I know I don’t have a permanent job yet, but that doesn’t make me any less productive. (And hey, if any recruiters are reading this, feel free to check out my LinkedIn!

Lately, I’ve been busy creating a scrapbook—my very first one! I’ve always loved doodling, whether it’s on random bits of paper or my school notebooks. This scrapbook idea came from my desire to give my nieces a special and unforgettable gift before they leave for Australia. I didn’t want to buy just any toy or present that might not be meaningful or might not live up to their expectations. Instead, I wanted to create something unique that would show them how much I love them.

My nieces are moving to Australia with their mom and dad (my sister and brother-in-law) next week, and they’ll be gone for 2–3 years. While that’s not too long, I’m definitely going to miss them a lot.

For the scrapbook, I wanted to go for a vintage-retro vibe but still keep it fun and happy. I started by printing out some photos in a Polaroid style, which you can easily do through many online shops these days. At first, I wasn’t sure what kind of album to use. A simple photo album felt too plain, so I went to the stationery store and found a sketchbook. Although I doubted my ability to make a beautiful album, I decided to give it a shot.

The cover didn’t turn out great—it was pretty terrible, actually! But I’m leaving it as is, so my nieces will see that I learned a lot while making this scrapbook for them.

The introduction of the scrapbook is a bit random, but that’s because I included a personal letter for my nieces and a special quote to make it more meaningful. Then, I started adding pictures. For fun, I drew little illustrations around some of the photos—like a castle for my niece’s princess costume and a spider web for my little Spiderman!

I left some of the drawings uncolored on purpose, so they can color them in themselves, making the scrapbook feel even more interactive and personal.

 won’t pretend that I didn’t look for some inspiration while making this scrapbook—Pinterest was definitely my go-to for ideas on pictures and fonts! But I also added my own personal touch and came up with some original designs. I’m really proud of how it turned out, especially since it’s my very first scrapbook. I hope my nieces love it and keep it as a special memory. At the very least, I know I put a lot of love and effort into making it just for them.

I’m thinking of sharing more of my handmade projects under a new "DIY" section, so stay tuned for more DIY posts!