Baby scrapbooks are a great way to create a special and lasting tribute to your child's first years of life. Even if you don't consider yourself a creative person, it's easy to create something moving and beautiful. With new digital services available, there are now a variety of simple and creative ways to create a baby scrapbook. To create it, you must choose the style, decide what to include and conceive the design.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Choosing a Book Style
Step 1. Make a scrapbook
If you are a creative person and want to make your baby's book by hand, a scrapbook is a good option. For this style you need an album, printed photos and art or craft supplies to create an original and special scrapbook for the baby.
- You can also buy a pre-made baby book, if you don't want to make everything from scratch. Just enter the information and add photos to the book.
- You can buy premade baby books at a variety of baby stores or bookstores.
Step 2. Create a baby book using a digital computer program
One way to make a scrapbook is to use a computer program to make your own template from scratch. Once you're done, you can keep it as a digital scrapbook or print a copy.
Try one of the following programs: MyMemories Suite, Memory Mixer, iPhoto, or Adobe inDesign
Step 3. Design and order a self-published baby book
There are online self-publishing platforms that you can use to create a personalized scrapbook. For example, you can use one of the following sites: Shutterfly.com, Blurb.com, Mixbook.com, or Pinholepress.com. You design the book through their website and they print it and mail it to you.
Part 2 of 3: Deciding what to include in the baby book
Step 1. Choose the photos
Photos are an important part of a baby's scrapbook. You should choose high-quality and meaningful photos to record the growth and development of the baby. This will help tell the story of your child's early life. You can choose a theme, or include a little of everything. For example, you can include the following:
- pregnancy photos
- the photo of an ultrasound
- hospital photos
- the day the baby came home
- photos with other relatives
- photos taken during parties and special occasions
- photos that record the baby's stages (for example, the first time he sat down, stood up, you cut his hair, etc.)
- a monthly photo of the baby from its first year of life
Step 2. Document the birth information
Includes a page with important details about the baby's birth. For example, you can include the location or name of the hospital, the name of the doctor and nurses, the time and date of birth, the baby's height and weight at birth, and the color of his eyes and hair.
Step 3. Record the important stages
There are significant stages of baby development that you can include in a scrapbook. These "firsts" are things you'll want to remember that are interesting in hindsight.
The possible stages that you can include are the following: first smile, first laugh, first time sitting, first time sleeping through the night, first tooth, first solid food, first time crawling, first words, first steps, first cut hair, first birthday, etc
Step 4. Consider including other keepsakes and souvenirs
In addition to photos and birth records, you may want to include other important items from the baby's first years of life. For example, hospital bracelet, lock of hair, hand and foot prints, umbilical cord, birth certificate, newspaper notice, etc. These objects are connected to the baby and will evoke memories of that moment.
You can also cut a small piece of fabric from her blanket or favorite garment, when she's grown, and put it in your scrapbook
Step 5. Write notes, journal entries, or stories
One way to add a personal touch to a baby book is to include anecdotes and stories about the child and your experiences dealing with parenthood.
- For example, you can include a detailed note about the first night the baby slept at home.
- Alternatively, you can provide more details about the baby's personality. For example, write about any song, game, character, animal, TV show, or something else the baby has enjoyed.
Step 6. Include a family tree
Provide a list or photos of close family members. For example, you can include the names of the baby's parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins. As the family grows, it can also be interesting to look back at its beginnings.
- If you are a talented person, you can draw a tree and label the relatives on the various branches.
- You can also download a family tree template to use.
Step 7. Record the major world events of that year
To set the context for your baby's first year of life, you can make a list of major world events. In this way, by remembering years later, you can also remember what else was happening at that time. Put this information at the end of the baby's first year of life so it doesn't disrupt the flow of the scrapbook. Newspaper articles can be a useful resource. You can include the following:
- natural disasters, major political events, song or movie of the year
- any important events that happened specifically on the day the baby was born
- names of famous people who were born the same day the baby was born
Step 8. Be creative and have fun
This is your creation, so feel free to add any other information that relates to the baby that you wish to record in the scrapbook.
Part 3 of 3: Conceiving the Design
Step 1. Use a chronological layout
This will show the progress of the baby's early years and how it has changed and grown over that time. Begin the book with the pregnancy or the birth of the baby, and continue the book through the baby's first year or years.
If you adopted the baby, you can start with the adoption forms or the first day you met him
Step 2. Highlight the important events
You can have theme pages in your scrapbook that focus on specific events or occasions. For example, you can dedicate a page to Christmas, a family vacation, or birthdays. Photos can also be displayed in groups based on themes, not just chronologically.
- For example, you might have a page titled "Playing with the Siblings" that contains photos that pass through time.
- Include captions that describe each event.
Step 3. Group the similar items
If you're creating a scrapbook out of more than just photos, you need to group the items together. For example, if you include a lock of the baby's hair, you can pair it with a photo of their first haircut and a story or anecdote that relates to that experience. This way, the book will stay organized.
Step 4. Add decorations
Making a baby scrapbook is a creative activity. Have fun adding decorations and your own artistic flair. Use decorations that reflect a general theme about the baby, such as stickers or pictures of teddy bears, toys, rattles, bottles, pacifiers, ABC blocks, etc.
- For a personal touch, include pictures to decorate.
- You can also decorate some pages to complement the theme. For example, a bath time page might be decorated with bubbles, rubber ducks, and water droplets.
- Consider using pastel colors such as light blue, pink, green, yellow, gray, etc.