How to: make a scrapbook

Kaylea Kuhlman, Reporter

NORFOLK– Scrapbooks are an incredible way to have your memories displayed. These days most people stick to having their photos digitally displayed online. While this can be handy, having your pictures physically shown in a book allows you to show more creativity. It is also fun to flip through your albums as the years go past and reflect on your memories. To create your perfect scrapbook, you can do as little or as much as you would like.  

What you will need: 

  • Scrapbook album 
  • Background pages 
  • Option of glue stick, glue bottle, double sided tape and/or regular tape. The choice is yours. 
  • Pictures 
  • Clear page covers   

OPTIONAL: 

  • Stickers, including letters 
  • Markers/pens 
  • Scissors 

Steps: 

  1. Gather all materials together. As you do this, imagine how you want your book to turn out. What page ideas do you have? Do you have any memorabilia that can go along with a page? Pick out your pictures and get them printed on photo paper. To do this, you can upload them online and get them printed at a photo center in a store for pickup. Then, go to your local craft store or browse online for background pages, stickers and anything else you may need for your pages.  
  2. Create page themes. Group your photos and materials together that go along with each other. For example, if you have a lot of pictures with friends you can dedicate one page for those. Or if you have pictures from a vacation, combine those together along with a pack of stickers that show where your vacation was at or what you did.  
  3. Design one specific page. Have your background page laid down and place your photos according to what looks best for you, without gluing or taping them. To do this you may have to trim some pictures or overlap them. Play around with different arrangements to get a perfect placement for you 
  4. Attach pictures. Glue or tape down your photos in the spot you chose in the last step. You can also add any other memorabilia that goes with your theme.  
  5. OPTIONAL: Place stickers. Decorate the empty areas with stickers that fit your page theme. Some places that stickers fit the best at are in the corners of pictures, corners of the page or in between pictures. Adding stickers can really help bring the page to life and look more put together than just pictures on a page.  
  6. OPTIONAL: Add words or phrases. This can be done with sticker letters or just handwriting with a marker or a pen. Some examples of text are what is happening in the pictures, the date the pictures were taken, a word to describe the pictures and who is in the pictures.  
  7. Repeat for all pages. Complete the rest of your pages to your liking. This step can take weeks, months or years. It is completed whenever you think your all your pages are complete. If your scrapbook is ongoing, you can continue with the last steps and keep adding as you go along.   
  8. Organize pages in order. You can have your book laid out chronologically or by sections. Do whatever fits the style of you and your scrapbook.  
  9. Place pages in a plastic covers. Place your first two pages so that their back sides are facing each other. Carry on this pattern until all the pages are in a plastic cover. Some albums already come with these pages, but you may need to purchase more if you have extra spreads. 
  10. Enjoy. There you have your completed scrapbook. Now you have a personal photo album to flip through to remember your best memories along with a new memory of putting it together.