Your Family and Scrapbooking: Memories to Last for Generations

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Scrapbooking is a fun, creative way to preserve your family photos while telling a story that will last for generations. Have you ever looked through your grandparent's photo albums at the faded and fragile photos? Photographs deteriorate if they are not properly preserved. Many ordinary photo albums contain acid and lignin that slowly destroy your photos. The art of scrapbooking is to display your photos in a creative, yet safe way so they may be enjoyed by your future family members.

History of Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking has been around for hundreds of years, though recently it has enjoyed a newfound popularity. Thomas Jefferson was a scrapbooker, so was Mark Twain. Throughout his life, Thomas Jefferson kept scrapbooks that he filled with newspaper clippings, drawings, diary entries, dried leaves, poems, and other memorabilia. Mark Twain's scrapbooks contained items that represented his life and the times in which he lived, such as pictures, souvenirs, and articles about his books and performances. He even patented a scrapbook with self-adhesive pages in order to make adding to his scrapbook quicker and easier.

Scrapbooks from the past are a bit different from the scrapbooks of today. They didn't have many family photographs because cameras didn't become widely available until the late 1800s. Prior to photos, scrapbookers clipped articles from newspapers and saved letters, greeting cards, and drawings. The scrapbooks created by Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain are now displayed in museums; the books give insight into the lives of the creators, as well as a glimpse of what life was like during their lifetimes—a piece of history that has been preserved.

If you've ever spent hours researching your family's history, you can appreciate the importance of a family album. A family album preserves your family's history for future generations. It should include photos of each family member and facts about each person featured.

Creating Your Family's Scrapbook

When creating your family album, decide what the focus will be. You may want to create a page for each family member, or if your extended family is large, focus on family groups over individuals.

To get started, gather photos, memorabilia and as much history as you can find on your family. Interview some of your family members to get a variety of interesting stories and different aspects of historical or family events. Once you have your contents gathered, you are ready to start your album; Purchase an 8" x 10" or 12"x12" scrapbook; the number of photos you plan to use will determine the size of the album. Keep in mind that the larger the album, the more photos and accessories you will need to fill it.