Scrapbooking Album Themes

Top 5 Album Themes for Scrapbooking

Where to begin? – It is a common dilemma for scrapbookers. There are so many photos, from so many events, of so many different people! It can definitely seem overwhelming. A great way to begin is just to begin. Decide which group of photos you wish to use, and plan an album around them. There are no set rules or norms that state you should start at the beginning, with your earliest photos. There’s no rule to work through your photos in any particular order. The only wisdom given frequently is to just start, and get your memories preserved. Why not just choose an album theme that you know you have photos for and get started today?

#1 Wedding Album

Wedding albums are a popular album theme for so many reasons. They chronicle a life event that is so meaningful. For many, the wedding day passes too quickly, as if in a dream, and the only remains are scattered memories. But with a little planning, and a lot of photos, the day can be recreated and enjoyed for generations to come. Photos of the engaged couple, maybe as they were younger, or when they were dating could be the start of this album. It needn’t just be an album of the gorgeous photos taken by the professional photographer; this could be your personal journal of a glorious day that you wish never to forget. Filled with your thoughts and insights, your wishes, hopes and dreams, this album can be a legacy. A wedding album can include the many other people who were involved in wishing the loving couple good luck and best wishes. It is also fun to include the ‘hammed’ or posed photos of family and friends, as they are sure to ‘live it up’ at the happy occasion. Journaling the ‘things that went wrong’ is a great feature of any wedding album, as almost every wedding is sure to have a few of them!

A wedding album can also be a remembrance of a long ago wedding. Perhaps a grandmother’s wedding, and her story would be a treasured gift, if created into an album and presented to her. Wedding albums, completed but without photos are a wonderful engagement present, as the photos to come are surely ones to be loved. Whether creating a wedding album for yourself, or making one as a gift, weddings are a wonderful subject and worthy of an album!

#2 Baby Album

Those baby years fly by so fast, ask any parent! Is there anything more life-affirming than the entrance of a new baby into your world? No wonder they are the topic of many a scrapbook! Baby albums are a great place to start, when organizing your photos. Babies grow in rather predictable stages, and journaling their progress is something you’ll want to look back on in years to come. Recording their first steps, their first words, and those great memories that are uniquely a part of their learning is a wonderful tribute to them, and to your family.

Of course, making a record of your baby as she grows is something you may want to make an album of, but also consider making a baby album as a great gift. A close friend or relative may have photos of their children as babies, and wish to preserve those photos in a scrapbook. A premade album, all ready for the photos, are a wonderful baby shower gift. And heritage photos of ancestors, put into a baby album would be a great way to preserve your family’s legacy.

#3 Holiday/Event Album

Holiday photos seem to stand apart as a separate event to be scrapped. The holiday has a beginning, middle, and end, and so makes a great story in pictures. A family Christmas, friends at a Fourth of July party, Thanksgiving with as many people as your house will hold are all memories you’ll wish to keep. Lots of photos and a little planning will help you organize your themed album. Creating the album itself can become a part of your tradition for the holiday.

There are so many “events” that warrant an album. Family vacations, graduations, birthdays, reunions, and sporting events are all fantastic topics to create an album around. Your photos of these events can be chronicled in a single album, as a memento of that time. Mini albums are a popular way to scrapbook events that won’t fill a big album, and a mini album of the event would make a great gift!

# 4 Chronological Order Album

This is probably the most prevalent album theme. It just makes sense. People scrap the photos in the order in which they took them. This doesn’t mean that an album must be from birth to death of one person, it can be a chronological record of a segment of a life; a school year, or a championship season. It can be a record of a family, from the birth of the babies to when they leave the nest. Whichever segment you wish to record is up to you, and taking life in small increments and scrapbooking chronologically is a roadmap for getting the album completed. It’s easier to answer the question: Where do I begin? When the answer is: At the beginning (whichever ‘beginning’ you choose). Another popular ‘chronological’ album is by year. Start an album in January, and scrap all the events through to New Year’s Eve, leaving the album bindings with the year printed on them lined up on your shelf. It’s easy to find the photo you wish to look at this way; that is if you remember what year it was taken in.

#5 Heritage Album

Arguably the most valid point in scrapbooking, a heritage album preserves your family’s legacy. If photos are preserved with archival quality materials, the album can last for decades, even a century. Preserving our heritage is a valuable endeavor; it gives us roots, and leads us forward. Telling our family’s story, and keeping it in record for generations to come has an intrinsic worth beyond price. This album of family history can begin the preservation process before more of the legacy is lost. Your heritage album becomes an archive of and for your family.

Scrapbooking has a worth all its own. It’s a hobby, a craft, an artistic outlet, a passion, an obsession. It helps us to remember, and gives us more to look forward to. It matters less where you start, it matters more that you start. The time, love, and creativity you put into your albums are not wasted, but indeed, something you’ll always be glad you did.

~Barbara Eastwick has been a professional crafter for over 2 decades.  Her passion for paper crafting has led her into the world of Scrapbooking and Card Making.  Come into her world and visit her work on the Kreate-A-Lope.com Blog.  She also writes information articles and tutorials for ScrapWOW.com.