Baby scrapbooks are one of my favorite types of scrapbooks to make.
There is no right or wrong way to make a scrapbook. Every scrapbooker has an individual style, so whatever you choose to do is fine. Some scrapbookers like bold colors and lots of embellishments, while others prefer softer, more subtle layouts.
Getting started
Before starting a scrapbook, the first thing to do is purchase a scrapbook album. You can either buy an album that’s already designed, or buy a plain one and decorate it. You’ll also need to buy paper and embellishments, unless you already have them in your supply stash at home.
Laying out the pages
Pick one to three photos to use on each page. Then choose a background paper and one to three other papers for accents and embellishments. If you’re not sure what papers to use, use your photos to help find a color scheme.
I like to put a thin mat behind my photos to give them depth, so after choosing accent and embellishment papers, pick one (or two if you want to double mat like I did in the pages below) and cut mats that are ¼ inch larger than the photos.
Next lay your photos on the background paper and move them around until you find a layout you like. (I work on facing pages at the same time, so I can tie them together and so I don’t bump photos up against each other on the facing pages.) Now take some embellishments and place them on the pages, moving them around until you like the way the pages look.
Telling a story
Next comes the journaling – telling the story behind the photos. I keep my journaling short and sweet, but I know other scrapbookers who use more journaling. It’s also fun to substitute a poem or a quote on pages with photos that don’t really tell a story, such as a baby sleeping. That way, even though there’s no journaling, your pages will still have some text on them.
On these layouts, I typed my journaling and used a mat behind them. However, if you prefer, they can be handwritten, with or without a mat.
The next step is to give the pages a title. I try to stick with one title per two-page spread. Sometimes, though, the facing pages don’t coincide, and both pages need a title. It also looks neat to spread the title out between the two pages. For instance, if your title is “Sweet Baby,” you could title the lefthand page “Sweet” and the righthand page “Baby.”
Place the journaling on the layouts and move it (or them, as is the case in the pages below) around until you’re happy with your creation. Then adhere everything with either glue or adhesive. That’s it. Now you’re ready to move on.
My two-page layout
In these pages, my best friend’s daughter was getting her first taste of baby food – homemade banana pudding. To tell the story, I used a block of journaling with each photo, added the recipe and titled the two-page layout “Banana Pudding.” Simple and sweet.