Students who begin the hobby of scrapbooking afford themselves the opportunity to create sentimental treasures from special times in high school and college. This practice often carries over into family years of weddings, children, and annual traditions. With the photo software available and programs to help with everything from event journaling to building family trees, the creative possibilities for scrapbooking are endless.
Start small
One of the main reasons people never start scrapbooking is because they feel overwhelmed by the thousands of pictures on file and hundreds of special events they want to chronicle, so break the process down into manageable pieces. Choose one recent meaningful event and make a single scrapbook page. For high school students, this may be Homecoming, prom or graduation. Choose three or four pictures that capture significant moments or important people from the event. Select scrapbooking paper in one of your school colors, and use the other spirit color to frame your photos and writing. Position the photos on the page and try a few arrangements to decide what you like best. Always include a caption identifying the location, event and people photographed. You may think now you will never forget that moment, but time has a funny way of erasing memories.
Keep it simple
Don’t be tempted to invest in expensive die-cut machines and custom-ordered stamps right away. Hobbies are intended to be life-long pursuits, so there is plenty of time for a high school student to add tools to their scrapbooking collection. In the beginning, all you really need is a scrapbook, colored paper, scissors, photo-safe adhesive and writing instruments that won’t damage your photos or fade.
Write meaningful recollections
It is tempting to simply record vital statistics, but the when and where of an event have little to do with your experience. Include accounts of funny or romantic things that happened during the event. Describe what was going on when each picture was taken. Talk about the people you chose to spend time with and explain how you know them or why they are special to you. When you or your children flip through the pages of your scrapbook years from now, those personal memories will give the pictures new life.
For more tips and guidance on how to start scrapbooking, check out Scrapbooking Ideas for Beginners. To find inexpensive supplies and start building a toolkit, visit Scrapbooking for Less.
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