Holiday Memory Book Ideas

There is no time like the holidays to create scrapbooks to give as gifts or to create "special occasion" pages for scrapbooks you or your family already have in the works. There are dozens of ways to make pages that have the look and excitement of this joyous time of year. Color and topical decoration help you design personal pages that will be keepsakes for all the years to come and will be handed down like family heirlooms.

One very special idea is to give life to a group photo. All it takes is the solicitation of short quotes from everyone in the photo. To create such a scrapbook page, attach a photo with photo corners or your favorite attachment method in the center of the page. Create and attach a decorative border around the photo, one that has as its theme the designs and colors that tell the viewer what the occasion is. It is advantageous to use a narrow border so that you can attach your quotes on the page around the photo. With your quotes written down, create "balloons" for each quote and carefully print each one onto the balloons. Attach each quote above or near the person it relates to. It is fun to review previous group shots and read the quotes made. You can watch as youngsters mature or see the pride of parents and grandparents as they share feelings of celebration. These are the events that constitute your family history. They are important and you never have this time together again, so make it count.

If you are prepared at the time of the actual event, you can solicit written comments from guests right on the actual memory book page. These will be treasured in future years, a record of the actual thoughts written in their own hand. Most people who do this can relive the event and enjoy the comments for years to come. So remember to take along some decorated scrapbook pages and see what a stir you create.

Another artistic approach to memory books is to include actual "pieces" from the event. If it is a holiday party, collect bits of gift-wrap, tinsel, holiday tree needles, a holly leaf, and greeting cards along with lots of photos to be included in a very special, one-of-a-kind scrapbook page. The collection can be similar to a tiny time capsule and will be lots of fun to review in later years.

One special gift for a memory book/scrapbook person is to give her the components of her own special holiday history page. Collect as many small, flat items as possible so that she might use them to make up a page for her personal memory book. Assemble lots of tidbits in a clear sleeve along with decorative background paper, a special stamp or metallic stamp pad. It is a gift that will be enjoyed while allowing the recipient a creative adventure.

Stamping is one way to immediately dress a scrapbook page in holiday cheer. Along with personal quotes and/or photographs, stamped images and cutouts from decorative holiday papers make a simple sheet extraordinary. Use dimensional stamp ink and embossing powders to give texture to your stamped designs or cut out the designs and use elevators of double-sided tape to raise the shapes off the page. Even in a tightly closed journal or scrapbook, the 3-D element will not be lost because the spongy tape holds the shapes above the page.

If your collection creates a page that is too thick for the binding that you have, it is possible to create spacers in the binding to give a bit of ease to the over-thick page. To alter the binding, remove the cording or comb that holds the book together. Measure and mark the locations of the binding on a one-inch strip of mat board. Cut this strip shorter than the height of the page, thread the cording or comb through the mat board spacer and replace the other sheets and the cover. A double thickness of mat board can be used for really thick pages.

Travel journals or memory books are fun to make and can have as their theme an entire holiday season. From October through the first of the next year, there are events, parties and gatherings that warrant documentation. But it is the family gatherings, parties with dozens of friends and other special holiday events that are the most frequently recorded.

Maybe it's time you created a memory book to help you record your history. They are fun to make and not expensive. Any blank book can be used as your base and collected items can fill every page to overflowing. Remember last year's holiday parties and gatherings? Don't you wish you had photos and quotes and mementos from those experiences? Start now, be ready and capture everything that happens. It's fun and rewarding!