Its All About Christmas

How can you give a gift that will go on giving long after it is unwrapped, lauded and put away? If you are considering making a personal scrapbook for some of the special people on your list, check out some of these Christmas scrapbooking ideas listed below. (You may have to concentrate on a few people if you are pressed for time. Next year, you can do the people you missed this time around.) It’s no small job, and will require planning on your part, but when you are finished, your Christmas scrapbooking idea is sure to be the talk of all the family this holiday season.

Think of yourself as the FBI and that maniac, J. Edgar Hoover. Keep secret files (photos, etc.) just like he did on everyone who is the subject of your Christmas scrapbook idea. Only work when inspired. It will show otherwise. Gather photos and ephemera enthusiastically. Use only those items that make you laugh, cry or seriously reflect on that person, or you with that person, or something along those lines. Sort the wheat from the chaff (but not necessarily in that order). If you are ambivalent about including pieces in your Christmas scrapbooking ideas, they probably don’t belong.

Decide on the type of scrapbook you want to make. Here are some thoughts on that.

• If you want a recipe album, concentrate on a few recipes that are especially meaningful to the subject of your Christmas scrapbooking idea. Follow the course of history for the particular family member as connected to that recipe or recipes (photos eating, making, transporting, enjoying, etc). Considering the levity of the occasion, focus on desserts for your Christmas scrapbooking ideas, if you can.

• Christmas scrapbooking ideas for young children

ABC scrapbooks are the perfect Christmas scrapbooking ideas for kids and they are very easy to make. Devote each page of your Christmas scrapbook idea to one letter of the alphabet. Use photos and other ephemera to illustrate each letter in a personal way. For example, A is for Aunt Betty, etc.

• Teachers appreciate homemade gifts from students. For your Christmas scrapbooking idea, consider helping your child make an album for a special teacher on your gift list. If you really are organized and start early enough in developing your Christmas scrapbook idea, you might even be able to coordinate a “group gift” by sending each child in the class a page to make for your Christmas scrapbooking idea.

•Teenagers and pre-teens are a more difficult group per se, as their ideas are constantly changing with the different fads and trends. Two weeks from now an adored rock star may well be a thing of the past, and thus, developing Christmas scrapbooking ideas for this age group can be a challenging venture. Consider a “friends” scrapbook for your Christmas scrapbooking idea with pre-made pages for photos, addresses, phone numbers, email (and MySpace) addresses for each special friend.

• One simple Christmas scrapbooking idea for grandparents should involve photos. Try to get everyone in the family involved. For different grandparents, you can duplicate pages to make multiple scrapbooks.

• Special, unexpected touches to your Christmas scrapbooking ideas can include the kind of trappings you use to decorate your unique Christmas scrapbooks. Save pieces of wrapping paper to use for the picture backgrounds of your Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Use the ribbons from your Christmas gifts for decoration by tying bits and pieces along the spine of your Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Have the children write letters to Santa and save, scan or reduce them for use as embellishments for your holiday pages.

• If you are really strapped for time like so many of us are but are determined to execute your homemade Christmas scrapbooking idea nonetheless, consider purchasing some of the many bound hard cover digital photo books that are available on photo Websites. You can still be the captain of the desired design with your own digital photos, albeit online. This Christmas scrapbooking idea can be very cost-effective and you can order multiple copies for several people on your Christmas scrapbooking idea list.

• Finishing touches for your Christmas scrapbooking idea can include a last section that includes your thoughts, feelings, plans and hopes for the years to come.

Start working on your Christmas scrapbooking ideas now while there’s still a bit of time. A rush job always shows and if you organize yourself, you can get these Christmas scrapbooking ideas completed in plenty of time for Christmas. Celebrate your memories and give them a way to live again and again. They are the gifts that last.

Most Christmas scrapbooking ideas stress the importance of tradition. Clearly, Christmas traditions are the easiest subject matter of Christmas scrapbooking ideas. After all, every family has their own tradition, and the individual ones are often the ideal choices for Christmas scrapbooking ideas.

Scrappers and their families need to think about their own personal traditions, which make for ideal subject mater for Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Some traditions have their roots back so far, that the family may not even be aware that it is a tradition.

For example, the tradition of opening presents. Some families open presents on Christmas Eve while everyone is gathered, some open one present on Christmas Eve, and some wait until Christmas morning. One could easily make a scrapbook page out of that. It might be a good excuse to get the camera and list when everyone else just wants to rip off wrapping.

Other Christmas scrapbooking ideas include the “trimming of the tree”. If your family gets a Christmas tree and decorates it every year, then every ornament probably has some memory attached to it. Perhaps each ornament is a reminder of some Christmas past. Simply taking pictures of ornaments and writing simple text about them is one of the easiest of Christmas scrapbooking ideas.

Decorating the house is always an important Christmas tradition that is one of the easiest Christmas scrapbooking ideas. It seems like every neighborhood has some person on the block who decorates to the point of over-decorating, but his or her house is always visited by the neighbors. Some scrappers might be the person who actually does all the decorating, and it is worth these Christmas scrapbooking ideas in a page.

Another Christmas tradition that may not even be realized is the way Christmas trimmings are taken out every year. Many families keep their Christmas decorations in their basement, attic, or garage, and pulling them out every year is sort of something of a tradition in and of itself. Surely an event like this would make great subject matter for Christmas scrapbooking ideas.

Christmas firsts are always pretty important. This is often where tradition gets formed. For example, every time there is a new addition to the family, it is the obvious choice to make a “Baby’s First Christmas” page. The same applies to a first Christmas in a new place, another one of many Christmas scrapbooking ideas.

Of course, opening presents and decorating a Christmas tree is something that most families will partake in on Christmas. The scrapper may need to completely rack his or her brain in order to get more original Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Therefore, one has to simply ask oneself: “What is it that our family does every year at Christmas time?” It can be something seemingly mundane, such as watching a movie after Christmas dinner. It could also be something very unique, like an oversized stocking that hangs by the fire. Every family has different traditions, and the more unusual, the more interesting the Christmas scrapbooking ideas are.

Interested in starting a family scrapbook for Christmas, but have no idea how or where to start? Well, you’ve come to the right article, and “x” really does mark the spot for information about Christmas scrapbooking ideas designed to save you time toil, trouble and money. Read on and get inspired.

Pick a theme and stick to it.

It may take time to establish the exact theme desired, but this is one of those steps that the entire Christmas scrapbooking operation hinges upon. It will determine your content, direction and outcome. So pick carefully and thoughtfully, for the Christmas scrapbooking idea that you save may well be your own. Changing themes for your Christmas scrapbooking has the same result as what Abraham Lincoln said about “changing horses in mid-stream.”

Collect material that reflects your Christmas scrapbooking theme.

Remember that anything goes, and the world is your source of material for your Christmas scrapbooking. Consider all kinds of paper ephemera; namely, cards, newspaper clippings, letters, lists of all kinds, tickets to shows, cartoons and any other physical artifacts from the life of the subject or subjects of your Christmas scrapbooking. Consider stuffing it all into a big basket until you can sort through it all and refine your selection.

Remember the special can be found in the mundane.

Life is made up of many simple moments and you want to capture those that reflect the passion of the theme of your Christmas scrapbooking. Everyday photos are just as important as those commemorating important events. Take pictures often so there’s a lot to choose from. Even a Christmas scrapbook can hold a memory of summer if it is pertinent to the theme presented in your Christmas scrapbooking idea.

Design each page as a whole story in itself.

You may want to use creative design techniques such as paper piercing, punch art and inking as well as simple color schemes to differentiate the pages of your Christmas scrapbooking and insure that they stand alone. Create a title for each page and lay out everything, along with a caption for each item, to see how it all looks in your Christmas scrapbook before gluing it all down. Balance your photos and captions first and then decide which technique will accent that page uniquely. Remember too that not every inch of space on a page in your Christmas scrapbooking need be filled. A little space between photos and captions is a good thing, as Martha Stewart used to say (and probably still does).

Display your photographs proudly while Christmas scrapbooking.

Photos are the heart of most scrapbooks and different showcasing techniques can render unique holiday flair to your Christmas scrapbooking. Some thoughts along these lines might include: old fashioned photo corners, matting shots against Christmas scrapbooking colors to set the images off from the white paper and silhouetting photos (cutting them out of their backgrounds). This last technique works best with full-bodied images.

Capture the specific and unique qualities of your Christmas scrapbooking family.

One way to do this is to find quotations, stories, jokes and cartoons that pertain specifically to your Christmas scrapbooking family. The extra care you take in selecting these items cannot fail to show in the final presentation of your Christmas scrapbooking product. You can also use markers to draw your own cartoons, family portraits and doodles, should you feel so inclined. Let your children dictate photo captions. Sometimes, they have great Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Use your imagination with your Christmas scrapbooking and create decorative borders with fingerprints, handprints and even foot-prints, if you can figure out a way to handle them artistically without ruining your carpets. Have fun and let the child in you come out and play for a little while! That’s what Christmas scrapbooking is all about!

Go for Imperfection.

If you are going to have children participate in your Christmas scrapbooking, you will have to let go of the idea that results will be perfect (whatever that is). Leave the masterpieces for the likes of Michelangelo. (Your Christmas scrapbooking won’t include ceilings anyway.) Settle for finishing the project with all the children putting in their two cents.

Buy products of higher quality that will last.

It is the effort behind your Christmas scrapbooking that will surely touch the heart of its recipient. Spend a bit more to transform your Christmas scrapbooking idea into an heirloom that will stand the test of time. Make sure the papers you buy for your Christmas scrapbooking are free of the plant component, lignin, which will cause fabric and photos to turn brown. It should say “lignin free” on the package. As far as paper goes, buy 12-by-12-inch, acid-free, 100-pound stock pages in many colors, pre-cut with holes and laminated on the edges. While you are at the store, stock up on acid-free markers and double-sided tape, rubber stamps and pads, glue sticks, adhesive photo corners and pinking shears or other such “crazy” scissors that make decorative edges.

Be guided only by your imagination. Things may turn out differently than originally planned, but that only proves that art really does imitate life. Most important, have fun while working on your Christmas scrapbooking project. You are sure to look back on it with love and pride as you pass this new family heirloom on to future generations. That’s a true Christmas legacy and a gift that will withstand the test of time!