by Darien Gee
~ Journal each photo or page. Write down details, memories, key words. Think of it as a caption or diary entry. Don’t forget to include dates. You can write directly on the page or use pre-made journal cards. You can also type it up on your computer and then trim to fit the page.
~ When you’re ready and everything is positioned as you’d like, glue everything to the page.
~ Insert finished pages into page protector sleeves or into your album directly. You can also scan the page and create a digital image so you can share your album virtually with friends and family.
How to Host a Book Club Meeting and Crop
Why host a book club meeting when you can host a book club meeting and crop, Bettie Shelton–style? Make the most of your book club discussion by stepping into an Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society meeting. Here are some suggestions:
~ Choose and agree upon a theme. Some ideas are family, friendship, holidays, birthdays, trips, school, sports, pets. Why not scrapbook about your book club meetings and members?
~ Tell members to bring 4–6 photos that fit with the theme, sharp scissors, glue, and any other ephemera they’d like to include.
~ Provide 12 × 12 scrapbooking paper (solids and patterns), fun embellishments (brads, eyelets, buttons, ribbon, stickers, alpha letters, chipboard shapes, rub-on transfers), extra glue and scissors. A paper cutter, paper punches, rubber stamps (and ink pads) are also great to have on hand.
~ Provide and/or have people bring Amish Friendship Bread cakes, cookies, or muffins. Over 250 Amish Friendship Bread recipes are available on the website. Or try any of the recipes in the book, such as Connie’s Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings or Frances’s Chinese scallion pancakes.
~ Download discussion guide questions from the website.
~ Share your layout or a photo of your book club with Darien by posting it on the book’s page at Amazon.com or on the Friendship Bread Kitchen Facebook wall.
For More Information
The Alzheimer’s Association focuses on dementia and Alzheimer care and support. To find a chapter near you or to learn more about dementia, visit www.alz.org.
There are so many wonderful organizations that support domestic and international adoption, as well as fostering adoptions of special needs children. There are also many parent-advocate groups on Yahoo that try to get the story out about children in need. Because they are too numerous to list here, I am sharing a resource for those of you who are interested in learning more about China adoption. Half the Sky is an organization dedicated to ensuring that Chinese orphans have nutrition, love, and support, regardless of whether or not they find their forever family. Learn more about what they do at www.halfthesky.org.
For more than 250 Amish Friendship Bread recipes or to join our online friendship bread community, visit us at the Friendship Bread Kitchen (www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com), or find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/fbkitchen) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/fbkitchen).
BY DARIEN GEE
Friendship Bread
The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society
About the Author
DARIEN GEE lives in Hawaii with her husband and their three children. She is also the author of Friendship Bread.