Motivation: A baby scrapbook created by a parent is something that will be cherished by the whole family for many years to come. Adding your personal touch, your own handwriting, and your own style to baby’s photos will not only be beautiful, but will give you such a sense of accomplishment. The time you spend on the album will demonstrate your desire to create something wonderful for your family, your child and generations to come. This will demonstrate the love you have for your child . . . as scrapbooking is an art that will be interpreted by the eye of the beholder.
Getting Started: My first recommendation to you is to find a Creative Memories’ Consultant to help equip you with all the right tools (www.creativememories.com). Su re you can shop at your local scrapbook store, craft store, or find tons of online scrapbook stores; but when you are new to scrapbooking, getting started can be overwhelming with all there is to choose from. CM, in my opinion, has the highest quality tools and a great selection of products for those just getting started as well as wonderful, resourceful consultants that can help you every step of the way. The other reason I highly recommend CM is they offer a beautiful baby coverset (scrapbook binder) that can hold many pages. If you are like me, you will take way too many pictures of your child’s first year and it will be hard to narrow down which pictures to use in baby’s album. Therefore, having an album that can hold 50 pages (100 sides) is a definite plus! Finally, CM is a great place to start because they provide pre-made baby pages, stickers, and ideas for the beginner. You have the option to of course do your own thing, which I ended up doing, but the pre-made pages are great way to get the creativity flowing.
Materials: Basics include an album with pages, page protectors, scissors, personal trimmer, adhesive (CM tape runner), photos, baby themed pages/stickers/die cuts, journaling pens, 12 inch paper trimmer, paper packs (CM has some great sets, short cuts are wonderful!)
Additional supplies I recommend: CM cutting system with circles and ovals (or other cutting system), corner rounder, decorative trimmer, photo storage box (get your pictures in order)
Optional supplies: punches, CM shape makers, stamps and stamp pads, eyelets, brads, ribbon, other embellishments
Order of Layouts: Many people prefer to have their pictures in chronological order while others prefer to sort pictures by theme/event. I like to use a combination of the two. In general, I have all my pictures in order by date. I go through them and begin to pull out pictures I want to use for pages. I place these sets of pictures in a photo sorter file/box. As I am going through, I may find pictures of a certain theme and I will create a page according to that theme using pictures from several dates. I usually place this page in the album according to the first date. You can put your layouts in your album in any order that works for you.
Page Layout Ideas: Again, I would highly recommend using the premade pages from CM (if you use a CM album). You can also buy baby page kits at other scrapbook retailers. I am going to list various page ideas. Some I will give no description (use your creativity). Others I will give a brief description. Others I will give a little more detail. These are all just suggestions. I find what works best is to go through your photos, sort them into sets, and then decide what layouts you will utilize. Not everyone will have pictures of the same events. The style of your layouts will depend on your tools, your expertise, and how much time you want to spend on it. Just be sure to have fun with it and try various techniques.
Introduction Page – Place a photo of your baby from the hospital and write his/her full name along with the date they were born. You might title it “This is a story about . . . ” You might include a poem about babies, a poem you wrote, or just some baby embellishments. You might also use the baby announcement you sent to friends and family on this page.
Parents Page – This is a page where you can create a layout with pictures of the baby’s mom and dad. It’s neat for the children to see what mom and dad looked like before they were born. You might include a picture from dating, the wedding, and/or while pregnant.
Family Page – One of my favorite pages is of baby with different family members (from aunts and uncles to grandparents to cousins). If you have lots of family pictures from different times of baby’s first year, you can make multiple pages . . . “Family Fun”, “I love my Family”, or “It’s good to be loved.
Pregnancy Page – A great way to document the pregnancy is to take a picture of mom each month (from the side) to show how baby is growing. You can also journal about your feelings, cravings, etc.
Daddy Page – Let daddy create a page where he can share his thoughts, prayers, feelings about becoming a dad and his hopes for his baby.
Here I Come Page – This is mostly a journaling page. Describe to your child what it was like when you found out you were pregnant. Tell about how you told other people. Then tell the story of your child’s birth. It is such a good idea to document all of this as soon as possible, before you forget the details. You can add pictures from the hospital or ultrasounds from your pregnancy.
Here I Am Page or “Just Arrived” – Give the details of baby’s birth such as date and time of birth. Also include, the name of the hospital and doctor. Baby’s weight, length, apgar scores, eye color, and hair color (if any) are essential. You can also list people that came to visit you and baby at the hospital. Another possibility is telling about how you chose baby’s name (of course this could be its own page as well). Something I added to this page was a little decorative corner that said “it’s a boy!”
Documentation Page – This is a page or two page spread where you can place baby’s feet prints from the hospital, his/her birth certificate, mom’s or baby’s ID bracelet(s), and pictures from the hospital such as baby on the scale or in his crib.
Childbirth Class Page – If you took a Childbirth Class prior to having baby, you could include a little bit about your experience as well as your certificate.
Coming Home Page – Include pictures of putting baby into the carrier for the first time, getting into the car, and coming into the home. You might include pictures of who was at the house to welcome baby and a picture of baby’s new home. A good title would be “Home Sweet Home”.
Visitors Page – Be sure to include a list of everyone that visited the hospital during your stay, as well as, people who came to visit you at your home. You can also list people that brought you meals. In addition, you might include actual pictures of some of the visitors with baby and/or gifts you received from them.
The World Around Me Page – Include information about what is happening in the world around the time baby is born . . . such as News of the Day, Entertainment, Books, Movies, Fads, TV Shows, and what different things cost (milk, gas, house, car, hamburger, movie ticket, television, a soda, etc.)
Cards Page – Creative Memories once again is great because they have pages that will hold your greeting cards. You will want to include all the cards you received in your baby’s album.
Greetings, Gifts & Flowers Page – Make a list of all the gifts you received and who they were from. You can do this in your own handwriting on lined scrapbook page or you might word process it or you might even take pictures of each of the gifts and make a collage of gifts.
Baby Shower Page – You could title the page(s) “Showered with Love” and add an umbrella with heart raindrops. Make sure to get pictures of all your guests, opening gifts, the cake, and your hostess. You can add the invitation to the layout as well. Journal a little bit about the experience too telling about your favorite game, gift, and surprise.
Baby’s Room Page – Be sure to take pictures of baby’s nursery and create a layout of pictures with or without baby. Tell about the theme of the room you chose and why and the hard work you put into it!
Baby Sleeping Page – “Twinkle Twinkle” . . . pictures of baby sleeping in various places, lots of stars surrounding baby. “Fall Asleep Counting Sheep . . . add sheep with numbers 1 to 5 around pictures of baby sleeping. Other possible titles are “So tired” or “Sweet Dreams”.
Bathtime Page – “Rub a Dub Dub, Baby in the Tub” . . . include various pictures of baby in bath, use ducks, bubbles, splashing accents, etc. Another title is “Squeaky Clean”.
Small Talk, Big Firsts Page – “Life’s an Adventure” Make a list of “firsts” for baby such as first bath, first trip to store, first smile, first time rolled over, first time to eat cereal, first time crawling, first time walking, first time pulled self up, first playdate, etc. You can also include pictures.
I’m Going Places! Page – List baby’s outings along with dates and include some pictures of the baby at the different places.
Baby’s First Haircut – Include date, location of haircut, who cut it and what baby thought of the experience. Have a before and after picture as well as during. Keep some of baby’s hair to attach to the page.
Time to Eat! Page – Make a border using the labels from the baby food jars, and then add pictures of baby eating various foods, being fed with a spoon, feeding himself, etc. Another title is “Fun with Finger Food” . . . this is great for those cheerio and spaghetti pictures.
Watch Me Grow Page – Keep track of baby’s growth monthly . . . weight, height, percentile, clothing size, etc. You can include a picture of baby at a well baby visit too!
Our Little Angel Page – Include a picture from Newborn to 1 year, one for each month.
Baby’s First Halloween – One thing I did for this page was take a picture of baby with some pumpkins, very cute! You can also dress up baby and take pictures. Depending on the age of your baby at the time of Halloween, you might take him/her trick or treating and include those pictures.
Baby’s First Thanksgiving – Include pictures of family and festivities of the day.
Baby’s First Christmas – Pictures with Santa, opening gifts, a bow on baby’s head – Best Gift of All!, the tree, baby with family. Make sure to journal about the day; add cards and a list of presents received.
Baby’s First Valentine’s Day – Dress baby up and take pictures of baby with hearts. Title the page “Baby
Love” . . . use pinks and purples and reds . . . utilize places like www.shutterfly.com to add fun borders to your photos.
Baby’s First Easter – pictures of baby with bunny ears are fun, with the Easter Bunny, and looking for
eggs. You can also include cards, list of gifts, and mat photos on eggs.
Baby’s First Birthday – “Look who is 1!” . . . make a layout of professional portraits or birthday party.
Save baby’s birthday cards and make a list of gifts received.
Other page ideas that might be included:
*A Star is Born – cut pictures into star shapes, mat with yellow stars
*Love Those Feet – pictures of baby trying to put feet in his/her mouth
*Eggstra Special or Quack Me Up – use eggs in the layout, funny face pictures
*Road Trip – Document your vacations you take during baby’s first year. Take photos of baby in the car, at roadside stops, at the hotel, etc. List where you are going and journal about the trip experience. Other titles include “On the Road Again” and “Are we there yet?”
*Memories – create a collage of pictures (all cut into circles or squares or ovals) of family, of a specific event that occurred or of the year.
*Vacation Pages – A Day at the Beach for example could include pictures of baby at the beach, a small shell from the beach, a postcard from the location, ocean or sand layout, etc.
*A Blessing From Above – precious moments
*Go Team! – You might have a page of baby wearing your team’s colors.
*Baby Boy/Girl – Favorite pictures of your baby with a poem or favorite song
*Peek a Boo – Pictures of baby engaging in a game of peek a boo
*Precious Memories – baby doing activities that you don’t want to forget and tell about those times.
*Pet Page – For example “I love my cat!” Include pictures of baby with your pet. Paw prints around the border is a nice touch. Journal about the interaction between your baby and your pet.
*Super Baby – feature baby’s accomplishments or baby is superman/girl clothes
*Rock & Roll – a layout including pictures of baby rolling over. You can also do “I think I can . . . ” and “I did it!” as your captions.
*Fun in the Pool – “Splish Splash” – make a pool or find a pool paper and then glue pictures of baby in the pool to the page.
*Ready to Play – pictures of baby with a football and make the background a football field.
*You are my Sunshine – Sun shapes with pictures of baby’s face.
*Play time! Cut out pictures of baby playing with various toys and then add some embellishments such as toy cut outs. List baby’s favorites.
*Faith page – this could be a baptism page, or parent dedication page . . . include pictures of leaders from the church, baby at church, etc.
*Family Tree page – you can purchase these at most scrapbook stores . . . just add in the information and/ or photos.
*That’s My Mom! Or World’s Best Mom! – all pictures of mom and baby. Be sure to journal about those special times of bonding. You can also include a photo of mom as a baby for comparison. (do a page for daddy too!)
*Friends Page – Pictures of baby with his/her friends at playdates . . . “Kids at Play!”
*Cute as a Bug – pictures of baby along with butterfly, caterpillar, ladybug, or other bugs, grass border or bright colors.
*Cute as a Button – use buttons to decorate the page
*Naked Boy/Girl – It’s hard not to catch naked pictures of baby the first year . . . make a fun page showing off baby’s cute “other” side.
*Outside fun – create a display of pictures of baby in the backyard, at the park, in the pool, etc.
Seasonal pages – Title them Summer, Spring, Fall, Winter and include pictures of baby outside or at various outings during that season.
Creating a scrapbook takes time, energy, and love but I promise it is all worth it. Find some friends and work on your scrapbooks together so you can share ideas and supplies. Find snippets of time to work on the scrapbook and block out times to work on it as well, so that you can keep up with it. Finally, don’t forget to protect your scrapbooks . . . they will be treasured heirlooms for years to come.
