When my son was 2, I was trying to think of a creative way to help teach him his ABC’s. I was really into scrapbooking at the time, so I thought, “Why not make him an ABC album?” This would turn out to be a very special album just for him that is personalized with pictures of him and pictures of things dear to him. After completion of the album, I presented it to Thomas (when he was 3 almost 4) and we have enjoyed many hours over the last year or so reminiscing and reinforcing the letters and words that begin with those letters, setting a foundation for beginning reading. We use this alphabet book to learn about our letters, but it also serves as a book of memories. To make it special, I used many pictures that included Thomas and I also added a scripture verse at the bottom of each page (one that starts with the corresponding letter for each page).
The first thing you need to do when making an ABC Scrapbook is to find an album you’d like to use. I used an 8 ½ x 11″ album by Dalee. It has a fabric cover with letters all over it, very appropriate choice for this project, but any album will do. Next, you need to plan out your book. Decide what you want each page to include (how many photos, die cuts, stickers, scripture, etc.) In my album, I included 1 or 2 photos per page and at least 3 die cuts/stickers as well as a scripture verse. Also, choose a color scheme. I used pastels (green, purple, yellow, blue, and pink). I used pastel letters from Michaels and added contrasting pastel squares behind the letters. I glued these to the top left corner of the pages. I also used Creative Memories border stickers (pastel) to separate the scripture verse at the bottom of the page from the remainder of the page where the photos and die cuts were placed (see sample page in the photo). In addition, I used the pastel colors to matte all my photos. I labeled all the photos, die cuts, and stickers underlining the letter for that page. Finally, make a list of the alphabet along with ideas for photos and die cuts that can be used for each page. I am going to list what I used for each of my pages below as a sample guide.
Cover Page and Introduction
I simply titled my book Thomas’s ABC Album, using alternating pastel letters. I included a picture of Thomas on the Title page. Next, I included an ABC poem that I found online. I used baby block scrapbook paper as my background and word processed the poem. This is a 2-page layout.
A to Z
A- photos with Aunt Mary and Aunt Sue; die cuts of an ant, an airplane, an ark, an acorn, and an angel
B-photos of Thomas with a book and one with a bear; die cuts of a button, a butterfly, a bird, a balloon and a boat
C- photos of our cats and cousins (Thomas with his cousin); die cuts of a cow, a cross, a clock, a car, and a camera
D-photos of Thomas with daddy and Thomas looking at a duck at the park; die cuts of a diaper, a deer, a dinosaur, and a dog
E-photos of Thomas in front of a big cracked egg at the zoo and of him eating spaghetti; die cuts of eggs, Eeyore, Elmo, an elephant, and the Eifel Tower
F-photos of Thomas with a football and a play farm; die cuts of a fish, a fire engine, a flag, a frog, and flowers
G-photos of Thomas feeding a goat and holding daddy’s golf club; die cuts of a gingerbread; a giraffe, a golf ball, and a girl
H-photos of Thomas wearing a hat and of Thomas hiding; die cuts of a house, a hammer, a heart, and a horse
I-photo of Thomas playing an instrument; die cuts of an iguana, ivy, ice cream, and an inchworm
J-photos of Thomas with a jack-o-lantern and jumping on a trampoline; die cuts of jellybeans, a girl jumping rope, and a jeep
K-photos of Thomas with play keys and getting a kiss from mommy; die cuts of a kangaroo, a king, and a kite
L-photos of Thomas looking at a lamb and of Thomas with a stuffed lion; die cuts of a ladybug, a lizard, a lantern, and a lobster
M-photos of Thomas with mommy and of him looking in the mirror; die cuts of a mitten, a moon, a monkey, and of mice
N-photos of Thomas napping and naked (as a baby of course); die cuts of a nickel, a nest, nuts, a note, and a needle
O-photos of Thomas opening a present and holding a toy octopus; die cuts of an ostrich and the ocean
P-photos of Thomas with a pumpkin and in the pool with mommy; die cuts of a pocket, a pig, and a penguin
Q-photo of Thomas sleeping on a quilt; die cuts of a queen, a quilt, and a quarterback
R-photos of Thomas with a bag of raisins and of his cat, Rambo; die cuts of a rooster, a rainbow, and rain
S-photos of Thomas with a spoon and in a swing; die cuts of scissors, a slide, a seahorse, and stars
T-photos of Thomas and Thomas with a toy turtle; die cuts of a tie, a tree, a towel, and a truck
U-photos of Thomas with Uncle Rich and Uncle Jerry; die cuts of underwear, the United States, and an umbrella
V-photos of our van and of our other cat, Velvet; die cuts of a vest, a valentine, and a vase
W-photos of Thomas looking out the window and in a wagon; die cuts of a web, a wrench, and a slice of watermelon
X-photo of Thomas with a xylophone; die cuts of x’s and o’s, a xylophone, and an x-ray
Y-photos of Thomas yawning and eating yogurt; die cuts of a yard and yarn
Z-photos of Thomas riding a zebra on the carousel and Thomas at the zoo; die cuts of a zucchini and a zipper
On the final page of the album, I stuck ABC sticker blocks all around the border. Then I made a heading that says, “Words to Describe Thomas”. I word processed various words starting with the 26 letters of the alphabet and glued them randomly on the page. Here is a list of the words: adorable, blessing, cute, determined, energetic, fun, good, handsome, imaginative, joyful, kissable, loving, musical, nutty, observant, playful, quiet, refreshing, silly, terrific, uplifting, vibrant, warm-hearted, x-tra special, young, and zany.
