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Do you love the thought of scrapbooking for kids but don’t know how to get started?  Many scrapbookers would love to scrapbook with their kids but are not sure what supplies to offer or how to keep things from getting disorganized or too messy.  Do you just open your scrapbooking stash to your kids and let them choose what they want to use or should there be rules to scrapbooking for kids?  Here are some top tips for scrapbooking with children.

1. Keep scrapbooking for kids fun and relaxed.  Let go of the idea that all pages need to be perfect.  For children, it’s all about the process and working with the materials, not the product or end result.

2. Designate certain materials for your kids to use when scrapbooking.  Scrapbook supplies are expensive, and you may have embellishments or paper you purchased just for a specific album, like Disney World stickers for last summer’s vacation pictures.  Don’t just let your children have complete access to your supplies.  Assemble the papers and materials you would like them to use, and keep them separate from your supplies.

3. Scrapbooking for children should be age appropriate.  This applies specifically to scrapbooking tools.  Your child may be old enough to use scissors, but some of the specially-designed cutting systems for scrapbooking can be too dangerous for young children.  Look over your tools carefully, and consider whether or not your children are old enough to use these tools according the manufacturer’s instructions.  Carefully explain the safety precautions.  For example, when using an eyelet setter, always use a mat under the paper to protect your work surface.

4. Have photos that interest your children available for scrapbooking.  Scrapbooking for kids is more fun when they are working with photos that include them.  Does your daughter love stuffed animals?  Let her do a whole album with pictures of her stuffed animal collection.

5. Use duplicate photos when scrapbooking for children.  Then, let them use the photograph any way they wish.  You still have an original for your scrapbooks.

6. Scrapbooking for children should always include journaling.  Have your children use their own handwriting.  They should sign and date the page as well.  The photographs on the page may be from a different time period, but by signing and dating the page you can later see how old they were when they designed the page.  You may need to give your children journaling prompts, but for most children, let them express their own thoughts and feelings on the page layout.

7.  Keep scrapbooking supplies for children organized.  Store supplies for scrapbooking with your kids in separate bins and encourage your children to keep them organized and sorted for their next scrapbook project.

8. Teach your children scrapbooking techniques.  Again, consider the ages and artistic abilities of your kids.  Simple scrapbooking techniques like paper tearing and matting are easy for most children to learn.  Older children might enjoy rubber stamping or embossing on their page layouts.

Scrapbooking for kids is a fun and exciting hobby for families.  It’s a fantastic opportunity for quality time with your children.  Follow these tips and schedule some time for scrapbooking with your kids today.

Christine Perry is an avid scrapbooker and has over 10 years of scrapbooking experience. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her reluctant teenagers. She invites you to her website, www.intoscrapbooking.com for more scrapbooking ideas and information on scrapbooking theme paper.

We’ve all done it, ruined a perfect scrapbooking page layout.  Globs of glue in the wrong place, crooked stickers or typos are just a few common mistakes made on scrapbook pages.  Before you waste your paper and supplies by throwing out a page gone wrong, you may be able to salvage that layout with these scrapbooking ideas.

Accept Mistakes

Before you even try to fix your mistakes, take a close look at it.  Is it really that bad?  Scrapbook layouts don’t have to be perfect.  In fact, they are more endearing to our families when they aren’t.  Accept that you will make mistakes, and be able to let them go.  Do you really need to fix that mistake at all?

Scrapbooking Ideas for Glue Mistakes

Try to prevent excessive glue by using the appropriate adhesive for your project.  Textured page elements like fabric or ribbon work well with glue dots, and large items like photos and frames can be attached quickly with tape runners.  Tiny accents may only need a dab of glue.  Try using a glue pen for these.

A rubber eraser is a great scrapbooking tool to have on hand whenever you are working with glue.  Let the glue dry completely, and then carefully rub the area with the rubber eraser.  It should lift the glue right off the paper.  If that doesn’t work, shop your local scrapbooking store for adhesive remover.  Dab a little on a cotton swab and rub gently. Of course, you also can cover the glue with another page accent.  A sticker can cover a wide variety of mistakes.

Scrapbooking Ideas for Typos

Typos can be the most annoying scrapbooking mistakes. Once you notice it, it’s the first thing you see on the page.  Remember that others may not even notice it.  Sometimes you can correct the misspelling easily by changing a letter.  If the error is in a title or journaling block, cut a piece of cardstock the size of the area, and try again. You’ve also added a framed page element to your page in the process. 

Scrapbooking Ideas for Misplaced Stickers

If you find a sticker in the wrong place quickly enough, sometimes you can gently lift it from the page.  If it’s already stuck to your paper and you risk tearing the page if you remove it, there are special adhesive removers that can lift it from your page.  Be sure to always have some on hand whenever you are working with stickers.

If a misplaced sticker is making the page off balance, you can always add more stickers to the page to even out the page.  Make the sticker blend into the page by adding more focus to your focal point photo.  If it’s just the wrong sticker, create a mat to go over it and apply the correct sticker to the mat.

Scrapbooking is all about creativity.  Stretch your imagination and look at your mistakes as challenges.  How can you work your mistake into the layout?  I’m sure you’ll come up with many ideas to correct your scrapbooking errors.

Christine Perry is an avid scrapbooker and has over 10 years of scrapbooking experience. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her reluctant teenagers. She invites you to her website, www.intoscrapbooking.com for more scrapbooking ideas and diy.net scrapbooking techniques.

When you think of scrapbooking you usually think of making scrapbook albums.  How you tried using your scrapbooking materials for other projects?  These project ideas are great for scrapbooking with kids.

1. Decorate jars and use them as small storage items in your children’s bedrooms, like marble collections or collectible game cards.  Look in your scrapbooking supplies for stickers and rub-ons to embellish any size jar. Baby food jars and Mason jars work well for this project.

2. Make greeting cards when scrapbooking with your children.  Nearly any type of scrapbooking material can be used for making cards.  Children will love creating their own Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or birthday cards.

3. Holiday decorations are easy to make with scrapbooking materials.  For example, Thanksgiving embellishments and cardstock can make name plates for the holiday table.  Use your creativity and help your children make a centerpiece for the table out of paper and scrapbooking supplies.

4. Help your child keep a vacation journal.  Before you go on vacation, create a scrapbook album to take along and have your child complete the album while traveling.  Select a small album so it will be easy to pack in a child’s carry-on bag.  Have pages pre-designed for some of the places you are planning to visit.  You could even include some journaling prompts throughout the album.  Some examples are “My Favorite Ride at Disneyland” or “The Best Thing about Staying in a Hotel.”  Then attach a small plastic bag filled with colored pencils or markers, lots of vacation-themed stickers and some adhesive to attach memorabilia and photos from the trip.  Let your child do the rest!

5. Scrapbooking for children is an opportunity to make gifts for your family.  Flip through any scrapbooking magazine, and you are sure to see a gift project.  Your child can use scrapbooking supplies to make picture frames, pencil holders, photo cubes, or note cards.  Children also can design pre-made gift scrapbooks, like a recipe album for grandma or an ABC album for a new baby cousin. 

6.  Christmas ornaments make great scrapbooking projects for gifts.  There is no limit to the kinds of ornaments you can make from scrapbooking supplies.  Don’t be afraid to get messy and use glitter for this project.

7.  Birthday parties and sleepovers are the perfect project for using your scrapbooking supplies with your children.  Begin with crafting invitations out of paper and embellishments.  Have enough materials to keep the same theme throughout the project.  Take the time to create thank you notes at the same time.  Then use your scrapbook materials to make napkin holders, name plates, centerpieces and party decorations.  Finally, using the same theme, decorate goodie bags for your guests to take home.

You’ll find hours of fun in these scrapbooking for kids projects.  In most cases, you have everything you need in your scrapbooking supplies right now.  Scrapbooking for children is a chance to spend quality time with your kids and encourage their creativity and imaginations.  Try one of these projects today with your child.

Christine Perry is an avid scrapbooker and has over 10 years of scrapbooking experience. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her reluctant teenagers. She invites you to her website, www.intoscrapbooking.com for more scrapbooking tips and information on “>scrapbooking forums.

You already know all the reasons why scrapbooking is your favorite hobby and the benefits it brings to your family. So why not share that hobby with your children as well?  Scrapbooking for children can be just as fun and meaningful as it is for adults.  There are many reasons to start scrapbooking with your kids.  Here are just a few reasons you should start enjoying scrapbooking with your kids today.

1.    The primary reason most people scrapbook is to preserve their family memories and photographs.  Scrapbooking for children is a perfect time to reminisce about favorite family memories.  While you create page layouts, you can relive your vacation to Disney World or the last time grandparents came to visit. 

2.    Scrapbooking family photographs opens up discussion about family history.  It’s a time to talk about your ancestors and how they lived.  So much subtle education can come from those discussions.  It’s a great opportunity to talk about family and friends that live far away as well.

3.    Scrapbooking for kids can be a creative outlet the same as it is for you.  Providing your children with the materials and letting them enjoy the creative process helps foster their imagination and artistic expression.  Scrapbooking for children should not be about the final product or page layout.  It should always be about experiencing the process, interacting with the materials and fostering their creativity.

4.    Scrapbooking for children is a chance for quality family time.  Whether you are scrapbooking with a child one on one or with a few children, you have the opportunity to really listen to them.   Have them talk about the pages they are designing, and ask them what they remember about the photographs in the page layout.  You may even be surprised at some of their answers. 

5.    Scrapbooking page layouts can also be educational.   Through scrapbooking, you can teach older children about color theory, design principles and even basic photography techniques.

6.    As your children are creating scrapbooking pages, they are expressing and documenting their thoughts and feelings in their own words.  They also are preserving their handwriting as they journal on their pages.  Scrapbooking pages created by your children reflect their unique perspective and memories of family events.

7.    Spending time with your children and scrapbooking is a chance to express family values.  Just looking through your photographs tells a lot about what your family values are.  Take the time to discuss them with your children.  Family time, friendships, and holiday celebrations all say something about what we value most in our lives.

8.    While you share scrapbooking time with your kids, you may just be training the next photographer or historian in your family.  One of your children may catch the scrapbooking bug just like you have.

Scrapbooking for kids provides endless opportunities to spend time with your children and have fun together as a family.  It can be educational as well as a creative outlet for both of you.  Round up your children and gather some photographs and scrapbooking supplies.  Enjoy scrapbooking with your kids today.

Christine Perry is an avid scrapbooker and has over 10 years of scrapbooking experience. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her reluctant teenagers. She invites you to her website, www.intoscrapbooking.com for more scrapbooking ideas and information on 2 Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking.