Scrap book making is coming back. Despite the digital age, scrap books are still a wonderful way of creating a beautiful album filled with family memories. There are online services where you can create a digital scrap book, and even your Facebook page is a scrap book of sorts. However, making a scrap book with your little ones, filled with family memories is a fun task. These steps can help you put together a keepsake for your family.
Gather Your Supplies And Curate
The first thing you need to do is to gather your supplies. You’ll need a scrap book, glue and your mementos. You can include your favourite photos but don’t only include photos. If it’s only photos, it’s basically a photo album. If you include other things, like postcards, birthday cards, ticket stubs, plane tickets, dried flowers, stickers and so on, it becomes more of a memory scrapbook. When you have everything gathered, go through it all with your family. Look at every item, and the memory it triggers. Think of your scrapbook as a family history, so include items that remind you of your most important family memories.
Scrap Book Format
One of the biggest choices you’ll have is choosing the scrap book you’re going to use. The choices are almost endless. You can check out stationary shops or craft shops, but don’t forget to look online as well.
Some scrap books will also come with adhesive pages, which means that you won’t need glue. Others may come as more of a kit, with adhesive strips or dots, or stickers. They also come in a wide range of cover materials. There are hard-backed, recycled cardboard and many others to choose from. However, leather-bound scrap books are always a good choice if you want one that will last for decades.
The other thing to consider when you’re choosing a scrap book is whether it has any protective qualities. Some scrap books have an acid free protective film that covers the pages and protects your photos and mementos from damage.
Layouts
You can get as creative as you would like with the layout and placement of every item you’re putting in your family scrapbook. Perhaps layouts with a simple, minimalist aesthetic are more your style, or perhaps you’d prefer a collage with your own drawings or writing, or maybe you want to combine styles and create one unique to you and your family.
However you choose to lay out your mementos, remember that everything you include in your scrap book is an important piece of the history of your family. It needs to be showcased on the page, so before you stick down anything, imagine the page and how you want it to look. Lay things out without gluing anything first and see if it looks the way you want it to look.
Let Your Scrap Book Tell A Story
Your scrap book is the story of your family. Every member has their own story. Everyone is unique, so think about how you want to present that within the larger narrative of your family. This could mean that you create a few pages for showcasing your children’s achievements and milestones in their lives.
You may want to include family members that have passed as well. It might be a good idea to create a timeline style story. Begin with their childhood pictures and include important events in their lives. You might want to include photos of your little ones with their family members and celebrate the happy memories they have.
Involve Your Family
A family scrap book is a wonderful project to have as a family. Involve your whole family. Let your little ones help to choose what events and memories from their own lives they want to have included, and how they want to present their own stories. It’s also a good way to bond with your family as you’ll relive some of the happiest memories in your lives.
