Personalizing Books

I love getting and giving books as gifts.

I also love when I have a handwritten note from a friend or loved one inside the book.  I find myself going back, rereading those messages and smiling.  

Olive's baby library started being built before she was born and I wanted her to remember who gave these books to her when she gets older.  She got several books that were personalized as my baby showers and a few that were not.  She already loves her books so I look forward to the day when she's old enough for me to tell her about who they are from. 

Here are some scenarios you might run into:

1. If you get a book and it is not personalized,

you can always write in a TO and FROM message so you'll remember.

Sharpie markers work great for this project since the pages are often slick.

 2. If you give a book as a gift,

a small note inside the cover is a great idea!

It only takes a few minutes to do and you could even use the book as your card.

 3. If you are nervous that someone might not want the book or would like to exchange it, you could always offer to personalize it after they open it or write your message in a card.  I have a few cookbooks with sweet note cards taped on the inside cover so that I'll always remember who gave them to me.

 4. If you give your child a book for a holiday,

write a note in it and date it.

I make a point to buy board books for Olive at each holiday so she'll eventually have a nice collection of books from us. 

 5. Another great option is to personalize the book for someone and then sit down and read the book with them.  Olive's GREAT grandparents gave this book to her for Christmas and then sat and read it to her.  I know that Olive is too young to remember it, but I cannot wait to retell the story to her when she gets older.

5. Another great idea to personalize books for kids is to trace their hand print inside the front cover the first time you read a book with them and date it.  Then they can go back and compare how their hand is growing as they grow to love the book more and more.  I haven't tried this yet but I look forward to doing it when Olive is a little older and not quite so wiggly.

 via inchmark

Do you have any fun ideas to personalize books that I didn't mention??

Please share!!