Heritage Album

Scrapbook ideas?

I'm putting together a scrapbook for my fathers 50th birthday and was wondering if anyone has any ideas for the different pages. I'm including pictures, hobbies and memories from different family members. Any suggestions would be grealty appreciated. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. Hi, I just did one for my mom's 60th and on the first page I gathered a couple of pictures of her school pictures. Like from 1st to 6th grade back then she was going to a private school and use the same uniform and the pictures where practically the same...oval size...but you can see how her face was changing from baby to a big kid...so I arranged them like a clock...bought some awesome 3d stickers that had the minute and the hour arrows....and you know nice background paper...details..but it was really neat...that was the first page of my album and when she opened she wouldn't stop crying!!!
2. You could do a "This Is Your Life." type of book. Create a layout for each child, one for the wife and them falling in love, one for all the different places he's lived, one for baby pictures, one for favorite pets, one for his career, churches he's attended, and even one for vehicles that he's had - just anything that mattered to him. When you choose your pictures, sit down with him or a sibling or his parents and write down the memories that each picture brings to mind. Use those as journaling. When you're done, this will be really neat as a family heirloom. It might even be fun to go back to the places he was when he was young and take 'now' pictures to place next to the 'then' pictures from years ago. You could also put a picture of a family/person that he's close to on one page and send the page to that person so that they could write best wishes or favorite memories on it. Just provide a designated place for them to write on the page, so it won't be intimidating. One thing you can do to make it go faster, is use a theme. By that I mean to choose one background paper and several coordinating solids for photo and title mats. However many pages your scrapbook is, that's how many sheets of the background paper you need (probably 50 would be good). That takes the guess work out of your color scheme. You just use the same stuff on each page; it lends a cohesiveness to the book. I suggest using a neutral color palette, so that it will go with all the different colors in the pictures easily.
3. On each page you can have a different year(s) of his life with pictures in black and white going through to in colour. All big events that have happened like Apollo 11 ect on one page then on the opposite page pictures of him in that year with little 3D stick-ons of what his hobbies ect are.
4. if he ever took you or anybody in your family to a sporting event or concert, and have the ticket stub, you can put that in. You can put in brochures from past vacations also. You can try to make the pages "pop out"... for example, if he likes to fish and you have pictures from then, you can cut the line of a fishing rod and tape it across the page (in the corner or something).
5. For the section entitles memories from different family members, make sure you have atleast one picture of the person (who's memory it is) with your dad on the page with the memory.
6. Have each family member hand-write their memories, if they are able, on an acid-free page, that will be safe for the scrapbook. Then do a separate page for each, with a picture of that family member with your father if you have it. Hand-writing is very important. It makes the book much more personal, and after your father is gone, and even after you are gone, future generations will have that personal feeling by seeing the hand-writing of family members.
7. I just helped a friend of mine do this, and they had each relative of the person the scrapbook was for, make a page with pictures of them together. Of course, you could add other pages that are specific to your father growing up, getting married, etc., and other special events in his life. I think it is really cool to see all the other pages that each person made, since they are all different styles and skill levels. Good luck!
8. What a wonderful idea! I think a then and now page would be cool. You could list different things from this year & the year he was born, like who was president, how much the average house or car costs, fashion & music, current events, etc. That would show, at a glance, how much things have changed. Maybe you could also do a timeline layout, listing major events in the world and your family's history. For example, put your birth on the timeline and also list a major world event from that year. A family tree page would be great for the beginning or ending page of the book. There are even special papers made for these family tree layouts. I also love layouts that do not have any pictures. They are a nice break from the norm. Maybe do a "words that describe dad" page, or "dad always says" page with all the phrases that dad uses over and over. Pages that show important places in dad's life are also important. Maybe a page that shows the homes you've lived in, etc. There are several great scrapbooking sites that have searchable galleries to give you even more ideas. Here are some of my favorites www.twopeasinabucket.com www.creatingkeepsakes.com www.scrapbook.com
9. I would include a picture of a friend or relative on a page and include a letter or small note handwritten (if possible) by that person about your dad. You can add some fun embellishments too.