had 2 boxes in the beginning of the trip and was down to one by the end. I left signed pages in a 3rd box at the resort.

The boxes I carried in an XL Ziploc. It was not rainy season when we went -- I am not sure I would feel very confident about this during a rainy time.

The pages we sorted alphabetically in the boxes -- except for characters at a meal. For example, when we went to CP I had pulled all the Pooh characters and had them at the top of the box.

We put the pages on a clipboard and handed it to the character. We had one clipboard for each kid but lost one somewhere during the trip. It was a bit of a pain after that having to switch the page for the character. We had to point where to sign; we had only 1 mishap. The first character we met, Mr Incredible stamped on the photo mat instead of the tag. We just had him re-stamp. We then realized the characters would need direction.

I brought blank tags for characters I didn't have a pre-made page. I brought a ton and used every one of them.

If DH hadn't been so helpful I probably would have quit. It was definitely a 2 person job. I got the pages ready and handed them off to DH. DH helped character sign while I took the photos. Here is a tip -- take the clipboard away from the kids before you take your photo!!! It is a little distracting in the photo.

I just used the regular Mickey Autograph pen and I am sorry that I did that. I didn't trust DD with a sharpie. It would have looked better with the sharpie.

DD6 loved having this special book and lots of characters, CMs and other guests made a fuss which she enjoyed. (DS4 was slightly interested at times -- not all of his pages were signed. Sometimes he couldn't bother to get out of the stroller to say hi to the character.) DD wants to do it again for Sept 07 trip. I think she wants to make it herself. However, this trip we will have DS2 with us which means diaper bag. I don't know if I can handle 3 kids, diaper bag, regular park bag, camera bag and autograph bag. If not for the addition of the little one, I would definitely do it again. Maybe when he is bigger.

One last thing. I designed my project for 3.5 x 5 photos. I really liked the end result. 4x6 took up too much room; I wanted lots of space for embellishments. The downside -- I had a hard time getting the photos printed. Regular places don't do them. The place I ordered from on-line was horrible. I had to print them at home and then cut them all. It was very time consuming.

Here is one photo and also a link to a thread in which I posted a bunch on various pages throughout the thread. I have even more that I haven't uploaded yet. Let me know if you are interested.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1368786

 

[Michele]

Thanks for the link to the post with pictures. Those are great pages.

I have an idea for your DD wanting to do this again on the next trip. You could pre make the pages, just don't afix the tag for the signature. That way you only have to carry the tags to the parks. You could use a very small clipboard then. Or you don't even have to pre make the pages, that way you won't have pages without autographs, just make pages when you get back for the autographs you do get.

Basically, only pre make tags for the characters.

 

[happycampers]

I love your pages!

Did you do your own paper piecings of the Incredibles logo, or were they purchased? If you did make them, is there a pattern online that you used? I'd love to make some like it for our autograph album.

Thanks for any info and for posting all the great pictures.

 

[Mickster]

Great job! I'd love to see more...

When we went, I just brought a small (about 4 x 6) clipboard and cardstock cut into 3.5 x 5 sizes. I made the book when I got home. It was super easy to give a character a tag and the clipboard and not mess with pages and stuff like that. I know I'd drop it in a puddle or something. The best part about this is that DS couldn't really care less about meeting the characters that DD couldn't wait to meet (ie the Princesses!! ) With just the tags, he got the ones he wanted and she got the one she wanted. We also used a click Sharpie - no caps to lose and DD wasn't allowed to click it until she got to the character. She was ok with that!

 

[123SA]

I love your pages!

Did you do your own paper piecings of the Incredibles logo, or were they purchased? If you did make them, is there a pattern online that you used? I'd love to make some like it for our autograph album.

Thanks for any info and for posting all the great pictures.

I made the Incredibles peicing myself. I must say though that it was super easy -- it was the first piecing I ever did. I used the CM oval cutters.

 

[123SA]

Great job! I'd love to see more...

When we went, I just brought a small (about 4 x 6) clipboard and cardstock cut into 3.5 x 5 sizes. I made the book when I got home. It was super easy to give a character a tag and the clipboard and not mess with pages and stuff like that. I know I'd drop it in a puddle or something. The best part about this is that DS couldn't really care less about meeting the characters that DD couldn't wait to meet (ie the Princesses!! ) With just the tags, he got the ones he wanted and she got the one she wanted. We also used a click Sharpie - no caps to lose and DD wasn't allowed to click it until she got to the character. She was ok with that!

Your plan sounds so much better than mine!! I will definitely do the click sharpie and smaller clipboard next time. We had 2 large ones and it was a bother.

There is a link in this thread to some more pages. Plus I have made some more pages that I still have to upload. Thanks for your compliments!

 

[Mickster]

I never put two and two together. I checked out your book already and I loved it! It came together so nicely!

 

[KBerly]

I am new to the board and I'm loving this section. I've been scrapbooking for years and since we're going to WDW at Christmas, I've been thinking about the best way to do my son's autograph book. I didn't even know about the click sharpie. Kewl!!! That is awesome!!! Thanks for the tip.

 

[jpaxton1118]

We are leaving in May and I have started getting things ready for the autographs and scrapbooking. I was wondering how you all do it. Do you do it by days or do you do it my characters? The last time we went, we did not do the autographs so when I went to scrapbook (very new at it) I did it by what we did that day and then went to the next day.