Idea for Baby

[Rosy]

I saw this & hoped you might have some ideas on what I should include.
I am going to start a scrapbook for our baby. Apart from photos what else should I add? I thought I would keep it in the tv room so everyone can see it

[Julie-Ann]

What a lovely idea. I have never done a scrapbook but I often admired all the work involved in them.
Apart from photos you could include some of your thoughts & feelings about expecting. Its a little more private and maybe you could tuck this away some where else - but I wrote a letter to our son only hours after the birth telling him about the experience and how much he already meant to us.:)
And as a decorator I would include some photos of the nursery to show your child when they are all grown up.

[Angela]

Hi Rosy,

I scrapbook (actually I teach papercrafts) so I'm happy to give my advice. What you really want to make sure you do is some journalling in your scrapbook. Sometimes people get scared about journalling but it's really easy - you just write something on your scrapbook page about the photos. It can be as involved as a detailed recount or even something simple like the date plus a short description like "visiting your favourite park with friends". Other journalling I've done which is fun is lists. So I've put a photo of my child that I'm scrapbooking and then underneath I've done something like: "age 3". Then "Likes: Wiggles, bath-time, vegemite crackers, etc.", then "Dislikes: swimming in the pool, broccoli, Thomas the Tank Engine".

As Julie-Ann said you might want to keep some things private. There's various ways you can do this. You can fold a piece of cardstock in half to make it look like a card then adhere the photo to the front and write your message on the inside. This can then be adhered onto your scrapbook page so when you slip the page into the album no one can see the journalling - only your child when they get older and pull the page out of the plastic sleeve. Or you can do something similar only stick the bottom and side closed too (keep the top open!) then tuck a letter inside or a decorated tag which has journalling on it then they can pull the tag out (ribbon on top) to read the journalling inside.

Other things you can include are newspaper clippings, tickets to concerts or travel tickets. Know though that these things won't be acid-free so you should keep them away from your photos. You can laminate those things first or if you like there's archival spray you can buy (looks like tin of hairspray) which you can spray on any paper to preserve it and stop it from leaking acid onto your photos.

Hope this helps Rosy. I'm happy to answer anything else about scrapbooking for you. :)

[Freogirl]

I have kept a diary/journal in which I wrote down some of the very funny things that my kids have said over the years. I only have the one book for all the kids but it is very funny to read and remember . When they are older I will let them read and have a laugh. One of my favourites (hard to choose) was when my daughter was about 3 or 4 ang I gave her an ice -cream and she replied "This will make my lips so happy!" Too cute!

[Rosy]

I love these ideas. I'm going to go ahead and do them all. thankyou so much for your help.