Scrapbook, smapbook

If you've been around my blog very much, you know we like to get out and DO stuff. We see a lot of shows and concerts and sporting events.  And for years I have kept all the ticket stubs (ok some HAVE gotten washed in the laundry accidentally over the years but for the most part the ones I've held on to are pretty impressive.  But as the number of our family members you required a ticket AND the number of things were were going to grew...the pile 'o tickets was getting a little out of hand.

just a tiny sample.

Of course, ideally I'd create gorgeous scrapbooks that include these stubs and photos of us at the shows along with some journaling about our favorite parts.  BUT I am far friom IDEAl.  We DO talk about our favorite parts, usually in the car ride home.  And I try to blog about the events and include these memories along with photos when we have them. So I figure that counts for something.  But yet I still had this attraction to the actual ticket stubs (or actually most places it's the whole stub as they just scan the ticket and give the whole thing back).
A few months ago, a friend posted about a super cute specialty album she bought online for her many ticket stubs.  It was basically a photo album with the pocket size adjusted to fit tickets.  The album ran around $20.  Not bad except I wanted each of us to be able to keep our own stubs...and that adds up pretty quickly.

MY ALTERNATIVE?
I went to the dollar store and bought each of us a small 4x6 album.  I pulled out the wedding themed cover insert and we decorated the covers.  We didn't put a lot of time into them but made each one personalized so we could tell them apart.  And then we tossed in our tickets, most tickets fit nicely in, two to a page.  And for a BUCK! You can't beat that.  The boys were excited about these and Johnny was especially thrilled when I confirmed that they were theirs 'to keep' and they could in fact 'take them with them when they move out.'  I just hope he's not planning on leaving TOO SOON!!