Making A Memory Book For Your Church
The key is to gather as much information as you can in this stage, because the more material you have to draw from when creating your memory book, the better it will be in the end. One method, as mentioned above, is to print up a questionnaire and hand it out in church.
You may struggle a little bit with participation, but let the congregation know when the deadline is, and give them enough time to complete the task, but not so much that they forget. Give weekly reminders until the deadline arrives. You can gather these in the same way as the other information. Put out a bulletin, mention it in announcements, and include a section in your questionnaire that suggests that your participants clip some of their favorite photos when handing it in.
Most people will want to assured that their photos will be returned, so be sure to take great pains to keep them organized. You may even suggest that those who submit photos write their names on the back so you know who to return the originals to after you have scanned them onto your pages. The thing to look for is common themes.
If there was an event that a lot of people seemed to enjoy, or a pastor that seemed universally admired, be sure to include as much as you can about them. Here is where you let your participants guide the process. You don't want to get stuck putting things in the book that didn't seem to resonate with the congregation. Think of how to make logical sections and chapters that will keep your memory book readable and enjoyable to look at. Don't put too much on any given page. There are a number of ways to do this.
You could put your pages in a three-ring binder, for instance if you just intend to create one copy of the book. If you would like to create multiple copies for fundraising purposes, you can consider binding your book into a hardcover or softcover version. Thermal binding machines (the ones used to create these types of books) are inexpensive and easy to operate, and there are a number of ways to make great covers for them as well.
I’m going to say “my balls” several times throughout this tutorial, so get your giggles out now. In place of my scraps of poncho-from-days-of-olde, you can use scraps of a 100% wool sweater, 100% wool yarn, or just wool roving all the way through. Not much, is it, No, sir. Not much at all. I did this with my monster poncho scraps by tucking the ends under and turning, adding more scraps to tuck under as I turned the ball around. Alternatively, you just roll your yarn or wool roving up into a very tight ball. Just like it sounds.
If you’re not doing it the same way I am, you can just skip right on down to the next step, once you have a ball that’s about the size of a tennis ball. Otherwise, wrap that wool roving around as tightly as you can. It may not be as tight as you think it should be, but you’ll take care of all that here in a minute with the felting step.
Here is what my balls looked like after I’d wrapped all the roving around it, and before they went to live in the pantyhose for a few washes. As you can see, the balls weren’t very round. And at this point, I panicked and thought for sure I’d messed my entire life up with the use of one horrible poncho. You’ll want to snip the pantyhose off around the crotchal area. This will make things easier.
Then you just roll the leg down, put your first ball in, and then tight a knot tightly - securing it in well. It’s never pretty when your balls fall out of your pantyhose. In fact, this is not an optional step. Without this, you’ll just end up with a matted bunch of goop at the bottom of your washing machine. Now all you do is toss this lumpy snake into the washing machine (you can do this with a load of clothes if you don’t want to waste a wash) on HOT.
