Father's Day Board Books with Instagram!

So this is the first year both my husband and I will be celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day since Max was born in April.

For Father's Day, I wanted to make my husband a board book that he can read with Max throughout his toddler years.  And since it's Father's Day, I wanted to make something specifically about the two of them.  Here's the final product!

This blog helped me get started.  (I LOVE the wine tips on her tutorial.) She used an old board book, but I just bought these blank board books on Amazon to avoid having to paint the edges.  Plus, this shipper shipped for free!!!  This specific blank book had 6 boards, which was enough for a front and back cover, then 10 inside pages.  I purchased a few since I plan to make more books.

I decided to use Instagram (InstaCollage to be exact...it's free & I'm cheap) since they would be square pictures and the board book is already a square.  That way, I could also type in the words for the pages rather than mod podge them separately.  Then all I did was alter the size on a word document before printing out.  As you can see in the picture, I probably could have printed them out slightly larger to eliminate some white border space.

What went well:

• I used simpler sentences & repeated words from page to page such as "Dad" and "Max" (to help Max when he learns to read on his own)
• Use a really THIN layer of mod podge each time
• Be sure to rub from one side to the other to avoid air bubbles
• Let each layer of mod podge dry completely first before mod podging the top (this was hard as I was in the mood to "get it done"... I had to remind myself of this blogger's wine tips)

What didn't go as well:

• The blue ink on my printer/paper seemed to smear a tad when I put mod podge on it.  What's up with that??? (The less I used, the better.  I also washed the sponge every so often to ensure the color wasn't stuck on the brush.)
• Digital pictures turned out brighter than printing on regular paper, so I need to be sure the font color I use on InstaCollage contrasts greatly to the background it's on to make it pop when printed.

Here are a few of the pages digitally so you can see them better: (front & back covers are here too)