One of the first questions beginners ask is where do I start? One of the easiest ways is to decide upon a theme and then build from there. As you will discover in my
Secrets of Scrapbooking article, once you have chosen a theme you can quickly sort out all the photographs that belong to that theme. From there you can pick the ones you want to use and the ones you don't according to the
page layouts you will create. You want to highlight the special times of each occasion so keep this in mind when you are choosing your photos that belong to the theme you are working on at the time.
WEDDING THEME
If the scrapbook album is for the bride and groom
the journaling is very subjective. You are projecting your ideas of what the happy couple may want to have written in the album into the journaling. It will be special because the album will be from your perspective and give them a different outlook on the day. Weddings are very busy and because the bride and groom have so many details to attend to they may not remember some of the special moments that took place during the course of the day.
HOLIDAY THEMES
The photos of these special occasions (i.e. Easter Egg Hunts, costumes they wore on Halloween, and family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas) are essential to a family scrapbook album. You may also want to divide some of the extra copies (or make some) of these photos into each child's individual scrapbook so they can all have their own book of memories. Examples:
Baby's First Halloween Scrapbook Theme,
Baby's First Christmas Theme,
Gingerbread House Scrapbooking Layout,
Christmas Tree Layout,
All I want For Christmas,
Santa Claus Parade,
Favorite Floats,
Valentines Day Soulmates LayoutBIRTHDAY THEMES
Include photos of their birthday parties each year in a family scrapbook album so you can see the changes in your child/ren's appearance, friends, cakes and gifts they received from year to year. These photos can also be incorporated into each child's individual scrapbook.
ANNIVERSARY THEME
This theme can be a stand alone project or part of a family scrapbook album. A stand alone album makes a great gift idea.
HERITAGE THEME Discover, explore and record your family history for generations to come. Time is precious and the people that know all the stories about your family won't be around forever so get those tales written down now. Are there people in the photos in those old black paper albums that you don't know the names of or your relationship to them? Find out this information so you can document it to pass on to future generations. It may not seem that important now but what if you don't know who some of the people in the photos are and one day your child or someone else asks you who the people in the old black photo album are and you can't tell them. If you create a Heritage scrapbook album or incorporate the photos into a family album and document your family history this information will be available to future generations. An important page to include in this scrapbook album is a Family Tree. You can either use a pre-printed family tree page or if you are so inclined, draw one yourself and the scrapbook album would be even more personal and special. A family tree page is very important to include for future generations because it will show them the connection between all the family members.
Examples:
Heritage Theme,
Heritage Farm Theme,
Heritage Sisters Theme,
Heritage Railroad Theme,
Heritage Christmas,
My AuntTRAVEL/FAMILY TRIP THEMES
This theme could be created in one scrapbook album, included in a family album or if you had a really long and memorable trip each one could be extended into its own album. It all depends on the number of photos and memorabilia items you want to include in the scrapbook album. These are things you can think of when you are on a trip, taking photos with making your scrapbook in mind and what you really want to remember. Keep everything (including tickets and information pamphlets) from shows you may have seen or little side trips you went on so you can remember every little detail of your travels. You can even press leaves, flowers, etc. you collected during a trip and use them to embellish your pages. It all depends on how much detail you want to go into on your pages, whether each trip will have its own scrapbook album, if all trips end up in one album or as part of the family album. One way to extend an album or fill an entire scrapbook album is to take pictures of every child at different locations you go to so you can pick and choose (or use them all) which pictures will be used. Also, this way everyone gets in the album and there will be no disputes about this. Extra copies of these photos could also be used in a child's individual scrapbook album.
Vacation Theme Page example.,
Horse Riding Vacation,
Scenes From TorontoPETS/ANIMAL THEMES
Keep a photo record of family pets you have had, especially their growth if you had them from when they were young. You could also include in this theme photos taken during trips to the zoo or various animal parks you have visited as a family. Pictures of your children with pets they treasured will make great memories when they are older. Copies of these pictures could also be included in their individual albums and the family scrapbook album as well.
BABY ALBUMS
This is the most special scrapbook album of all and has so many possibilities to make each and every page unique and memorable. My advice here is to
keep everything you get concerning your new child starting from when you are in the hospital. Baby food labels and a picture of your child trying the new food also make great souvenirs of their early days. This may be a bit tricky to get photos of this so you may need to enlist the help of dad, a friend or an older child for this. The sky is the limit because babies have so many different expressions and change so much over the years. You can also take photos of a baby in outfits they were given because especially as newborns they might not fit into it for very long. This is a special memory to include in the album because it was a gift and it is nice to give a copy of the photo to the person who gave your child the gift. It is wonderful to capture as much of their changing look because it happens so fast and at least you will have the memories to share with them when as they grow up.
Baby's First Sink Bath,
Sleeping Baby Scrapbook Theme,
Merry Christmas Baby Scrapbooking Layout,
Little Red Riding Hood Layout,
Poem to Mommy LayoutSCRAPBOOK ALBUM FOR EACH CHILD
This album continues from where the Baby Album leaves off and follows the child through each milestone, special event and memorable moment in his or her life. Examples:
Sandcastle Theme,
Baby Foot Scrapbook Theme,
Sisters Going To School