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.
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.
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 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.