Most people wonder where they should start if they want to begin the fun and creative hobby of scrapbooking. Start with the photos.

Take your packets, boxes or whatever you use to hold your photos and begin organizing them. Here are a few ways to go about doing this:

1. Sort by year - many people like to scrapbook by year.

2. Sort by event - holidays, vacations, birthdays

3. Sort by person

Once you have your photos sorted, you want to identify the backs of the photos with things like Who, What, Where, When.IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE A BALL POINT PEN!!! You will want to get a pen that is safe for photos and is acid free.Ball point pen can bleed through after time and leave indents on the front of the photo. I have some that my Grandmother left that are like that.

Once you have your photos sorted and identified, you can decide what kind of album you want to make.

Let's say you want to make a Family Christmas Album. First, decide what size album you want to make. There are many different sizes:12x12, 81/2x11, 8x8, 6x6, and mini sizes.

Now that you have a size in mind, you can start gathering your supplies. Every scrapbooker needs some basics that I will list down the lens. Since your album is for Christmas, pick up items that fit that holiday theme.

1.Scrapbook Paper - Plain and Pattern

2.Stickers - There are many kinds: 3Dimensional,Embossed,Photo etc.

3.Embellishments - Things like ribbon,brads,fiber,rubber stamps and many other fun products.

4.Idea book or magazine - Great for motivation and how to technics.

Now that you have your basic supplies, themed supplies and photos.....Start Scrapbooking!!!

Remember....There is NO Right or Wrong way to do this!! Do what you like. You can put one photo or several on a page. You can journal a little, a lot or not at all (although it is a good idea to at least put the date of the event).It's up to you if you want to add a brad or some ribbon, or just use paper and your photos.

The best thing to remember - you are sharing the photos and the memories of the events for generations to come. When they look at your scrapbooks, they won't be wondering why you used that piece of ribbon or why you didn't add a button or brad. They will be reading about their history and enjoying the memories you left behind.