Children Scrapbooks



I used to be a "scrapper." Back in the day, I loved scrapbooking. There's something about cute paper, stickers, die cuts that gets this girl giddy with excitement. Honestly, if I had all the time and money in the world, I would still be scrapbooking today. However, that's not the case. Like all moms, my days are full. There are puzzles to put together with my preschooler, school projects to work on with my older children, church assignments, driving to and from our many after school activities, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I learned how busy a mother's life is shortly after having my second child. So, I changed my scrapbooking approach and I'll let you in on the secret.

I knew my approach would need to be simple. If it was simple, then I was more likely to keep up with it. Well, my system works! My kids' scrapbooks are continually up to date. Here's what to do.

1. Have a family blog. We have a private blog that really only close family members read. I update it regularly with family photos and journal entries. Then, every couple of years I (or I should say my husband) will print off our blog into a book. These books will be our children's baby books, photo albums, life histories, etc. The books contain everyone's happenings so our kids will remember not only their life events, but  also their siblings' events. Blogging takes no time. Just upload pictures and type away. It really is easy.

2. Now, what to do with all those school art projects, certificates, programs, ribbons, etc. that you just can't part with. I buy 3-inch 3-ring binders for my kids. I also always have a stack of sheet protectors on hand. As they bring home their work,  I keep it in a pile on the kitchen counter. Then, after a couple of weeks (when I have a few minutes), I slide their work in sheet protectors and add them to their binders. This system helps to narrow down what I save. It has to be 8 x 10 (sometimes I will cut a project down to fit) and it needs to be something that my kids are really so proud of (I don't want them graduating from high school with 20 binders). It really is so simple.

Their binders contain special art projects. They love looking back and seeing what they did in preschool and kindergarten.


Their binders also contain special certificates or awards. Team sports pictures. Recital programs. Ribbons.






My children also have a couple magazine holders. The holders are for those special reports or projects that are too thick to fit in a sheet protector.



My children's binders and magazine holders are kept on a shelf in their bedroom closets. And, don't worry. Like I said, your child won't be graduating high school with a bazillion binders. My 12-year old son has three binders and two magazine holders. I think he'll probably have one more binder added to the mix by the time he graduates from high school. The art projects really taper off as they get older. Four binders total, that's pretty manageable!

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