Scrapbooking 101: The ultimate guide to making your own!

Everything you need to know about how to make a scrapbook, whether it’s for yourself or someone else!

So, what is a scrapbook & should you make one?

A scrapbook is essentially a collection of your own little stories told through pictures, quotes, artwork and little souvenirs that you stick into the pages of a book.

If you’ve got the heart and mind of a dreamer, scrapbooking is probably something that interests you. The whole idea behind it is to enjoy the artistic process as much as the final work of art. Now, this is not to say that you need to be someone of immense artistic prowess to enjoy working on a scrapbook. Making one is incredibly simple and if you want to make one, odds are you can!

However, if art itself isn’t something you particularly enjoy and you still want one, then perhaps you should consider making a scrapbook substitute online. For example, photo books work in a similar way that scrapbooks do, in the sense that they serve as personalised books that tell a story.

If that old school style of paper, ink, and handmade art excites you, then don’t think twice about it. Unleash your inner romantic and create your own, handmade work of art!

Seeing that it is a form of personalized art, a scrapbook is what you make it. Have a gander at our short, simple guide that simply aims to answer any questions you may have along the way, and serve as that bit of artistic inspiration on the off chance you run short!

Pre-requisites: What you need to make a scrapbook

Photographs

Some pretty pictures of fond memories is all you need to take you back in time.

Now pictures themselves arrive in variations, so choose wisely! You could try good old retro-styled prints that allow you to scribble little notes below, or if your love for symmetry calls for a more classic squared print, then you could opt for those as well.

Art supplies

We’re talking glue, colored tape, paper or parchment (if your feeling particularly nostalgic), pens, ink pens, and pencils. These are of course the absolute basics and you can feel free to throw in whatever you think you might need!

 Memorabilia

Ticket stubs, leaves, any old thing that is of any significance and can be stuck into your book. Let me reiterate that a scrapbook is whatever you want it to be, so you can get as creative (or outlandish) as you want! If you have a specific theme in mind, be sure to align your memorabilia with it.

A book

A no-brainer, obviously, but we like to cover all bases. You get tons of blank books that are specifically designed to be turned into scrapbooks.

However, you can also put together your own sheets of paper for a bit of messy, scrappy charm. Alternatively, journals and diaries with a solid cover would also work great.

Getting started

Let’s talk about themes!

Birthday? Story? Or Sherlock-Esque mind palace. The world is your oyster & there are an infinite number of ways to create your metaphorical pearl.

If you plan on gifting a scrapbook, you should also consider how you would like to incorporate the personality of the person into the book itself. You could also consider making it an occasion (the reason behind the gift) centric theme. Gifting your partner for twelve years? Make it about your time together. A birthday gift for your dad? Documentation of your favorite father-child days!

 Making the most of what you have

So now that you’ve got a theme and your supplies in one place, you can go ahead and unleash all that creative energy into making a beautiful scrapbook.

Tips:

• Add quotes: If its a gift for someone who has a particularly interesting way with words you could even consider adding bits of wisdom and wit they’ve left you with over the years.
• The inside joke: Scrapbooks for other people, especially the document styled ones, require a personal touch, so what is more personal and heartfelt than an inside joke? Find a way to incorporate the things unique to your relationship in the book.
• Paper cut-outs: For that extra scrappy effect we spoke about earlier, consider adding paper cutouts into the book. You could also incorporate this when you feature quotes and captions or cut them out as speech bubbles.
  Ink and hand-lettering: Are you a hand lettering enthusiast? Well, it’s great if you are, but don’t fret if you aren’t. A few handwritten notes go a long way in adding a feel of authenticity and that final bit of flourish to what you’re trying to say.

And there you have it, our guide to making a scrapbook! We hope to have covered all of your questions, but if we haven’t, feel free to browse through our blog that covers ideas and themes for scrapbooks for more inspiration.