Making a Family Garden Journal

I made this journal in 2009 when the girls were 2 and four, it was a really special way to record how we enjoyed the garden together and what things enthused them and caught their attention. I took photographs of some of the plants as they grew and opened, pointing out the small details to the children and recording when they came up.

We added collage and art that we made at various times of the year and using materials from the garden.

Here we all sat and observed a large and beautiful hosta leaf and all drew our own picture of it to go into the journal.

I added photographs of outdoorsy things the girls enjoyed and some pages have notes jotted all over them, a little like a baby record book of things we did and said.

 This was the front cover, we unearthed it during my recent decluttering and the girls loved going through it and hearing stories and adding their own memories and exclaiming over things!

So we have decided to do one again this year just as Idris really begins to enjoy the garden. I made this journal the following year in 2010 but we never did use it so I will make a new year label and we can use it this year. I'm looking forwards to the girls adding their own notes now that they both write, and we have a new veg bed to plant up since we made some changes to the garden. Idris loves the outdoors, he was making me laugh this evening as he headed off out into the rain in his vest and trousers with a hoe in one hand and a fork in the other. He stopped, pulled a face (at the rain?), came back in and asked that I put his top back on him, which I helped with. He then turned and stumped back off up the garden in the rain with his hoe and his fork!!!

 I made the journal with lots of rainbow pages of all different textures of paper and card, some corrugated cardboard covers, and I cut, embellished and glued one of dewi's cardigans around the the cover. it is nicely felted as I shrank it in the wash - oops, but it does make a great journal with buttons to do it up!!!!