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How do I Make a Baby Scrapbook?

Erin J. Hill
Erin J. Hill

There are any number of ways you can make a baby scrapbook, and the possibilities are limited only by your own imagination. Some new parents choose to make a traditional scrapbook using a typical photo album with captions under each picture. Others like to get creative and may use colorful papers, ribbons, folders, and keepsakes from the baby’s first year of life. There are also ready-made versions, where all that is needed is a few pictures and pertinent information to be added.

The most basic type of baby scrapbook is a ready-made baby book. These are available in most department stores, baby stores, and some craft stores. This type of baby scrapbook is handy for those who do not have the time, creative ability, or interest to make a book from scratch but who still want to keep records of their child’s first year of life. Each page is already decorated and contains pre-written questions and areas to paste or tape pictures.

A baby scrapbook might document a baby's first steps.
A baby scrapbook might document a baby's first steps.

Another type of scrapbook is filled with plastic sheets with openings in the tops for sliding in decorative scrapbook paper. All pages are typically blank and require you to cut shapes, paste pictures, and add information. To get started with this type of scrapbook, visit your local craft store and browse their selection. There are literally hundreds of book, paper, and accessory designs including stickers and stencils.

Different levels of customization are possible with a baby scrapbook.
Different levels of customization are possible with a baby scrapbook.

Once you have the book picked out as well as all your other supplies, you should start by figuring out in your head how you want each page to look or which themes you want to use. You may choose to include a page for every important milestone in your baby’s first year. This can include his or her birth, first smiles, first day home from the hospital, or first steps. Each page can be decorated using stickers, stencils, and markers to represent the milestone you are capturing.

There are many ways to make a baby scrapbook.
There are many ways to make a baby scrapbook.

There is no right or wrong way to design your baby scrapbook. You can make the pages as basic and straightforward or as fun and wacky as you desire. The important thing is getting your baby’s first moments and experiences captured on paper for you to enjoy as he grows.

Another version of the classic baby scrapbook is to use a colorful folder to house pictures and keepsakes from your child’s first year. These do not have to contain actual decorated pages, but act more as a treasure box of mementos. You can write milestones on note cards to include, along with first locks of hair, ribbons, hospital bracelets, or photos.

Discussion Comments

gravois

I found the cutest baby scrapbook stickers at a hobby store recently. Honestly, I do not even have a child and I still bought them. I think they will come in handy one day. For what I'm not sure but I have a feeling.

truman12

I have seen many many baby scrapbooking ideas but when it came time to make my own I decided to blaze my own path. I found that most of the scrapbooks that I saw were designed for the parents. They were depositories of memories that the parents could revisit throughout their lives. I wanted to design mine with my baby in mind. I wanted it to be a document that he could look at when they were older to view a time in his life that he could not remember.

For that reason, I avoided a lot of the most common baby themes. A lot of baby scrapbooks are designed to look like little nurseries. I knew that my 20 year old son would not be interested in owning a book like that. So I tried to be more neutral about it. The colors are simple, the design is straight forward and the focus is on pictures rather than ephemera that will only be relevant to his father and I.

chivebasil

There is not a right way or a wrong way to make a baby scrapbook. It is your baby and your memories so you can do just about whatever you want.

Go classical or get funky with it. Try to be comprehensive or focus only on the biggest moments. The choice is yours. The most important thing is that you start baby scrapbooking early. As they start to grow you will be amazed at how many little moments you will miss and forget about.

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    • A baby scrapbook might document a baby's first steps.
      By: sborisov
      A baby scrapbook might document a baby's first steps.
    • Different levels of customization are possible with a baby scrapbook.
      By: SilviuFlorin
      Different levels of customization are possible with a baby scrapbook.
    • There are many ways to make a baby scrapbook.
      By: Monkey Business
      There are many ways to make a baby scrapbook.
    • Twine, clothes pins, and card paper are examples of items that can be found around the house and repurposed for scapbooking.
      By: Sergey Mostovoy
      Twine, clothes pins, and card paper are examples of items that can be found around the house and repurposed for scapbooking.
    • An embosser is a popular tool for scrapbooking.
      By: MaryPerry
      An embosser is a popular tool for scrapbooking.