Homemade AUTOGRAPH books! Heres mine, lets see Yours :)

[Mimmy Mouse]

Interested to know everyone's opinion also. Can't make up my mind which way to go, photos or card stock. I have 4 to make. Thank you

 

[Sandy321]

Does anyone have an opinion as to which autograph book I should attempt to make? Does anyone have 1st hand experience as to which one worked better for them? Either way, after I make my decision, I will have the autograph books bound BEFORE we leave on the trip:

1. Should I make all the pages as 4 x 6 MATTE photos & then mount them onto scrapbooking paper which will then be put into a bound album to be brought on the trip. CONS: Harder time getting signatures for characters who "STAMP" their signatures such as BUZZ. Takes time going to MICHAELS & purchasing & cutting all the paper.

2. Should I make my own pages on cardstock & print them at home. Then have the pages bound at KINKO's before we leave. CONS: Use a lot of my own ink, in case in rains.....the pages can get wet & the ink can "run". OH NO!

Thanks for asking the questions I have in my mind!!

CAn you get the file printed out at Kinkos as well as getting made into a book? (I konw they have computers there - could I email the pages to myself to print?)

 

[jessrose18]

Here are my autograph books:
1. I used some various Disiners photobucket cards and saved them to my computer
2. I printed them on white cardstock 2 cards that were 4*6's per page
3. I trimmed them all w/ paper cutter leaving a long in seam for hole punches
4. I brought them to Office Max and they used their machine to punch holes in them for $1 for each book
5. I arranged the two books according to characters that we would see at MK and at MNSSHP, and one book for characters at the other three parks..I used steve soars website for this info and other disers'...I ended up w/ about 150 cards. We are two adults so my plan was one autograph for us and then I will use the opposite blank page to put a picture when we return of us w/ character.
6. I bought looseleaf binder rings from Office Max for the sides, this is so I can remove any characters we don't meet later when we get home
7. The covers are made from canvas painting boards that you can find at Joanne or Michaels...look by the canvases and they are flat hard boards that you can paint, they come in a three pack for a few bucks...I covered them w/ scrapbook paper and then put a weight on them to let the glue dry.
8. Before I covered the boards I used a drill to drill the holes in the boards for the jump rings and boards are so hard it make a great hard writing service for the characters if you open the book to that page and flip the other cover underneath
9. Thank you to all the disigners and tips from here !!! I assumed that the covers might get dirty on the trip so my plan was to make better ones when I get home, and the red swirled mickey ear paper is clear and I should have put white paper underneath as to not see the bar codes from the canvas, but we live and learn


cover of MK book

Inside seam of books
[/IMG]

pages w/ room on side for punches and room on opposite page for picture

my dhs/ak/epcot book

Hope this helped somebody!!!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Does anyone have an opinion as to which autograph book I should attempt to make? Does anyone have 1st hand experience as to which one worked better for them? Either way, after I make my decision, I will have the autograph books bound BEFORE we leave on the trip:

1. Should I make all the pages as 4 x 6 MATTE photos & then mount them onto scrapbooking paper which will then be put into a bound album to be brought on the trip. CONS: Harder time getting signatures for characters who "STAMP" their signatures such as BUZZ. Takes time going to MICHAELS & purchasing & cutting all the paper.

2. Should I make my own pages on cardstock & print them at home. Then have the pages bound at KINKO's before we leave. CONS: Use a lot of my own ink, in case in rains.....the pages can get wet & the ink can "run". OH NO!

You might run into trouble getting a photo printer to print the clip art images due to copy right violations.

Even if the characters sign the photos with a sharpie it takes a few seconds for the photos to dry so they can smudge.

I always had my autograph book in a zip lock bag and the characters don't stand out in the rain so I don't think that is much of an issue.

I have printed those designs onto 4x6 index cards and then put them in a photo album with a photo of the character greet after I got home-not too much work or any cutting. When I've done cards I sort them by movie and put them into a coupon organizer so I can find the right card in the parks.

 

[disneykris2001]

Here are my autograph books:
1. I used some various Disiners photobucket cards and saved them to my computer
2. I printed them on white cardstock 2 cards that were 4*6's per page
3. I trimmed them all w/ paper cutter leaving a long in seam for hole punches
4. I brought them to Office Max and they used their machine to punch holes in them for $1 for each book
5. I arranged the two books according to characters that we would see at MK and at MNSSHP, and one book for characters at the other three parks..I used steve soars website for this info and other disers'...I ended up w/ about 150 cards. We are two adults so my plan was one autograph for us and then I will use the opposite blank page to put a picture when we return of us w/ character.
6. I bought looseleaf binder rings from Office Max for the sides, this is so I can remove any characters we don't meet later when we get home
7. The covers are made from canvas painting boards that you can find at Joanne or Michaels...look by the canvases and they are flat hard boards that you can paint, they come in a three pack for a few bucks...I covered them w/ scrapbook paper and then put a weight on them to let the glue dry.
8. Before I covered the boards I used a drill to drill the holes in the boards for the jump rings and boards are so hard it make a great hard writing service for the characters if you open the book to that page and flip the other cover underneath
9. Thank you to all the disigners and tips from here !!! I assumed that the covers might get dirty on the trip so my plan was to make better ones when I get home, and the red swirled mickey ear paper is clear and I should have put white paper underneath as to not see the bar codes from the canvas, but we live and learn


cover of MK book

Inside seam of books
[/IMG]

pages w/ room on side for punches and room on opposite page for picture

my dhs/ak/epcot book

Hope this helped somebody!!!

This is beautiful. I think I'm finally getting some really great ideas put together in my head! Thanks for sharing.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Someone PMed me to ask for pics of the kids' Kidcot Passport, so I thought I'd post here, too...

 

[alleghator]

Our trip was in March 2006. I knew I wanted to scrapbook an original autograph book and looked all over for ideas I liked. I don't remember where I scraplifted this layout from (Twopeasinabucket is likely, though). I took a stack of 5x7" white cardstock and a handful of different colored archival pens into the park each day in a big Ziplock bag. Characters could pick their own color to sign with and each night I packed away the autographs for safekeeping back at the hotel. Many characters signed "Happy Birthday" with their names, as DD wore her Birthday badge all week.

When I got home, I matched up the autographs with the photos, put them in alphabetical order ('cause I'm like that) and then Googled quotes by or about each of the characters. I preprinted vellum with the character names and the quotes. I had pre-cut the papers before the trip (I bought a pad of patterned papers and a pad of textured cardstock, which were already 8x8" and ready to go). So the whole album came together super-quick and looks very clean and sharp (if I do say so, myself!). The actual colors are a bit softer than the scans. I should've pulled the pages out of the protectors, rather than shoving the whole, fat book onto the scanner, but ah well. You get the idea, I hope.

Altogether we have autographs and pics from: Princess Aurora, Baloo (King Louie is also in the pic), Belle, Br'er Bear, Buzz Lightyear, Cinderella, Donald Duck, Eeyore (twice), Fairy Godmother, Goofy, Indiana Jones, Jessie, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Piglet (twice), Pooh (twice), Rafiki, Ron Stoppable (Kim Possible was there, too, but I don't know why we don't have an autograph or a pic), Snow White, Stanley, Tigger (twice), and Woody.

We're about to go back and have already decided that I will pose with all the male characters and DH will pose with all the females. I don't know if I'll try to add to this book, or (more likely) make a new one.

Here's a few sample pages. Enjoy!

This is the front page. I saved a blank sheet for all of us to sign!

Autograph on the left and picture on the right of each layout.

I didn't see anyone else asking him for an autograph or pic, but my kids were psyched to meet him after the show.

 

[VBAndrea]

Our trip was in March 2006. I knew I wanted to scrapbook an original autograph book and looked all over for ideas I liked. I don't remember where I scraplifted this layout from (Twopeasinabucket is likely, though). I took a stack of 5x7" white cardstock and a handful of different colored archival pens into the park each day in a big Ziplock bag. Characters could pick their own color to sign with and each night I packed away the autographs for safekeeping back at the hotel. Many characters signed "Happy Birthday" with their names, as DD wore her Birthday badge all week.

When I got home, I matched up the autographs with the photos, put them in alphabetical order ('cause I'm like that) and then Googled quotes by or about each of the characters. I preprinted vellum with the character names and the quotes. I had pre-cut the papers before the trip (I bought a pad of patterned papers and a pad of textured cardstock, which were already 8x8" and ready to go). So the whole album came together super-quick and looks very clean and sharp (if I do say so, myself!). The actual colors are a bit softer than the scans. I should've pulled the pages out of the protectors, rather than shoving the whole, fat book onto the scanner, but ah well. You get the idea, I hope.

Altogether we have autographs and pics from: Princess Aurora, Baloo (King Louie is also in the pic), Belle, Br'er Bear, Buzz Lightyear, Cinderella, Donald Duck, Eeyore (twice), Fairy Godmother, Goofy, Indiana Jones, Jessie, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Piglet (twice), Pooh (twice), Rafiki, Ron Stoppable (Kim Possible was there, too, but I don't know why we don't have an autograph or a pic), Snow White, Stanley, Tigger (twice), and Woody.

We're about to go back and have already decided that I will pose with all the male characters and DH will pose with all the females. I don't know if I'll try to add to this book, or (more likely) make a new one.

Here's a few sample pages. Enjoy!

This is the front page. I saved a blank sheet for all of us to sign!

Autograph on the left and picture on the right of each layout.

I didn't see anyone else asking him for an autograph or pic, but my kids were psyched to meet him after the show.

Very nice! I love the idea where you put character quotes in. I hope you don't mind, but I think I'm going to steal your brilliant idea and do that as well

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

 

[alleghator]

Of course I wouldn't mind. I'd love to see yours when it's done!

 

[jcemom]

Our trip was in March 2006. I knew I wanted to scrapbook an original autograph book and looked all over for ideas I liked. I don't remember where I scraplifted this layout from (Twopeasinabucket is likely, though). I took a stack of 5x7" white cardstock and a handful of different colored archival pens into the park each day in a big Ziplock bag. Characters could pick their own color to sign with and each night I packed away the autographs for safekeeping back at the hotel. Many characters signed "Happy Birthday" with their names, as DD wore her Birthday badge all week.

When I got home, I matched up the autographs with the photos, put them in alphabetical order ('cause I'm like that) and then Googled quotes by or about each of the characters. I preprinted vellum with the character names and the quotes. I had pre-cut the papers before the trip (I bought a pad of patterned papers and a pad of textured cardstock, which were already 8x8" and ready to go). So the whole album came together super-quick and looks very clean and sharp (if I do say so, myself!). The actual colors are a bit softer than the scans. I should've pulled the pages out of the protectors, rather than shoving the whole, fat book onto the scanner, but ah well. You get the idea, I hope.

Thank you! This is the idea I was looking for!

On our last trip I tried taking a scrapbook along with pages we'd predesigned and some blank pages. The problem was that the characters couldn't sign pages while they were in the clear page protectors, and if I took them out they would be difficult to hold and could be dropped. I ended up taping them to the front of the clear page protectors, so they were still in the book, but not in the sleeves. It worked, but it was so bulky to carry around.

I don't want to print things right off my computer to carry around because I'm worried they will get wet and the ink will run. I like the idea of only needing to carry around the cards, and then doing the rest after we get home. That will give us a fun project after the let-down of post-vacation blues sets in.

 

[alleghator]

I should mention that we also carried around a small clipboard. It had a small stack of blank cards on it, and I removed the already signed cards and put them in their own baggie until we got "home" each night. I liked them all being white cards, and the signatures being different colors, but you could easily get different colored cardstock and just use a nice black pen. My pens were double-ended Zig pens, but we only used the fat "marker" type end for signatures. Characters had no trouble holding these. They're fatter than regular pens. http://cdn.dickblick.com/items/213/05/21305-0059-0-3ww-l.jpg

 

[CrabbyPatty]

I've been pondering autograph books (for FAR too long now) and I think I've come up with something easy:

8-1/2 x 11" cardstock cut in half for inside pages
Cardboard cover - covered with solid paper and color pictures (printed on cardstock) for each girl - Arial for one and Aurora for the other plus a few ribbons and/or jewels or something
Loose-leaf binder rings to keep everything together

Is it "gauche" to NOT have the beautifully printed color pages with each character's name and picture (per some of the lovely examples seen here)? I thought it would be simple and easy to just have plain cardstock and then when we got home, I could match pictures to the autographs and add those onto the cardstock pages, plus a bit of scrapbookin' stuff (I am incredibly NON-CREATIVE) and finish the book (add some ribbons to cover the rings, etc.)

Your thoughts?

 

[MamaCrush]

I just want to add that I just LOVE the photo book idea as an autograph book! So brillant!

I just made a World Passport for my DD. She's "so over" the Kidcot masks and we've done the store bought Passport so this was a fun idea. I added a photo of each country and a page with the name of the country and a place for the CM to sign and stamp the book.

Next up - a character book. I figure it can be a "work in progress" and if I make it with as many as the characters that can realistically be found, we can use it for years.

Thanks for getting my creative juices going!!

I'd like to do this as well... any chance you have any pictures? What did your inside pages look like??? Thanks!

 

[MamaCrush]

Here's an idea for non-crafters and those crafter's who are running out of time...

On another thread, someone posted this idea so I can't take credit. But I'm certainly taking advantage!! They used the Disney Jr. Encyclopedia of Animated Characters and had each character sign their page of the book. From what they said, it was a BIG hit with the characters and their handlers. I found the book on Amazon and I got two for under $20 (free shipping since I'm a prime member). For those with strollers, this is easier to handle. Since we won't, I ran it by DH who is the Disney beast of burden, and he liked the idea so much he agreed to carry them. The book is paperback, but it's about the size of a sheet of paper and has 196 pages (about 1/2 inch thick). But i think this is so much better than the books you buy in the park... and I love the fact this will be a long lasting keepsake item.

Just thought I'd share!

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Here's an idea for non-crafters and those crafter's who are running out of time...

On another thread, someone posted this idea so I can't take credit. But I'm certainly taking advantage!! They used the Disney Jr. Encyclopedia of Animated Characters and had each character sign their page of the book. From what they said, it was a BIG hit with the characters and their handlers. I found the book on Amazon and I got two for under $20 (free shipping since I'm a prime member). For those with strollers, this is easier to handle. Since we won't, I ran it by DH who is the Disney beast of burden, and he liked the idea so much he agreed to carry them. The book is paperback, but it's about the size of a sheet of paper and has 196 pages (about 1/2 inch thick). But i think this is so much better than the books you buy in the park... and I love the fact this will be a long lasting keepsake item.

Just thought I'd share!

This idea has really taken off. I swear, I saw 30+ families with this book (or something similar). Either that, or I saw a bunch of DISers.

 

[DznyDreamz]

I'd like to do this as well... any chance you have any pictures? What did your inside pages look like??? Thanks!

Here is my version of the World Passport. I use picaboo for my digital books.

You get the idea...

The "postcards" were created by someone on the creative board. My daughter's name is on the cover under the swirl.

 

[jcemom]

Wow! That passport book is amazing!

 

[MamaCrush]

DznyDrmz-- that is AMAZING! Love it! The only problem is that we've never been to World Showcase (this trip will be our first visit since our kids are older) and I don't have any photos for the countries. Does anyone have any ideas where I might fight some I could use??? Of course-- we leave in about 2 weeks so I need to work fast!

 

[triplejen]

I love all of these! And thanks to PolynesianPrincessjess, I spent last week putting together a shutterfly autograph book for my boys, which is being shipped to me as we speak -- yay!

Does anyone know if Stormtroopers will sign autographs? What would they sign, anyway?