Once-A-Year Books
The Once-A-Year Books are one of Laikonik’s best sellers. I created them initially to use for my own children as I wanted a simple baby book to record how my child grew up with photos and text. I literally only wanted to do one photo every year and write briefly what happened that year and I wanted to give the book to my child when they are grown up. So I made the Once-A-Year Books and very quickly found that many mothers had the same idea in terms of wanting to keep things simple but aesthetic.
The books are made in Australia using high quality acid free pages inside. The covers are silk-screen printed onto Hemp muslin and the bags that the books come in are silk-screen printed onto Hemp canvass. Super sturdy and will protect the books for years and years. I have included a matching notebook, called a Chatter Book, for recording your child’s wonderful chattering as they grow and learn to speak and make us laugh out loud with joy or gasp in horror at something said in public.
Each Once-A-Year Book comes with a pamphlet of hints and tips on how to use the book, what to write and keep a record of, how to take photos if you’re starting from scratch or how to backdate a book if your chld is older.
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Personalising your child’s book.
For something special, and if you know the baby’s details, you can have the Once-A-Year Book personalised for an additional $20 (FREE THIS DECEMBER 2011). The personalisation can be purchased in the Laikonik online shop. See the images on the left for the comparison of a standard first page and a personalised first page. Also below are some examples of what others have included as dedications in their personalised books.
“This is the story of our beautiful daughter Charlotte. May this book be a continued reminder to her of how special she is and how much we love her. She is the most precious and amazing gift we ever received. Love always, Mum & Dad xo”
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“Beautiful Maiya, Wishing you peace, happiness and love. May you touch fireflies and stars, dance with fairies, and shine like rays of sunlight and moon dust. May you grow with love and be surrounded with gracious hearts and beauty. Welcome to the world, little one. It’s been waiting for you.”
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“To our darling daughter may all your dreams come true, we will always truly love and support you in life. Hugs n Kisses filled with love mum and dad xox”
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“To our beautiful daughter Charlee. There are two people in this world who love you more than you could ever imagine and no matter where you go in life will always be by your side. Love Mum & Dad”
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“To our precious God-daughter Allegra, We are looking forward to sharing your journey and we are honoured to hold such a special role in your life. Love always Christy and Steve xx”
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“Stacey, may this little book be a reminder of how you have grown over the years into a beautiful person. You are unique, intelligent, kind and vibrant. You are truly special. With all my love on your 18 th birthday. Mummy”
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“To Isabelle, in honour of your Christening on this day 11th of May 2008 at Our Lady of The Rosary Church in Kellyville. With love and blessings, your God-Parents Pauline and Ron”
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“Our darling son, this is our wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, love to complete your life. With love, mum & dad”
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“‘Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.’ In honour of your naming ceremony on this day Sunday 19th September 2010. With love, Auntie Julia & Uncle Stephen”
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Putting a Once-A-Year Book together:
Whether you’re starting when your baby is born or working backwards in time for your son or daughters 18th birthday, the Once-A-Year Books are simple to put together and yet create a lasting effect. Here are some basic tips on working backwards:
- Decide whether you want black and white or colour photos.
- Decide whether you’d like close up face shots or mid shots or full body shots. Go for consistency.
- If you’d like black and white you can select a whole pile of images from years gone by, both colour AND black and white, choose the ones you like and take them to your local photo deveoping place and have them all converted to Blak & White.
- Gather your pile of photos from all the years gone by and start sorting out year by year. You do not have to insert photos from exactly the DAY of their birthday. It is enough that the photo shows your child from that year close to their birthday.
- Lay out all your photos in sequence that you chose for each year and look at them to see if there is consistency. Perhaps one photo jumps out because it is of your child looking away from the camera whereas all the others they are looking into the camera. Look for anything that YOU FEEL doesn’t fit.
- Insert the photos by either using an acid free glue stick or photo dots (available from any photo developing place, K-Mart, Target, Big-W).
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What will you write on the back of each year?
This is very personal. I created the pages blank for each year precisely because we all have different lives, different things are important to us and we all want to pass on different information regarding our family history. I like to think about what I would like to have known if my mum gave me a book like this. I was born in 1971 so I know it would have been interesting to know some historical facts, prices of groceries, rent, petrol, who was in government, important world events, the passing away of family members, making large purchases like homes or cars, places of residence. This is one way to document the passing of time which will make an interesting read, but you can make it absolutely anything that you feel is aligned with who you are and the essence of your family life.
- You can choose to write a letter to your child each year, a brief one telling them what you think of them and how you feel about being their parent.
- You can write what you have learned each year just by being their parent.
- You can write about their milestones each year and what they have achieved and how they have changed.
- You can write the whole year in a list that repeats form year to year. For example each year you might like to list: Favourite toy, favourite activity, best friend, favourite song, favourite place to visit etc.
- You can write a short paragraph to your child and ask your partner or a grandparent to write a short paragraph of the same year. This way your child will have two perspectives of the same year.
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A gift for a new mum to be?
Front of voucher with personalised message
Back of voucher with information on how to redeem it.
The Once-A-Year Books are extremely popular as baby shower gifts or for first time mums. There were many times I was asked if the books could be personalised after the purchase because the baby was not yet born, or the customer wanted their friend/sister to choose the colour and design and have the book personalised themselves. To cater for this I created a beautiful gift voucher just for the Once-A-Year Books. You can now purchase one of these at the Laikonik online shop and have it posted with your personal message directly to the new mum/mum to be. The vouchers are beautifully presented and you can even choose the colour of the voucher!
So you take care of everything for the recipient, the cost of the book, the personalisation (optional) and the shipping. All they have to do is choose their colour and design and tell me the baby’s details and the book is posted out to them. So simple!
This is also a perfect gift if you need something posted immediately. The vouchers are sent the same day providing you order by 2pm Sydney time. They are ideal as a last minute Christmas gift.
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Testimonials from others
“Hi Kasia, Your beautiful products arrived today. They were well worth the wait. The once a year books are so beautiful and would make a fabulous gift for a new mother. I have 4 children of my own and am tempted to take one home for each of them. I am so hopeless at taking photos that filling out one of those each would make me feel far less guilty. Thanks very much Kasia and we look forward to your new ideas in the new year. Regards Debbie”
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“Hello Kasia, The once a year books arrived today and they are gorgeous! Thank you so much for making such an extra special effort for me. I love them!! I’ll definitely spread the word. Kind regards, Kate”
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“Hi Kasia, Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for sending this gorgeous gift to me. I can’t wait to start filling it out, its going to be so hard selecting one photo, but i think its just perfect. Thanks again. Tina”
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“Hi Kasia, Just wanted to say we received the photo book in the mail yesterday, and wanted to give some feedback on how beautiful it is…..I was also really impressed with the lovely way it was presented and wrapped including the gorgeous gift card. I will definitely recommend your products in the future. Kind Regards, Nicole”
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“Dear kasia, Thank you so much for the chatter book and hemp bag for my older daughters white year book! It really completes the book. Both my girls will receive these on their 18th birthday as a surprise. It is a special keepsake and means alot to me to be able to do this for them as I haven’t any photographs or memorable items from my early childhood. Kind regards, Kristi”
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“Kasia, Just wanted to say that I received my book up to Hong Kong….It is just stunning! What a beautiful idea! Im going to get another for my best friend. Thank you Jodi”
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“Dear Kasia, I cannot begin to thank you enough for the book. Not only was it wrapped beautifully ( Ive carefully removed to sticky tape so I can re wrap the completed book in your paper) the card and dots were such a lovely unexpected addition. I opened the book and saw the dedication and her details and my eyes filled with water. It is more beautiful than I could have imagined. Thank you so much – she is going to be a lucky girl, and I know she will appreciate the beauty of your work as much as the photo story of her life. Kindest regards Jenny”
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“Hi Kasia, I just wanted to say I love your Once-a-year books! I have given 2 away as gifts, and I’ve just ordered another 3 to restock my gift draw. They are perfect and I love your designs. I’d hope that you create an email blog list for your new site so that when you release new colours or products you customers can check them out! Thanks, Alison”
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“Hi Kasia, Just got home and found my albums in the letterbox, they are absolutely gorgeous, thank you so much, I love them. I had tears in my eyes looking at them and the personalisation (definitely worth it). I know my friends will love them and probably want to buy some for their friends too. I am very much into treading lightly on the planet these days so I love that these are lovingly handmade from recyclable materials. Please let me know when you have designed some other products so I can enjoy these too. Thanks so much, Simone”
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Colours and Designs
The Once-A-Year Books come in a bird and horse design each one can be ordered in the following colours: red, white, teal, green and pink. The designs are created by Kasia Jacquot and are inspired by traditional folk embroidery from the “Kurpiowski” region in Poland. Each book comes in a matching colour Hemp-canvass bag.
