Articles : Tutorials - Scrapbooking

Vacation Scrapbook Albums

Whether you’re backpacking across Europe or taking a family vacation to visit relatives in Oklahoma, creating a vacation scrapbook album is a great way to preserve your special travel memories.

Choosing Your Scrapbook Supplies

Today’s scrapbookers have more choices than ever before when it comes to designing travel-themed projects. There are product lines to celebrate specific destinations, such as Paris or Las Vegas. Globes, airplanes, buses, suitcases, maps, cameras, and passports are also popular embellishment choices for travel-themed scrapbook pages, as well as decorative titles with sayings like “Family Vacation,” “Weekend Getaway,” or “Road Trip.”

If this is your first scrapbook project, working with a coordinating page kit may be the easiest option. Travel scrapbook kits include all the papers and embellishments you need to start your project; the only items you’ll need to supply are the photos and adhesive!

Organizing Your Vacation Scrapbook Album

Ideally, you’ll want to start creating your vacation scrapbook album while the memories from your trip are still fresh in your mind. Once you’ve had a chance to unpack and get settled back at home, jot down the names, dates, and locations for each photo you wish to use in your scrapbooking layouts. Remember, all it really takes is a few great photos to tell the story of your vacation! If you have more pictures than you can realistically expect to include in your project, consider purchasing a small 2-up or 3-up photo album to accommodate the extras. Don’t turn a fun project into a stressful experience by trying to scrapbook 200 photos from a week-long trip.

When preparing the journaling for your vacation album, it may be helpful to use the following questions as a starting point for your writing:

• How long did it take you to prepare for your vacation? Who was responsible for booking hotel rooms, packing, and planning your daily itinerary?
• Who went on your trip with you?
• How did you arrive at your destination?
• What was your favorite part of your vacation? What was the worst part?
• Did you get a chance to try any new or unusual foods during your trip?
• What souvenirs did you pick up during your travels?
• Did anyone get homesick while traveling?
• How did you feel when your vacation was over? Were you disappointed or relieved to get back to your regular routine?

If your vacation involved seeing famous landmarks or tourist attractions, you can find additional information to include in your scrapbook journaling by doing a bit of Internet research. Most places will have Web sites with facts and trivia that you can easily incorporate into your project.

Beyond Photos

While photos are obviously an important part of any vacation scrapbook album, adding memorabilia to your layouts can give your project extra pizzazz. Here are a few ideas for items you may wish to include:

• Maps
• Postcards
• Brochures from the places you visited
• Programs from concerts, plays, etc.
• Restaurant menus
• Ticket stubs
• Small souvenirs, such as stickers, bookmarks, or pins
• Foreign currency, if your vacation involved traveling to a different country