Attention all senior moms! Don’t wait until springtime to start the graduating seniors’ scrapbooks! With senior prom, parties, and graduation planning, there will be little time to make their books! Here are some tips from an experienced senior mom!
It can be a bit overwhelming when starting to scrap 12 years of school pictures, artwork, and memories for your graduating senior. Here are several tips to keep it simple!
Finishing Senior Album Steps
- sort professional school photos by age
- use K-12 themed scrapbook paper for quick easy layouts
- include all their favorites — color, toy, game, food, friends
- add sports & music including team & kid names
tip: add rosters/season scores/music programs behind pg - shrink awards & certificates to save space
tip: add another layer of paper to add color, called “matting” - do collage pages with various ages, for example, Halloween costumes
- sprinkle in family trips, if you have time, not necessary
- for senior prom & graduation pages, have layouts ready to add last-minute 4×6 photos
- you can add stuff to their books later after their senior year and the senior party
- think of things you wish you had saved or jotted down from your childhood as a guide
tip: include pictures of toys, games, birthdays, trips, neighbor kids, etc.)
School-Themed 12×12 Albums
You are going to need a scrapbook, I suggest a 12×12 size in order to fit many pictures and ephemera on each page. But any size that you prefer will work, an 8.5×11 is ideal for standard-sized bookshelves. Remember the brand of your album, refill pages are made to fit by brand.
Photos
Next, you will need to gather together their photos. You might have these all around the house. You might have them in existing pocket photo albums. You can store them in a simple shoebox or sort them into plastic 4×6 photo boxes.
You might have them on your phone and need to get them printed. Just give yourself plenty of time to pull them together! I suggest a Canon SelphY photo printer or simple print using a service like Snapfish or send to Walmart.com.
School-Themed 12×12 Paper
Finally, have fun searching for cute school-themed scrapbook paper. There are so many brands to choose from. I love home-based solutions from Creative Memories, Close to My Heart (CTMH), and Stampin’ Up. Search to find a local rep in your area to support their business. They will have sample layout ideas in their catalogs too!
Decorating Die Cuts
Ok, with the album, paper, and photos in hand — keep this process simple! Remember, the end result will be an album that family and friends will flip thru for years to come! So you have told the story of their growing-up memories! Have fun adding color to the pages using die cuts! They are a good filler in any blank areas.
Supplies
Might I suggest some supplies needed for gluing, journaling, and cutting your photos and papers? Use a tape runner, any brand will do. I use Tombow and haven’t had any problems and I like that it has refills. Fiskars makes an excellent paper trimmer in 6-inch and 12-inch sizes. Sharpie makes fine point writing pens in ballpoint and felt tip styles.
8.5 x 11 Amazon School Memory Book
Short on time? And who isn’t! Consider a smaller album to add their K-12 school photos in and call it a day!
