Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Baby Scrapbook Tips

Fun Ways to Enhance Your Baby Scrapbook

Baby scrapbook albums are the best way to remember your baby’s life. Whether you are making a baby boy scrapbook or baby girl scrapbook, you can create unique pages for your baby scrapbooking needs. There are a few ways to enhance your scrapbook layouts with some fun techniques.

Add dimension to your pages by using 3-D foam squares. Make certain pictures “pop off” the page by attaching the photo with 3-D squares. The photo will stand out and get noticed if it is popping out away from the page.

Another fun suggestion for a baby book page is to incorporate pop up windows. Hide a precious photo behind a pop up window so the child can lift the flap to see the picture. Seeing and feeling different elements on your baby scrapbook pages will make the book fun for children to look at. Choose fun creative embellishments that your child can touch.

You can improve your baby scrapbook layouts by including interactive pages, too.


Cropping Corner Tip: Baby Book Scrapbooking

Crafting a baby scrapbook is the best gift you can give to your child. It is so much fun for older children to see what they looked like when they were babies. Baby scrapbook albums are some of the most popular scrapbooking albums on the market. If you are new to scrapbooking, you can choose to purchase a baby scrapbook kit where the pages are ready-to-assemble. If you would like to make your own scrapbook layouts from scratch here are some suggestions for your baby scrapbook album.

1. Don’t just include pictures of your baby. Take pictures ahead of time of what you looked like when you were pregnant.

2. Take photos of your house and your car so they can see where they lived at the time they were born and what kind of automobile you had.

3. Prepare ahead of time by purchasing some basic scrapbook supplies. If you know the gender of your baby in advance you can decide on baby scrapbook paper, embellishments, stickers and tools in advance.

4. If you have caught the “scrapbooking bug” and seriously want to make your album shine, then you can take some classes ahead of time to learn techniques and “tricks of the trade.”

5. Keep a journal or diary of your thoughts and feelings throughout your pregnancy; then continue recording important information like first words, when they took their first step, etc. If you are not able to work on your baby scrapbook often then memories tend to fade. Keeping track of your baby’s development will help jog your memory as your make your scrapbook layouts.

Another suggestion for preparing to create your baby’s scrapbook is to start collecting baby scrapbook poems or funny sayings you would like to include in your baby album.


Quick Easy Baby Album Ideas

Whether you are creating a keepsake baby album for yourself or someone else, here a few ideas for some simple baby scrapbooking that will highlight baby milestones:

Baby pictures month by month. Create layouts that capture how the baby is growing or changing. Include a page or two to record each month of their life, starting with the day they were born. You don’t have to include millions of pictures to make a heartwarming baby keepsake album.

Baby “book of firsts.” Dedicate a two-page spread to each “first” in the baby’s life. Things like first bath, first words, first tooth, first steps, first foods, first haircut, etc. This little baby book will be fun to look at when your child is older.

Baby “book of milestones.” This book can be a mixture of the two other baby album ideas. Start by documenting special days in the baby’s life such as milestones, the day they were born, immunization days, first steps, meal time, etc.

Baby scrapbooking ideas can be endless. Start with basic scrapbooking supplies, such as baby scrapbook paper and accessories or a baby scrapbooking page kit and create your baby scrapbook album of memories.


Cropping Corner Tip: Memorabilia for Baby Scrapbooks

A baby scrapbook is an essential memory book for every household. Parents are so excited when it comes to the arrival of a new baby. When starting a baby scrapbook featuring your precious little one, the proper scrapbook supplies and baby scrapbook ideas are good to have on hand. Whether you are creating a baby boy scrapbook or a baby girl scrapbook, here are some items that are fun to include in your baby scrapbook album.

  • Baby shower invitations, list of gifts received, cards and photos
  • Ultra sound pictures
  • Mask or piece of hospital gown dad wore
  • Hospital bracelets
  • First pair of booties
  • A lock of baby’s hair
  • Grocery or gas receipt from the first week baby was born
  • Baby’s footprints, birth certificate from hospital, etc.
  • Band-Aid from first immunization
  • Diaper from first package
  • Outfit worn home from hospital
  • Christening clothes
  • Label from first jar of baby food
These items are wonderful memories that will be entertaining to look at in the future. Memorabilia will help make your baby scrapbook layouts exciting and a baby memory scrapbook will be a treasure for many years to come.


Pregnancy Scrapbook

A pregnancy scrapbook can be a fun keepsake for kids. This little scrapbook tells the story of your pregnancy. Just like baby scrapbooks, pregnancy scrapbooks are memorable albums for the entire family. A good place to start your pregnancy scrapbook is with a picture of you when you found out you were pregnant and record the date. As you go through your pregnancy, keep a journal of your doctor's appointments and how you felt throughout your pregnancy. You can include ultrasound pictures and other interesting information. Update your photos month by month so you can see how your body is changing. Be sure to get some side views in order to capture the “full effect” of the growing belly. Take photos of your doctor, the hospital where you delivered and even your hospital room.

At the end of your pregnancy scrapbook, write a letter to your child about how you felt during the delivery and what your feelings were when you saw them for the first time. A pregnancy scrapbook can be a treasured keepsake for you and your child to share.


Baby Scrapbook ABC's

Baby scrapbooks are very important to most individuals, and especially mothers. You can make unique baby albums by picking an original theme.



Try an ABC baby scrapbook. Each page has something to do with the corresponding letter. For example:



A for appetite

B for bouncy boy

C for cousins

D for daddy

E for eyes

F for feet

G for growing

H for haircut

J for jumping

K for knees

L for lovable

M for mommy



And so on as you go through the entire alphabet. By the time you make a page layout for each letter you will have quite a book. Make the letter visible in a corner or in the middle of the page and put the matching word next to the letter. Your scrapbook pages can be embellished with baby items such as decorative buttons, safety pins, ribbons, etc.



Baby Picture Tips

An important part of creating an adorable layout for your baby scrapbook is high-quality photos. Babies are so much fun to photograph, but often times the pictures turn out too dark or too blurry. In order to take better photographs of your baby there are few tips you can follow:

1. Stand directly over the baby when photographing him or her on their backs. This will ensure a clear direct shot of the child.

2. Use a high quality camera. Digital photos or automatic cameras work best. If you buy a disposable camera make sure it is a quality brand so your photos don’t suffer.

3. Keep your camera handy so you can capture all ranges of emotions. Although we like happy faces, it is fun to see how our babies react and photograph their sour faces, sad faces, confused faces, etc.

4. Pick a certain time of the week or month to have “picture time.” Documenting your baby’s growth and changes can be a great addition to your baby scrapbook. Bath time can be the perfect time to take pictures of how much you child has grown. A few fun shots in the tub are fun, but doing a “photo shoot” in a clean outfit right out of the tub is the ideal time to take some wonderful photographs.

Taking quality photos is not difficult if you pay attention to detail and follow a few simple tips like those listed above.

Scrapbook albums are the best way to preserve wonderful memories of your baby. You can adorn your pages with fun embellishments, delightful photos and even some baby scrapbook quotes and poems.


Baby Scrapbook: "Book of Firsts"

One idea for a baby scrapbook theme is a "Book of Firsts". In this album you can record milestones for your infant/baby. Your page layouts can be created around a certain milestone. For example:



First Words

First Steps

First Tooth

First Haircut

First Foods

First Bath

First Birthday

First Christmas

First Easter

First Trip to the Zoo



This exclusive baby scrapbook will be unique for each child. Include sentimental items in your book such as "locks of hair" for your first haircut page, Christmas or birthday cards for the "firsts" in those categories and lots and lots of pictures for the "first steps" etc. Use journaling spaces on your pages to keep record of "first words" and funny phrases your child says when they begin to talk. Baby scrapbooks don't have to be traditional, you can come up with any type of theme you want for your scrapbook pages. Make the book fun and interesting to look at for future generations.



Baby Scrapbooking Theme: First Year of Life

Why not make a baby scrapbook that is all about your child's “first year of life”?



Each page layout will represent a month in your child's life. You will start with one month old and go to 12 months old. This can be an important little book to share with your kids when they get older. With pictures on each page you will be able to see how much your baby changes and develops, as they grow older.



Start with a newborn section (one page layout or several if you want more pictures); include a picture of your newborn in the hospital. Next, move on to one month, in this section you could have pictures on the baby with mom, dad, siblings etc. Include pictures of bath time and feedings. Continue to go through the entire first year. When you hit a year old you will have fun pictures of their first birthday, eating cake, opening presents, etc. Baby scrapbooks are fun, be creative and make your baby scrapbooks something your children will cherish for a lifetime.


Baby Scrapbook: Lullaby Theme

Baby scrapbook themes are endless. One unique theme idea is a lullaby album. Babies tend to sleep a lot when they are newborns and moms just can't resist snapping pictures of those innocent faces. As mother's we want to remember the peaceful times because they don't last for long.



Why not make a themed book of those sleeping photographs and include the words and lyrics of baby songs and lullabies. Be sure to include the songs you sing to your children and write about your thoughts and feelings. You can add pages to this book even as your child gets older. With older children you can include the songs they like to sing such as ABC's, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat-a-Cake, etc.


Baby Scrapbook Colors

Color combinations can be tough to determine. What colors will look fabulous in your books? What colors are good for baby boys and which colors are better for baby girls? Questions about color combinations are prevalent among scrappers as they create their exclusive baby scrapbooks.



Here are some color suggestions for baby scrapbook pages:



Baby boy themed pages are traditionally done in blue, reds and greens. Baby blue, tan, and kiwi green are a great combination for baby boy pages. Try a medium shade of blue with a deep red color and brown to accent. Boy pages turn out well with yellow, too. Use yellow, green and turquoise colors for some fun scrapbook pages.



Moving on to baby girls, pink is a common color used for page layouts with "girly" themes. Yellow is a fabulous color for girls too. Combine it with a bubblegum pink and kiwi green and your have an adorable mix. Use dark purple with a vanilla cream color and medium pink for another choice. Try medium blue, plum and key lime green.



There are many possibilities when it comes to colors, and experimenting with different combinations is recommended. You don't have to stick with traditional colors like blue and pink. Expand your horizons and come up with various color combinations and accents to make your pages "stand out".


No comments: