If a new baby has just come into your family, you’re probably taking lots of photos of all the amazing things that babies do. Are all the photos just piling up or lost in your computer? If you take a little time to organize them, you can easily enjoy looking at them and remembering all the fun times.
You can arrange your photos and have a lot of fun at the same time by making a scrapbook for the new baby.
Even if you haven’t done any crafting since kindergarden, you’ll enjoy creating a scrapbook for your new baby. You can make simple pages now and embellish them later. You already know the basic skills — cutting out and pasting — and you can learn the rest as you go along.
The only important thing is to start and organize the photos in a meaningful form that people can enjoy. Then keep adding to the book as the baby grows up, so you have an illustrated narrative of his or her life.
Various types of pages, a scrapbook or album to hold the pages, glue, and scissors are really all you need to get started. In order to preserve any irreplaceable photos or clippings, make sure to use only acid-free, archival quality pages. All the supplies you need for scrapbooking are available in local craft stores or online.
Don’t get sidetracked looking at all the items in the beginning. There are lots of cute adornments and stuff for baby scrapbooks. Don’t worry, you’ll find lots of fun embellishments and things when you know what you really need.
There are many ways to start a new scrapbooking project. I just start putting the photos into piles by date and subject. I’m relentless about eliminating the duplicates and really bad photos at this stage. Spread the photos from the first pile out on the floor or a big table so you can see them. Select the best photos and arrange them on the page so that they tell a story. Leave room on the page for a title, and what was happening, who everyone is, and the date. You’d be surprise how much you’ll forget, if you don’t write these things down now.
Create variety and interest by adding other things besides photos. Include shower invitations, a copy of the birth certificate, birth announcement, thumb and foot prints. When your child is older, add anything meaningful, especially records of accomplishments such as newspaper clippings, school athletic letters, ribbons and awards.
As long as you make the scrapbook for your new baby with love, it’ll be a perfect keepsake that he’ll treasure his whole life.
My mother started my scrapbook when I was born, and I have been hooked on scrapbooking every since. For more tips and ideas, visit my scrapbooking blog.
