A 5-Step Scrapbooking Guide for Beginners

Scrapbook is such an attractive piece of art that is loved by everyone, the one who gets it as a gift as well as the one who made it. This is a great way for moms to create a baby book for the new babies. When you see these awesome scrapbook pictures and ideas online, there might be a teeny tiny voice in your head asking you to try it but, often, you give up on the idea.

Don’t worry, we have heard that tiny voice too and we are sharing a few ways to guide you on how to take baby steps in your journey into the scrapbooking world. Whether you want to make it for a child’s birthday gift or just as a memorable piece, you will get all the insights on how to start with this seemingly daunting task of making a scrapbook.

Follow these steps to make that perfect scrapbook today:

• Decide on an idea or a concept

The first step is to decide what exactly you want to make. Do you want to make a Scrapbook for a birthday, anniversary, or any similar occasion? Once you are done with deciding your purpose of making the scrapbook, your next task is to come up with an idea. Yes, a unique idea that can only be thought by you as you want to give your scrapbook a personalized touch.

• Browse through various sources to settle on that perfect theme

Once you are done with coming up with an idea and figuring out the element of personalization, browse through the Internet and other sources to get a number of themes that you can implement in designing your scrapbook.

You can choose from a huge array of themes such as:

• Photo-based scrapbook
• Travel scrapbook
• Nostalgia scrapbook
• Family scrapbook
• Birthday scrapbook
• A scrapbook with messages and smaller gifts hidden in it

These were just a few suggestions and you will get to see a lot more when you start searching on a particular concept. So quickly finalize one theme and jump on to the next step.

• Make a list of the things that you will need

Now that everything is finalized, it’s time to gather all the things that will help you make the scrapbook. One thing you need to make clear in your mind is that there are a number of tools and materials available in the market to make a scrapbook, but you have to just buy the ones that will be useful for your current project.

As you are just beginning your journey in the scrapbooking world, you have to make sure that only the basic ones are in your stash as you want to take it slow and understand how to use everything.

Here are a few basic materials and tools that should be in your crafting stash when you start making a scrapbook:

• Scrapbook papers
• Scissors, trimmers, cutters, etc.
• Ruler
• Scrapbook embellishments, stamps, inks, and many more
• Ink sprays and other coloring mediums
• Die-cuts
• Pictures for making a photo-based scrapbook
• Binding material
• Washi tapes

This list never ends as the craft world has so much more to offer. Start with these basics ones to create wonders and then experiment with the new ones.

• Time to start putting the scrapbook together

It is considered a good practice to start assembling your scrapbook by keeping a reference in front. If there is no reference and you just stick things together then it will be quite a mess to recreate the image that you visualized.

So, the trick is to assemble all the elements of each page of the scrapbook and take a picture. But make sure that you are not sticking them together. By doing this, you will get an idea about the way your scrapbook will look in the end and you can make your desired changes.

Once you are done taking pictures, start sticking all the elements together and YAY – your scrapbook is ready!

• Last minute changes are always the best

Once your scrapbook is assembled, there is a chance that you might want to add something or make some changes. These added elements will enhance your scrapbook even more.

You can use ribbons, small articles such as beads, sparkles, confetti, etc. to decorate your scrapbook. Or remove some elements that are going overboard and making your scrapbook “too busy”.

The key is to go with your instinct and make all the changes that you find necessary in order to make it look like that way you imagined it.

Bonus tips:

Now that you are aware of all the basics, it’s time to give you some bonus tips and tricks that will enhance the beauty of your scrapbook.

• Keep it simple. Don’t try to include everything at once, making it messy.
• Journaling is important.
• Shop only for the things you need, over-shopping will lead to overthinking and finally spoil your scrapbook.
• Layering can enhance the beauty of your scrapbook by giving it some volume.
• Let it be obvious; titles are not always necessary nor attractive.
• Patterns can add a good effect but it depends on the theme.
• Always experiment with your ideas as it can lead to beautiful artwork.
• Be content with what you have and try to work with it.
• Mix and match different kinds of Scrapbook Papers to create a beautiful design.
• Experiment with different Scrapbook Embellishments, stamp sets, enamel dots, stickers, etc.

Follow these tips and start your journey of making amazing scrapbooks filled with and fueled by your creativity. Thanks for reading and I hope these tips will help enhance your scrapbooking skills!

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