Scrapbooking is a great way to display the photographs that are closest to your heart. It also just happens to be heaps of fun!
Whether you want to preserve your photographic memories of a road trip with friends, or document your pregnancy and the birth of your child, a scrapbook is a great way of displaying those memories.
Friends and family will love receiving a handmade, one of a kind scrapbook. They make excellent Christmas and birthday presents; you can even get the kids involved.
What You Need:
These days, you won’t have to look far for some great scrapbooking kits. Short of a kit, you can take this list into any DIY craft store to make sure you get everything you need to get you started:
- Scrapbook album
- Card stocks & decorative papers
- Embellishments
- Scissors
- Glue or washi tape
- Pretty pens, pens & markers
Step 1: Select Your Photos & Theme
You may have a million photos to choose from, but when designing a scrapbook, you will want to pick a theme and keep to it.
What do you want your scrapbook to be about? It’s easier to work with themes than just picking a whole swathe of photos. Choosing a theme will also make it easier to pick papers and embellishments.
Instead of grabbing every photo from your baby’s first year, choose three or four for each month. Choose photos that really represent the personality of your subjects. You might have thought that school photo where your child is pulling a face was a waste, but it might perfectly highlight their sense of humour.
Step 2: Plan Your Story
Your scrapbook should have a good narrative flow, otherwise it risks feeling disjointed. It’s much easier to keep this flow by displaying your photos in what appears to be a chronological order.
If you are creating a wedding scrapbook, a good way to build a narrative is to tell a love story using photos of the happy couple falling in love, their engagement and then the fairytale wedding.
You don’t need to have the whole scrapbook follow one story. You can also create multiple narratives contained in a few pages each, that are only linked by the scrapbook’s theme.
Step 3: Brainstorm Page Titles
Use page titles to help you tell the story or follow the theme. Come up with creative titles, use puns, or your favourite quotes.
Handwriting your page titles using metallic pens can look nice and add that personal touch. You can also use letter stamps for a rustic look, or print out titles in your favourite fonts for a clean look.
Step 4: Get Writing
It’s always smart to add names and dates to the back of your photos as a little reminder later on. In a scrapbook, you can add captions to your photos, as well as adding little journal entries.
Journaling is a great way to elaborate on a photograph and memory. It helps you tell the story, and you can use it to send a heartfelt message to the future reader.
A ‘My First Year’ scrapbook is that much more special when there is a letter from Mum and Dad for their child to read as an adult.
Other little things you can add include quotes from books or lyrics to a favourite song you were listening to a lot at the time the photograph was taken.
Step 5: Arrange Your Page Layouts
Next you will need to choose your page layouts. Be consistent throughout your scrapbook, and make sure you have enough photos for every page.
Arrange your photos in a way that is pleasing to the eye. This might take a bit of practice. Decide where everything will go on each page: the photos, titles, and writing.
Before cropping photos, scan them into your computer for safe keeping. Matting your photos will add a border to your photos that will make your photos stand out more on a page.
Step 6: Embellish Your Pages
Embellishments will add a bit of pizazz to a page. But remember, they should add to your scrapbook page, not detract from it.
There are a lot of options for your page decorations. From puffy stickers to paper flowers, you’re sure to find some page embellishments to suit your scrapbook theme.
Add glitter and ribbons, or fabric. For a wedding scrapbook, you might use fabric from your wedding dress, or a pressed flower from your bouquet.
Of course, a scrapbook is worthless without the photos! Use our Print Shop services to get high-quality digital prints for your scrapbook. Or if you're short on time (or don't have the creative bent!), you can even order a professional photo book through us - again, order it online today at our Print Shop.
