How To Make a Scrapbook

When my children were young and all through school I kept some of their artwork, all their report cards, class pictures and other childhood keepsakes. I threw these into a box not really knowing what I would do with them but thinking one day when they were all grown up they might enjoy seeing the treasures I had collected. Numerous times I moved and each time I carried their boxes of stuff with me. As they got older I put in less and less stuff but the boxes never diminished in value. When my son turned 30 and my daughter 26, I thought then was the time to do something. Scrapbooking had become popular and seemed like the perfect thing to do at the time.

Three months later I had put together a book for each of them. Below are the steps I recommend doing to complete this project.

1. Decide what kind of book to make and who will be featured. After I made the book for my children, I decided to make a scrapbook for my niece whose father had died when she was six. I did not have any of her school stuff so it was mostly pictures and information I gathered about her father.
2. Once you have decided on the type of book to make, you then need to gather the pictures and memorabilia. Make sure you have enough stuff to put in the book. The amount of items to be included will dictate the size of book you need.
3. Buy the scrapbook and other supplies needed to complete the job. My initial purchase was made at a Creative Memories party. I highly recommend their products but if they are not available, most craft stores carry scrapbook supplies. A really creative person can find items around the house that are suitable for use.
4. Sort out the pictures and collectables. Once you see everything you have to include in the book you can then decide how the book will be arranged. I did the books for my children from birth to current time. I have seen several nicely done books that focused more on life events rather than chronological order.
5. Once this decision has been made you can start preparing the pages. This was the fun part for me. You can add pre-made borders or artwork to the pages, or some people elect to draw their own. Typically the pictures you want to include will not fit on the page, so you might have to do some trimming or cutting. Also known as cropping in the scrapbook community.
6. Once you have decided what is to go on each page, you then glue or tape the items to the pages. You may want to add more borders, art work or dialogue after this. In the books that I made for my children, I added dialogue about my thoughts or memories from that particular time.
7. Once you have finished with a page, both sides, you then cover the page with a plastic, protective covering. This will protect your precious memories for a long time to come. I also purchased pockets, which work nicely for storing report cards and special holders for things such as their first tooth or locket of hair.
8. When you have finished all pages, you then insert them inside the scrapbook binder. Most scrapbooks come with a limited number of starter pages. More pages can be purchased if needed, and most binders can hold a large amount of stuff. I estimate the books that I completed for my children had binders that extended at least six to eight inches.
9. Once the pages are in, the work is complete. I would recommend writing whom the book is to and the date it was completed in the front of the book. I also purchased a tote bag for the scrapbooks I completed. The books were heavy; this protected them, and it was an easier to carry them.
10. The final step is to give the book to the person it was made for. I guarantee it will be one of the greatest gifts they ever receive. Who would not want to receive a memory book devoted totally to them?

The biggest mistake I made when completing the first two scrapbooks was underestimating the time it would take to complete this project. I purchased the supplies in the fall before the Christmas I planned to give them as gifts. It took hours to go through all the stuff and pictures, to crop them, and glue them to the pages. I enjoyed every minute of it, but I did pull some long nights toward the end, which could have been avoided if I had started earlier in the year.