Here’s a fun fact: my Mom is a scrapbooker. She’s a serious scrapbooker. She’s got the paper cutters, the corner choppers, the fancy albums and colorful background paper… there are stickers…. so so many stickers. She’s for real. Scrapbooking is the new rubber stamping. Remember the rubber stamp craze!? Yea, we’ve moved on. Scrapbooking.
I went to my parents’ house a few days ago to find these envelopes gracing the brick fireplace. The envelope in front had my name on it. I was hoping for an early Christmas stocking. Boy oh boy did I get it. Among other darling and embarrassing photos of myself, I found a chronological history of my school days. From preschool to high school. Every cute, awkward and downright horrifying picture.
Now. Because I don’t know any better. Because I’m certifiably batty… allow me to share with you preschool through seventh grade. The later, more awkward years will follow, and we’ll all cry.
Though she will deny it, my Mom gave me this haircut herself. I remember very well. Even at four, I knew how ridiculous I looked.
First grade. Somehow I think I rise above this bowl haircut.
Second grade. That tiny headband is failing…. big time. Nice frock. I would totally rock that these days. Is that weird? That’s weird.
Nice corner fading third grade! I feel like there are some serious adult teeth hiding out in that mouth.
Oooh yes. Full of teeth. You have to grow into your teeth. It’s true. It’s like puppies with big paws. Should I tell you how much I loved this Cinco de Mayo dress with matching hair ribbon? Yes. A lot.
Mixed girl hair is a hard thing. It wants to be curly. It wants to be straight. It wants to ruin your life. What are you going to do? Button your shirt all the way up and hope for the best.
a) Why do the school photographers make you look in the ceiling corner. It’s awkward.
b) I thought this shirt was so clever. I was right.
Oooh Joy . Triangle hair. So short. So much volume. I wish I could have gone back in time to tell you everything would work out ok… but the truth is that you’ve got some seriously awkward years ahead of you. Yeesh.
Enjoy the kitchen intermission. Laugh at me. Please… go on… laugh. If your Mom is a scrapbooker, you might not want to laugh as hard. Your time for an embarrassing envelope will come.
Miss K
More more more!!
You were adorable.
Allison
I love that you shared these! It brings back memories of my own history of school photos, and dare I say, scary haircuts by mom!
Sarah
I think that shirt is clever. I also had a haircut that my mother gave me when I was five that she maintains was the best my hair ever looked. I have really curly hair and a mom that didn’t understand that you didn’t brush that out. I had no idea I had curly hair until I was well into high school. No one tells little curly girls that they don’t have to brush their hair!!! I feel your big hair in the past pain.
Stacy
you are brave and darling.
thanks for sharing.
Katie
OOO, you had Molly Ringwald hair in 7th grade! I feel you on the mixed girl hair-thing, I’m Puerto-Rican/Irish (it wants to be a big curly fro-but it can’t so it’s just a frizz bomb). In fact, it took me 23 years to get it under control (sorta). I wish I could go back and tell my younger self how to deal with it, but, alas, I cannot. Also my younger self probably wouldn’t have been willing to spend $18 on shampoo and conditioner….
Back to you. Isn’t strange how looking back, we weren’t so ugly/awkward/etc. after all? Okay, sometimes we were (usually not the times we expect). But look at you! You were so gosh-darn cute and at the time you were probably thinking *oh, why can’t be x?*. But your Grandma was right, you were beautiful :).
Debbi
My 8th grade photo is used to get terrorists to confess…. nuff said.
Ariana from Chicago
Ok, I know that you MUST know these are seriously cute pictures. Pretty blue eyed girl you were/are!
Danny
Wow, it’s like the evolution of man posters… LOL.
Hey Joy. Just wanted to take this opportunity to say I am very happy for you and extremely proud of you. You’re an amazing person, full of talent and greatness and I am glad you’re unleashing it on the world one set of tastebuds at a time… Though your writing was never anything to sneeze at, either. And photography seems to be treating you quite well…
Pick up an instrument and you’re a Rennaisance Woman.
Anyways, Be Well.
Danny
Mary
I love your 7th grade picture! It’s very Molly Ringwold era-styling…if you weren’t going for that, sorry, I don’t mean it in a bad way at all!
I fear for the day we have to clean out the “picture drawers” in my mom’s house…there are some scary historical shots in there…oh yeah.
Audrey
You looked so cute in all of them! And I love the triangle cut on you, no matter how poofy the hair got. I agree, mixed-girl hair can be a blessing and a curse. I’m half black and half white–what are you?
steph (whisk/spoon)
i am totally laughing– sorry! more to do with your commentary…the photos are really super cute!
jen
My mom has them in a plastic bin, ready for scrapbooking! Same torture ride through the 80s. She was partial to cutting a huge fringe of bangs, like starting at the top of the head or those evil sponge rollers for school pictures. awful.
micah rose
I agree….mixed girl hair is a lot to deal with…but you have to admit…the drama of it makes it worth it:)
Great blog:)
Jane George
Hair!! the bane of our existence, at least you did not have to suffer pin curls every night!
Miranda
Love it. I would be very afraid to share some of my hair styles.
Kelly Taylor
Oh geez! I think I have it worse than scrapbooks. My mom has every stinking photo of me from K-12th grade framed on the wall going upstairs to the second floor. Size 8×10!! Talk about embarassment when friends and boyfriends come over! My husband still makes fun of me and remembers the first time he saw “the wall!” Atleast I have two sisters that have to deal with the same pain!
Jenny
I’m going to dig up the picture of me in 2nd grade with big tears in my eyes and braids brought up on both sides like puppy dog tails – why oh why?
Sarah Jackson
Ummm, you’re a Jackson. That’s all there is to it.
-Sarah
Millie
Oh Joy, those pictures were awesome! Very cute! I agree with the mixed girl hair being horrid. Mine is constantly frizzy and to make matters worse, I had the huge plastic glasses up until high school. lol! Thank you so much for sharing! =)
Terresa Wellborn
In the last school pic, you are looking very much like Lucy from the movie, “The lion the witch & the wardrobe.”
yeah, school picts. don’t know why our parents forced us to take school pictures but everyone else was, too. The blind following the blind kind of thing.
Now that I have 3 kids school age, no, we don’t have them do school picts. Not when our friends, uber-good photographers, take much much much much (X 1 billion) pictures.
Jackie
That was fun. In my forth grade photo I’m wearing the ugliest shirt ever made. It had a farm pattern which was repeated all over the shirt. The worst part about it was that my Mom loved it so much that my sister’s fourth grade picture was in the same shirt.
Lisa
At least the evidence of your childhood hair and fashion missteps are contained within an envelope and scrapbook (or would have been..lol)..my mother has a wall of shame and takes great pride in framing our more unfortunate moments for the whole world to see!!! :)
Great entry :)
Hope
Hahaha! Love the photos….remind me so much of mine…except my mother saved nothing so I don’t have any school pictures to look at anymore? You didn’t get photos in front of the wagon wheel? haha! I thought every kid in America had to deal with the ugliness of the wagon wheel.
Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home
Joy, you were beautiful right from the beginning. You have those big cartoon Bambi eyes! My sister has big lovely eyes like that as well.
Your school photos remind me a lot of mine – except my mom allowed me to style myself (including hair accessories) for my school photos so every year I look all kinds of CRRAZY.
Stiffler
it’s always fun to look at old school photos.
Catherine
Thanks so much for the kind comment on my blog today. You have made my day! I feel like I need to blog about Joy the Baker checking out my humble blog. And how cool that it was the day I posted your Root Beer Float Cake. Thanks again!
Lori
i LOVE this. glad you shared :)
Jamie
Thank you for the picture parade. I just recently went through all my grade school pictures and cringed the whole time-but its days like those that keep you humble and remind you that even that icky guy I work with probably has horrific grade school photos too.
Dont worry, my 5th-8th grade pictures include a horrible poddle perm on my very fine very blonde hair….ugh
Pip
Wow..I have the almost EXACT same photo as the last one you posted. Pink shirt, gold chain, slowly coming down from enormous hair hair, blue background. Crazy! Mine is circa 1992 I think!
Rita
Last Thurs, Nov 12, I met your mom on a flight from LA to Denver. We chatted for the whole 2.5hr flight — what a delightful lady. Your dad was sleeping so didn’t get a chance to visit with him.
She of course, suggested I look at your blog — a very proud mom indeed.
You do have a very fun site and I look forward to reading much of it.
Rita, Gunnison, CO
joythebaker
Rita! That’s so sweet! I’m so glad you stopped by to say hello! Lovely! My Dad is a habitual napper… too bad you didn’t get to chat with him too… he’s pretty hilarious!
{lauryl}
OMG, those are hysterical. Sorry, I totally laughed. Don’t worry, pictures of me at that age are equally funny. ;-)
Shannon @ bakeandbloom.com
your 1st grade bowl cut is super cute aktually
I have a fantastic one from the 3rd grade where I had decided to give myself a fringe (bangs) It was a secret fringe operation so I locked myself in the pantry (in the dark) without a mirror & snipped them. They ended up about 1/2 an inch long & fluffy.
Not only did I have lousy hair for about 6 months my mum grounded me for cutting my own hair.
Sweetcharity
Oooo, lawdy!! I’m giggling myself silly over here… Oh the memories this brings back for me. My hair was just fine until 3rd grade, when I begged my mom to let me get my ass-length ringlets cut into a bob. With bangs. It was a bad move. And fashion basically went downhill around that time too, I mean, not that the early 80’s were spectacular or anything, but late 80’s through early 90’s… ughhhhh! That’s really all I have to say about that.
Sue
Your four year old photo is especially adorable! My aunt was in beauty school and practiced on my hair for my second grade photo…a classic school photo nightmare:)
Chaitali
Aww..you look so cute! I just love your eyes..so pretty!
My worst photo has got to be my 4th grade school portrait. I had worn a hideous purple and pink striped shirt and decieded to match it with purple skinny jeans with a matching sneakers and a hairband to boot.
Worst part..my mom loved that photo so much that she enlarged it and framed it in the living room. So, everytime I go home, I’m faced with this awkward purple monster staring down at me. Yikes!
Meghan
Everyone has pictures like this hiding somewhere….thumbs up to you for posting them! I know I had horribly giant red plastic glasses and braces and wore a matching red dress in one picture…my mother claims it’s her favorite! oh mothers :)
Rachel
Okay I totally had that last haircut (but it was a frizzy mess on picture day) in the 7th grade! You were the cutest little girl.
My mother has every picture from pre-K to 12th grade in an 8×11 frame in the living room. Every year she just put the new picture on top of the old one. And yes – she will take it off the wall to share with boyfriends when they come over (I guess to show them what their kids would look like?).
Thanks for sharing! =)
Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen
This is awesomeness! Serious awesomness.
I had the same exact hair and it sucked! I wish someone taught my six-year old self how to do a proper blow-out or gave me some frizz serum or something. I always wanted to brush my hair like all the other girls. It wasn’t in the cards for me.
sarah
love it! and i am the scrapbooker in this family
Laura
Hi Joy ~ I’ve been following your blog and love it. Thank you for your openness. It’s very refreshing!! When my mom passed away 15 years ago I realized how important our photos and family stories are and created an album from the envelope of photos she had given me. Before my grandma got alzheimers I made an album with her where she wrote all the stories of growing up. These are some of my favorite treasures. We ALL have the awkward photos from our childhood unfortunately but you are so lucky that your mom is making albums with some of them. Someday when she is gone, you will turn the pages of those books and be so glad she was a scrapbooker.
Colleen
i think i had that exact same cinco de mayo dress, or at least a very similar version!!
Elizabeth
You were such a cute child. Your comments really cracked me up. You have said what we all feel when looking back at school pictures. Thanks for the laughs on a gloomy day in Iowa. :)
Cynthia
*hole
(in the o-zone layer)
Not whole.
I hate it when people do that. I hate it when I do that. I have an English degree. Okay no more comment-hog.
tracy
you are adorable at every stage! you are totally right about growing into your teeth! my chompers looked HUGE in third grade. My eyebrows are the one thing that really changed over the years….maybe one day I will divulge!
Cynthia
Oh, Joy. You crack me up. May I call you Joy? Being that you just shared these amazing little school-day flashbacks with all of us, I guess it’s acceptable.
I would like to say that I for one, appreciate all and I do mean ALL of your circa-elementary school hairstyles.
I was the kid whose mother actually allowed her to sport a GIGANTIC, gauzy hideous hair bow and a half bottle of Pantene Pro-V hairspray to hide budding “baby hairs.” That whole in the the O-zone layer? It’s my fault. To make up for it I carry my own bags to the grocery store and drink out of a nalgene. I hope it’s helping.
Sigh. The things we did when we were too young to care.
Anyway, yours is one of my all-time favorite blogs. sometimes I cannot read it at work without having to explain the outright laughter. That’s a good sign.
koohiiteasheri
Your pictures are so cute! You haven’t changed (except your hairstyle). At least your pictures are better than mine! :D
Lisa
Hi Joy!
We appear to have a couple of things in common! My mom is also a serious scrapbooker, she even has that cricut thing that cuts paper into all sorts of shapes. I also received a childhood scrapbook, last Christmas, with all my school photos in. And last but not least, I also have dark, curly/straight hair that’s almost impossible to tame!
Great post, and I love the rest of your blog too!
Lisa
deva
you look like fairuza balk.
Heather Rose
I had that same triangle cut in 7th grade! Ha! I had the brilliant idea to *perm* my hair and have that cut, for extra frizziness. Add mint-colored glasses and I was a winner.
And Joy, you may not like these early pics, but your eyes are *stunning* in them. Seriously. Gorgeous color!
Gretch
I had that exact same half polka dot/ half flower print button up collared shirt! I also had problems with tiny headbands…I feel your pain!
Memoria
We, ourselves, truly our worst critics because I think you look beautiful in every single one of those photos. I wish I had all my childhood photos.
Phoebe
Ohhhh yes I know well the trauma that is photo-day for curly-wavy-haired young girls. Did you ever have the photographer attack you at the last minute with a spray bottle and a comb? No? Just me?
Your photos are darling, of course. I made the mistake of trying to *look* like I was smiling instead of actually smiling. I would gingerly rest my upper teeth on my bottom lip while pulling the corners of my mouth back. I’ll let you practice that in the mirror now…
sheree
very endearing…good notes for me to take when raising our kids! :D
Melanie
I may or may not have some VERY similar photos! It’s good to be able to laugh at yourself…right?? :)
Stef
ooh i adore a photo history like this!!! my dad has taken millions of pictures of me, and i also cringe when i see the silliness that was/is me at times. nevertheless, the memories are precious! thanks for sharing yours :)
jeri
oh man these are awesome. I have equally funky teeth and frizzy hair but with the unfortunate addition of HUMUNGO glasses. my parents hated me, for sure. :)
Susan
Your pictures are adorable and you appear to have never had that “ugly duckling” stage like many of us did. Cute all the way!
Kim
Lovely – thanks for sharing! I too had a “clever” shirt like yours in one of my school pictures… probably around the same grade. I like your style :)
Barb
Seriously, my seventh grade photo is identical: fuchsia t-shirt, necklace with charm, and triangle hair. Suddenly at puberty my hair decided to transform from wavy to curly, and I was unprepared. :) Let’s see, it would have been about 1988?
Kate @ Savour Fare
Ha! One of my girlfriends once asked for a hair history. Mine is short because I’ve had essentially the same haircut forever. But this is priceless. Love the old school pictures. I had a shirt that said something about boys on it (it was some European brand) and I thought it was SO COOL. Just like my scrunchy. And my supercurly bangs.
Sunita
Awww, tgose are really precious photos!And yes, we all have ‘those’ photographs :-)
Charlene
OMGoodness, I was thinking the same thing about the corner stare. What were they thinking? And yes, the shirt was clever, but tell me, were you wearing the paton leather shiny lace ups? lol Trust we all have those pictures hidden somewhere under a floorboard to avoid situations like this. Unfortunately, my aunt like to hang hers on the wall of her stairs for all to see. I can still see that ugly apartment carpet looking background and that flip to the side that should have never happened. Thanks for sharing. Personally you adorable in the striped teddy bear photo.
Aimee
They are 100% awesome, really. That Cinco de maya dress? Love it. You are just too precious and those blue eyes of yours really shine through.
I had the big teeth too. Think I finally grew into them in my 20’s
esther kim
Awesome!!! Thank you for sharing :D
JamTown
“Button your shirt all the way up and hope for the best.” that is hilarious and quotable.
Deanna
You are seriously adorable in every single picture. I love seeing the progression. And Jr high age is just a hard time in life for everyone! You rocked it well.
Shauna from Piece of Cake
Oh, I wish I could hug you! You are hysterical. And oddly, my triangle hair showed up at about the same time, though it was self-inflicted by excessively perming my naturally stick-straight hair. And with the huge turquoise circle earrings, the whole look really did wonders for my round face. Excellent.
Brook
Oh I love it!! This was such a trip down memory lane. Those outfits and hair styles must have been required back in the day because I rocked some that were very similar. Impressed you had the courage to share.
Casey
Bravo for sharing your elementary school pictures. I am not NEAR that brave. That preschool picture is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen… Mom’s haircut & all!
Kaye
Love this post! So funny…reminds me of MY grade school pictures :)
Jen
Adorable Joy! I love looking back at old pix…i always remember asking my mom, how could you let me wear that? The 70s/80s were a “fun” time…Thanks for sharing your pix.
Allison
Oh these are great! Mostly because it reminds me of my own late-80s, early-90s fashion disasters. And I’m right there with you on the half curly, half straight hair conflict. It was The Haircut Of Fourth Grade that contributed to the demise of my semi-straight hair and plumetted me into years of battling with my hair dryer.
Thats probably more than you needed to know about my hair issues. Just wanted to return the favor and say thanks for sharing! :)
TinaFromTexas
Thanks for sharing! This is awesome! You’re so brave!
Sushi Girl
Wow Joy! I see I am not the only one who couldn’t outrun her mother running with scissors :o) I am older then you and had ‘the pixie cut’ the prelude to the mullet I think. At least you were allowed to pick out your own clothes! My mom made all of mine, including the baby blue corduroy hot pants overalls with the hand curled Xmas ribbon for a hairband. I grew into my teeth but not my nose :o)
jonquil
my mom is more of an archivist than a scrapbooker. photos i save (lucky enough to have a 1918 photo of maternal side). school paperwork i got rid of–no point in hauling it around. my paternal side never had the wherewithal or inclination to document anything.
trishy
i so love all of these pictures!! and they both make me miss my own and happy that most of them have disappeared into the great wide somewhere.
Stephanie
These pictures are great! I would too embarrassed to post my elementary/middle school pictures.
Kristi
I had your 6th grade shirt too! I wore mine in my 7th grade pic. I also had the triangle hair, but with a perm. Ugh.
Christine
Joy, these are fantastic! Thanks for sharing :)
Estela @ Weekly Bite
Very cute pictures!!
Meseidy
OMG! Joy I kid you not I had a shirt just like that poka-dot and flower shirt. Mine was a black sheer at the bottom. Was yours?
The horror! LOL
Megan
I love them!
My mom has my pictures all in a row behind each other in a frame… My kindergarten shot is me with tears in my eyes and I’m holding M&M’s for dear life. I guess I used to hate school pictures…but I’ve always loved M&Ms.
Noreen
Your pics are so cute!!! My Mom made a bunch of my clothes when I was in Elementary & I can’t tell you how many Santa pics I have in a homemade frock. My sister-in-law laughs, I think it’s kind of sweet. I mean it was the late 70’s/early 80’s. We were all sporting the look =) Thanks for sharing!!
Anna@BakingSimplicity
Ok, that was just way too adorable! Lucky you for being saved from the bowl haircut…some of us just weren’t as lucky.
Thanks for sharing :)
Jen-
Um…we should totally have a contest on the “Most Unfortunate School Picture”! Picture if you will a sweet girl made to look UP into the ceiling corner with what a boy would someday call a “pig nose on a human face” and then all the bright glare in her large framed glasses….oh and a pimple or two for color!
You looked adorable. So unfair. haha.
janelle
I love everything about it, and I commend you for sharing it with us. As a mom of a daugther with mixed girl hair, I feel your pain
Rebecca
Thanks for making my morning a little brighter. I remember my picutres that are just like that, not sure why the school photographer wants you looking into the corner, but mine all seem to be that way.
The mom haircut, is an experience that everyone should have, my mom almost cut my bangs completely off. She did leave some “fringe” though.
When Pigs Fly
We all look a bit goofy in our grade school pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Kristen
Well, hello long-lost twin! Seriously, I wish I had my pictures to show you – we are total twins. Except I had this awesome scottie dog cardigan in red, black and white to go with one of my pleated skirts in 6th grade… that skirt was so stiff that when i got up to sharpen my pencil one day, it was flipped right up over my butt and I didn’t realize until the draft and giggles kicked in. Awkwardness… and thank God we grew into those teeth, right?? Great pics. :)
shelly (cookies and cups)
Your pictures are so very similar to mine…I, personally, like the suspenders circa 5th grade.
I wish I could go back and help my former self with my hair…so frizzy it is ridiculous. The girl’s now have Chi fever, so unfair ;)
Jesse
I too suffered through a bad case of triangle hair! There’s a reason I currently wear my hair up 99% of the time. Just yesterday, I was pondering a haircut. Thank you for reminding me why this is a TERRIBLE idea!
Shauna
Is it scary that I think I had the same shirt you did in sixth grade? I remember thinking how incredibly hip and in fashion I was. I also think that was the year I had The Perm. Took me years to grow out, and I’m so glad it did. Trust me, a perm and that shirt just should not go together in this universe. Maybe in another space-time continuum, but definitely NOT this one.
Thank you for sharing all of that awesomeness – I can’t wait for the next set of pictures!! :)
Jo
I love them! And I distinctly remember having one of those half and half shirts when I was in junior high :)
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
Ohmigosh these are so funny and cute. I love the first one with your frilly dress…lol!
linda
what fun for us joy!
these photos are great…thanks for sharing!
Chanina
you are so cute!!!
I don’t think I have an envelope, wish I did though, wait, maybe I don’t!
Those embarrassing pictures mean the world to me today, it shows me, in a very strange way, how my personality really molded. It was so easy for me to walk out of the house in the most hideous outfit and think I looked beautiful, and was told so!
Being an adult is hard, I miss the embarrassing little me.
Karin
:D I think we all have pictures like that. Funny how you can see what decade the picture was taken just by looking at the clothing and hair. Oh, and I think you looked very sweet :-)
Evan
Oh I already have an embarrassing envelope…it was used for the picture slideshow at our rehearsal dinner. WHY is that the new craze???? EMBARRASSING!
Also, I may not be mixed, but I definitely got “mixed-girl hair.” I know how you’ve felt all your life, and probably still feel that way today. I do. My hair is a curse.
But where would we be without these things that have stitched us together and made us who we are today?
fried blue
Joy, you have the most gorgeous eyes ever. They pop out in every photo. Beautiful.
Jocelyn from Dubai
You know what, your Mom is just like mine. She has shoeboxes of old photos and documents. I even found the hospital receipt from when I was born stuck between pages of a baby name book!
I’m the same now with my 4 kids (I feel old just saying that!). I’ve been storing printed photos in the hope of getting around to scrapbooking the heck out of them. However since I acquired a digital camera 4 years ago, all the photos are stored in the PC and I pray to God all the time that the PC does not crash!
You think you had it bad? My sister and I were dressed identically by our dressmaker mother up until the age of 11. Oh the shame!
Andrew
Are you wearing 3 polo shirts in the 6th picture!!
marina mott
It’s so nice!
I would love to have a envelope! My mum lost all my pics … :(
Candice
That polka-dot shirt with the flower fantasia… totally rocked the same shirt in my 2nd grade picture!
Petit Filoux
Thanks for sharing!! I’ve got plenty of those embarrassing photos too. For me it wasn’t the hair but the glasses. Oh my. ;-)
Rina
This is so radical. Seriously, ranks up there as one of your best posts ever, in my opinion. :) I just got my own envelope a month or so ago – I think I might share mine, too!!