Articles : Tutorials - Scrapbooking

Baby Scrapbook Albums

A baby scrapbook album is a keepsake that your child will cherish forever.

Ideas for Baby Scrapbook Layouts

A newborn baby is innocent, sweet, and full of possibility, so it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of ideas available for baby scrapbook layouts. Here are some suggestions for pages you may want to include in your child’s album:

• Welcome home: Describe your baby’s first days at home. Who came to visit? What was the hardest part of adjusting to life with your new bundle of joy?
• A day in the life: While no two days are ever the same when you’re living with a newborn, try to describe your baby’s typical routine as much as possible.
• Growth and development: A record of your baby’s height and weight on a month-by-month basis provides useful information.
• Personality traits: Although a newborn basically sleeps most of the day, it doesn’t take long for a baby’s true personality to shine through. How would you describe your son/daughter?
• Favorite things: What foods does your baby like? What is his/her favorite bedtime story? What silly things do you do to make your baby laugh?
• Family resemblances: What traits does your baby have that remind you of other family members? Does your baby laugh just like your mother? Does he/she have your eyes?
• Lessons learned: What has your experience with your baby taught you about being a mother?

Shortcuts for Creating Baby Scrapbook Albums

As a new parent, you’re probably struggling simply to find the time to sleep. The key to fitting scrapbooking into your already jam-packed schedule is to look for time-saving shortcuts. For example:

• Keep a desk calendar that you have designated specifically for recording your child’s special moments. Make a note of milestones such as the first time your baby eats solid food as well as special trips you’ve taken together, visitors who’ve come to see your baby, and random funny moments you’d like to remember. When you’re ready to scrapbook, you can either use the calendar as the basis for your journaling or simply paste it directly onto your page.
• If you have a blog that you use to keep in touch with family and friends, simply copy and paste your parenting-related entries into your baby scrapbook album.
• Instead of taking the time to mat each photo for your scrapbook, ask your photo developer to print them with white borders. You’ll get the look of matted photos with no extra work.
• Choose coordinating page kits whenever possible to save yourself the stress of shopping for matching paper and embellishments. A Cherry on Top has several kits for baby boy and baby girl scrapbook albums.
• Use sketches to help jumpstart your creative process. Becky Fleck’s PageMaps Web site is one helpful resource for those in search of scrapbook layout sketch ideas.
• If you have leftover photos that fit no specific layout theme, create a collage page for the front or end of your album. Line up the photos in chronological order for an interesting representation of how much your child has grown.