kojotutorial: I Spy Book (plus a photobook giveaway!)

Keadryn is currently obsessed with I Spy Books. To say she loves them is quite the understatement. And her birthday was the perfect chance to make her a Keadryn Tailored I Spy Book.

Putting this book together for Kead was super fun! If you've ever put a photo book together, you know that it's a lot of work. However, the finished product is totally (TOTALLY!) worth it! Does someone in your life need one too?

To make a DIY I Spy Book, you'll need:
-collections of 'stuff' to take pictures of (some things I used- wooden blocks, pom poms, fake flowers, little foam animals, Mr. Potato Head parts, cars, charms, seashells, pinecones, books)
-posterboard backdrops
-Picasa photo editing software

1. Set up a backdrop. Cover with a collection of stuff. Make sure that you have at least three items that are unique (for example, if the collection your taking pictures of is pom poms, make sure there are three pom poms that are unique) as your "I Spy" items.

2. Take a picture of three unique items on a white backdrop. Leave white space above the items (you'll see why in a couple steps).

3. Upload all of the pictures into Picassa. To edit your 'collage-esque' picture into a square, choose "Crop" and then "Square" from the drop down menu.

4. Edit your three-unique item picture into a 4x6 image with some white space at the top.

5. Using the "Text" feature in Picassa, find a fun font (I used "Circus") and add the words "I Spy..." into the white space.

6. Select both your collage picture and your I Spy picture (hold down shift while you select both pictures). Then, click on the "Create Photo Collage" option (highlighted with the large red arrow above).

7. Repeat and repeat and repeat until you have a collection of "I Spy..." picture collages. Upload into a photo book (I used Paper Coterie's fantastic photo book system... scroll down for a chance to get one of their photobooks for free).

Just a note on this company really quick- I've ordered a bunch of photobooks in my day, and I LOVE the books I've ordered from Paper Coterie (I loved Kead's so much that I made the At photobook for Burke for his birthday). The pages are nice and thick, the colors are vibrant and true, the cover is high quality. They do a GREAT job!

8. The finished product? A FABULOUS I Spy Book.

 And to make this Monday even more fun, the fabulous folks at Paper Coterie are giving away two of their amazing photobooks (or any other Paper Coterie item) with free shipping. This is the perfect (free!) way to make your very own I Spy book!

To enter, just leave a comment about what you'd order from Paper Coterie!

*Two winners will be drawn. Make sure to leave an email address so we can contact you (if you don't, we'll draw another winner). US residents only, please. Giveaway closes Tuesday, 6.14.11, at midnight.