Themes and occasions

Choose one clear topic, gather material about it and arrange it in chapters, with a cover and a table of contents. A display folder, an exercise book or loose A4 sheets with rings all work.

• Collect newspaper cuttings, printouts, photos and your own drawings.
• Sort everything by subtopic and give each page a heading.
• For each piece, write a few sentences on what you learn from it or what you think of it.
• Add the source, such as the newspaper or website and the date.
• Make a cover with the title, your name and the date, and number the pages.

Stickers and drawings are fine, as long as the content stays the star.

Read also: How to make a scrapbook for school in six steps

Photos with a short note about what happened, plus small keepsakes from those early days. Work month by month or milestone by milestone, whichever suits you best.

• Scan photos and the pregnancy.
• The birth announcement card, the hospital bracelet and a few congratulations cards.
• Height and weight from the baby clinic (in Flanders through Opgroeien, formerly Kind en Gezin).
• Drawings by big brothers or sisters.
• Letters with wishes from family, to read together later.

Put at least one photo and a few sentences with every memory. It's those words that make the album precious twenty years from now.

Read also: Making a baby album: what to include and how to build it

A December Daily is an album with one page per day, from 1 to 25 December. You capture the small and big moments of December in it. Carrying on until New Year's Eve is fine too.

The secret is preparing in November. Choose your album, get the backgrounds and day numbers ready, and set out your materials for each day or each week. Then in December you only need to add a photo and a few sentences. That way it stays a lovely ritual rather than another chore in a busy month.

Missing a day is no problem. Fill it in later or turn it into a double day.

Read also: December Daily: an album for the whole of December

Do both: make short notes while you're away and work up the journal at home. After a long day on your feet, hardly anyone manages a whole page every evening.

• Each day, jot down a few keywords in a small notebook or on your phone: what you ate, saw, heard and found funny.
• Put tickets, receipts and leaflets in an envelope for each day or each place.
• Take photos of signs and menus to jog your memory.

Back home you'll have everything together to make the pages at your own pace, and you won't forget the details.

Read also: How to keep a travel journal on the road, even when you're tired

Children's scissors, a glue stick and double-sided adhesive squares are enough for young children. Keep the paper trimmer, craft knife and heat gun in your own hands.

Show each step first, then let them choose where the photo goes and which words belong with it. Give small children large materials with no small parts that could end up in their mouths. Use non-toxic glue and paint.

Let them cut and draw their own decorations, so your stash stays intact. And let go of how it should look: the fun matters more than a neat page.

Read also: Scrapbooking with children

Choose from three groups, so the whole story of the day is in it and you don't get stuck among hundreds of near-identical photos.

• Moments: arrival, ceremony, rings, kiss, cake, first dance and departure.
• Details: dress, suit, bouquet, invitation, rings and decorations.
• Emotion: hugs, glances, laughing and moved guests.

Pick the best photo of each moment and leave out the variations. Check for sharpness and a good resolution, especially for photos that need to go large. You can keep the rest in an ordinary photo album or a folder.

Read also: Making a wedding album: choosing, arranging and decorating photos

Choose the milestones that mean something to your family. You don't have to work through every list. Popular choices are:

• the first day and the first meeting with brothers, sisters or grandparents
• the first smile
• rolling over, crawling and the first steps
• the first tooth and the first word
• the first tastes of solid food
• the first bath, the first holiday and the first snow
• the first holidays and the first day at nursery

Note down the date straight away, even if you make the page later. A calendar or a note on your phone is enough.

Read also: Making a baby album: what to include and how to build it

Work chronologically, from the first job to the farewell day. That way the album tells the story of a whole working life.

• For each period, note the role, the place and the number of years.
• Add awards, anniversaries and great projects.
• Ask colleagues to write a few sentences on cards: a memory, a thank-you or a wish. Ask them for a photo of themselves too.

If there are few photos of the work itself, use a photo of the building, the town or the company logo. Start collecting in good time, as colleagues often take a while to respond.

Read also: How to make a scrapbook as a gift

Choose an album that can grow, because with photos, cards and layers it gets a lot thicker over December. An album with loose rings or a ring binder is the most practical. You can swap the rings for bigger ones later.

Smaller sizes are popular, such as about 15 x 20 cm (6 x 8 inches) or 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inches). You fill a page quickly, so it stays doable every day. Pocket page protectors make it even easier: a photo in one pocket, a card with text in the other.

Read also: December Daily: an album for the whole of December

Paper tickets are best slipped into a sleeve or small envelope rather than glued down. That way you can still move them later and they don't get damaged.

Many tickets and receipts are printed on thermal paper. It fades after a few years, especially in the light. So scan or copy them, and stick the copy in your album.

For an e-ticket, you can print out an image. You can also make a small card with the name of the event, the place, the date and a short note. Store everything in a dry, dark place without big swings in temperature.

Read also: How to keep tickets, receipts and newspaper clippings in your album

Follow the course of the day, so the album reads like a story.

• the preparations: getting dressed, hair, bouquet
• the ceremony and the key moments
• the reception, the dinner and the speeches
• the party, the first dance and the guests
• the departure or the end of the evening

If you want more context, start with a page about the proposal or the engagement. You can group the group photos together on a spread of their own. Lay the photos out loose on the table in order first, so you quickly see where the gaps or repeats are.

Read also: Making a wedding album: choosing, arranging and decorating photos

A record book gives you structure, a handmade album gives you freedom. Both are good.

A record book has the questions ready for you, which is handy if you're short on time. The downside: not every box fits your child, and empty boxes can nag at you.

Loose layouts in sleeves in a ring binder can be added, moved and filled in whenever you like. Choose one colour palette or motif, so it still feels like a whole.

Either way, use acid-free materials. That keeps photos and paper looking good for the long term.

Read also: Making a baby album: what to include and how to build it

Then you make an album with what you do have, and that's enough. No album is complete, and the stories you tell are worth more than the gaps you see.

Look through messages to family, the dates on phone photos and old diaries: there's often more there than you think. You can also look back: write down now what you remember of that time. That's just as real as a record made back then.

Start with the period you most feel like doing. You don't have to work chronologically.

Read also: Behind on your album: do you have to scrap in order?

Let the material from your trip do the drawing.

• Street plans and pieces of maps.
• Admission tickets, train tickets and receipts.
• Postcards, leaflets and labels.
• Stamps from museums, stations or post offices.
• Illustrations cut out of magazines.
• Small prints of your own photos.

With washi tape, a few stickers and your handwriting, it already comes together. A nice trick: cut a window into a page with a craft knife and slide a map behind it. That's easiest in a spiral-bound or ring-bound book that lies flat.

Read also: How to keep a travel journal on the road, even when you're tired

The loveliest words often come from the day itself. Think of a line from the vows, the speech or the invitation.

Other sources:

• poems and song lyrics the couple holds dear
• little quote books and text stamps
• your own words, such as ‘Together is the loveliest word’ or simply the names and the date

Keep it short, especially for a title. Words that suit the couple say more than a generic saying.

Read also: Making a wedding album: choosing, arranging and decorating photos

Start with the people in the photo. If you know who they are and when they were born, you can often estimate the period well from their age.

Other clues:

• clothes, hairstyles and cars in the background
• the size and the card mount, for very old photos on thick card
• the photo studio's stamp on the back
• notes on the back or in the old album

Ask older relatives to look with you, ideally while you still can. Write down what you discover straight away, in pencil on the back or on a card alongside.

Read also: Who is in that old photo, and when was it taken?

A light, thin notebook that fits in your bag or coat pocket. When you're out and about you want to jot something down quickly, not lug a thick album around.

Look for:

• spiral or ring binding, so it lies flat and you can tuck things into it
• paper your pen doesn't press through
• perhaps a pocket or envelope at the back for tickets

A traveler's notebook is popular: a leather or card cover with loose booklets (inserts) that you can swap for each trip. You then make the detailed pages at home.

Read also: How to use and set up a traveler's notebook

Above all, record the traditions: what you do, eat and decorate every year. Over the years, that becomes the loveliest story.

• Write down a family recipe or a regular ritual.
• Keep a Christmas card, a menu or a drawing by the children.
• Take the same photo every year, for example by the tree, and put them side by side later.

Seasonal paper and themed stickers are fun, but not necessary. A calm page with one accent colour in red or pastel lets the photos speak better.

Read also: Holidays and seasons in your scrapbook

Choose fewer photos per page and give the most important photo room. A wedding album often gets too full because everything has to go in.

Common mistakes:

• near-identical photos side by side
• the best photo too small
• a different style or colour on every page
• no white space and no margin
• typos in names or the date

Choose one style and a palette of two or three colours, and stick to it. Proofread all the text before you stick it down or send it to print, ideally by someone else.

Read also: Design principles for a scrapbook page that works

Scan or copy baby scan photos straight away. They're usually printed on thermal paper and fade after a few years, especially in the light. Use the copy in your album and keep the original in the dark in an envelope.

Put the hospital bracelet in its own little bag or envelope, so it doesn't sit directly against photos. Choose PP or PE plastic, not PVC. The same goes for other thick or lumpy keepsakes: a pocket sleeve or small envelope on the page protects them and keeps your page flat.

Read also: How to keep tickets, receipts and newspaper clippings in your album

Ideally work with copies or scans and leave the originals intact. If an original does have to go in the album, use photo corners instead of glue.

Calm colours suit old photos well: brown, grey, dark green or cream. A narrow cream mat under the photo gives a neat border. Use acid-free and lignin-free paper, so the photos don't discolour further.

With each photo, write who is in it, where and when, as far as you know. A family tree or a few details from genealogy research make the album even richer.

Read also: How to make a family album with old photos and documents

Look in the books and songs you already have. A line from a lullaby, a children's book or a poem makes a title personal straight away.

Other ideas:

• the name and date of birth, big and simple
• a short phrase such as ‘Welcome to the world’ or ‘Home at last’
• something you often said yourself at that time

Short titles work best. If you don't have letter stickers, write the title by hand or cut letters out of paper.

Read also: How to make scrapbook titles without letter stickers

Choose a book with spiral or ring binding. It stays open flat on its own while guests write, which makes writing much more comfortable.

• Use sturdy paper that ink doesn't bleed through.
• Put out a pen with pigment ink that doesn't smudge.
• Put a short question on each page, such as a piece of advice or a wish for the couple.
• Leave space to stick in photos of the guests later.

With loose cards that guests fill in and you stick in afterwards, you avoid a queue at the party.

Read also: Making a wedding album: choosing, arranging and decorating photos

Yes, a scrapbook full of shared memories is one of the most personal presents you can give. If you're not sure it's enough, add something small.

What can go in it:

• photos of the two of you, from when you first met until now
• tickets from concerts, films and trips
• screenshots of your first messages
• a letter or short notes with the photos

10 x 15 cm photos fit well. Leave a few pages blank at the back, so you can carry on filling the album together.

Read also: How to make a scrapbook as a gift

Take your time and start small, with one page or one memory. There's no right order and no deadline.

What you can use:

• photos from different periods of their life
• the funeral card, the eulogy and a selection of condolence cards
• something in the handwriting of the person who died
• stories you ask family and friends for

Work with copies of photos that only exist once. Working on it with children or family can bring comfort. If you find it getting too heavy, put it away and pick it up again later.

Read also: Scrapbooking through grief and loss