Making a Memory Book of Regular Days
Many people have memory books of babies and weddings and leave scrapbooking as an art only for a life changing event like tying the knot or having a baby or for the holidays. However, even though these events should be captured in accurate detail, how about the other ‘regular' times in your life which you have more of than the special occasions?
If for instance, you have great portrait studio shorts of your kids all dressed in their holiday finest, how about some when they are wrestling with one another on the mattress or having a pillow fight in the night? How about the mess they make when helping you decorate cupcakes for the party as opposed to just the formal shots of how everything is prim and proper on the real day.
With kids, family and friends, regular moments need to be captured in a memory book as well so that we remember exactly how grubby the kids were after playing in the sand pit and how they looked when the lost their front teeth or rode a two-wheeler for the first time.
Need Not Be Perfect
Memory books need not be pricey, fancy or perfect; they should mirror your life. If your life is extremely organized, squeaky clean and very fancy, then your memory books will reflect that. However, if you're like the rest of us, let each layout be impromptu, let your creativity dictate where photos go rather than a sketch you saw on CR-ROM
Memory books also need not look like they are endorsements for your local craft store; not everything has to be new or store bought. Provided it is acid-free, you can use your own embellishments, left over scraps of paper, ribbons, postcards, buttons and the like to dress up a page. Buying a kit for a memory book may seem like a good idea to some, but it's just as shortcut to get your page done. It has little to do with the creativity of mixing and matching elements to get a look that is uniquely you and not something mass produced in a factory.
Memory books do not have to be solely a mommy-only project either; the whole family can put in their two cents worth. What you may think as trivial may be an important memory for another member of the family. Let everyone give their input as far as journaling, embellishments and captions go. Your memory book will have more layers of depth and will be more fun to read as a family.
