Genealogy Scrapbook Ideas

Scrapbooking is a beautiful way to preserve our memories for posterity. Instead of just tossing our treasured photos into a shoebox or randomly putting them in a photo album, scrapbooking gives a way to display them with the beauty they deserve. If you haven't tried it, there's no time like the present.

A memory page is a great way to get started with scrapbooking. It's a page with a specific theme, such as one's high school years, a certain sport that your child participated in, or the prom. A memory page is often framed, but it can also be added to a scrapbook. The basic elements of such a page are as follows:

* Title - A title is a good thing to have on a memory page, as it informs those who have never seen it before what it's about. It should be somewhat descriptive, but it can also be clever if you like. It's usually best to keep it short and to the point, though.
* Photos - The pictures, of course, are a very important element for a memory page. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words! An often used strategy is to choose one favorite picture and make it the focus of the page. This is usually done by making it larger than the rest, but it may also be accomplished with special matting, embellishments, or an unusual shape. The pictures can be of people, but it's also good to include shots of objects that are relevant to the theme to use as accents.
* Objects -Including objects such as ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, or dried flowers from the occasion adds a nostalgic touch to any memory page. In fact, scrappers sometimes create pages with no photos at all, opting to use these types of objects instead.
* Journaling - Journaling is great for memory pages. It consists of notes written by you or someone who is featured on the page. It could also be cut out from cards that one has received for the occasion featured. Journaling may be handwritten or typed, but it should always be extremely relevant to the photos and any other objects that are on the page.
* Embellishments - These should not take over the page, but rather accent your photos, objects and journaling. Some ideas for embellishments are stickers, ribbon, tags, and lace.

Memory pages are great for beginning scrapbookers to get started with, and they are also popular among the most experienced scrappers. They're wonderful to give as gifts, include in scrapbooks, or frame and put on the wall. By combining these basic elements, we can create beautiful memory pages that we will treasure for years to come.

Are you looking for a gift that will get your kids' creative juices flowing? You can't go wrong with the IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit!

Whether your child is constantly drawing and writing or hardly ever puts pencil or crayon to paper, this kit is sure to bring out the best of his creativity. It includes instructions and tips to help them write a great story, as well as paper and markers for illustration. But the best part is that your child can send his completed story to the company, and they will put his words in professional typesetting, bind the book in a hard cover, and send it back. Imagine the look on your child's face when he finds that he has become a "published" author!

These books look quite authentic, complete with an "About the Author" page and title and dedication pages. Your child's cover art is laminated on the front, along with his name and the book's title. He will be showing his masterpiece off to friends and family for years to come.

The price of the kit includes publishing of one

IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit

copy of your child's book. You can get more copies to send to the grandparents or other distant relatives and friends for an additional fee. You can't, however, create more than one book with a single kit, and no refills are available. If your child wants to write another book, or you have another child who wants to become an author, you will have to purchase a separate kit.

IlluStory has won multiple awards, including Family Life's Best Learning Toy Award and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award. It's a great tool for encouraging young ones to develop their writing and art skills without them even realizing it. And for parents, it gives them a beautiful keepsake to treasure for many years to come.

Below are some occasions that people often create a scrapbook for. Read on and you might get some ideas on how to preserve memories in those occasions into paper.

Coming of a Baby

An ordinary baby album will probably contain the baby's first photos but a scrapbook can contain not only the first photos but also some of the special milestones that the baby will go through in his first year. All the firsts that he will experience in his life can be documented in a scrapbook.

For instance, you can include the baby's strands of hair after he gets his first cut. You can bind these and then place in a piece of see-through plastic. Another first are the nails that were first cut, both from the fingers of the hands and the feet. Parents can also include copies of special documents such as the birth certificate and the baptismal certificate.

Another great idea is to put the baby's thumbprint, handprint and foot print. Some will also paste a piece of the baby's first ultrasound photo, his first medical certificate and his first vaccination chart.

Wedding and Wedding Anniversaries

A wedding scrapbook may contain pictures at the wedding but it can also include wrappers from the gifts of the guests, wishes that the guests gave for the newlyweds and the gift cards that they have put on their gifts. This is one way to preserve the day not only for the newlyweds but also for their guests.

Another good idea is to document not only the wedding itself but also the days or months of preparation for the wedding. Photos can capture events like the bachelor's party, the bridal shower and even the pre-wedding practice.

The scrapbook may also contain the invitation for the wedding, dried flowers from the bouquet of the bride, a piece of the garter, mayhap even the souvenir if one can manage to paste it on the scrapbook.

Graduation

Another event that is worthy of reminiscing is the graduation. This marks the ending and the beginning of an old and a new chapter in a person's life. A graduation scrapbook can contain the invitation for the event, the investiture that is usually given to the graduates, some pieces of strings from the tussles, and of course the photos of the graduates.

Corsages that are dried may also be put in the scrapbook if one can find a way to paste it in a flat surface.

If you can, you can also include messages from the graduate's classmates and friends as well as to his or her teachers. Put the messages in a kind of message board.

If there are awards merited, one can put the medals or copies of the certificates in the scrapbook. If the graduate did a special address, a copy of the speech should also be included in the scrapbook.