Create a Professional Adoption Scrapbook Album In Just Hours
Lisa Copen
January 15, 2008
While you are waiting to adopt a child it seems the day will never arrive when the phone will ring with news of "You're having a baby!" Starting your adoption scrapbook album while still in the waiting phase can help can be a comfort. It will remind you that the day really will arrive when you will be a parent. Plus, it's a great way to learn how to journal what is important to you. Once the child arrives, you may be more likely to take the time to journal about events and emotions.
Don't feel overwhelming with the task of creating an adoption scrapbook album. One of the easiest and most natural places to start is with an extensive list of topics about the adoption experience. This can help get you brain focusing on events you may otherwise overlook. These lists can be found on a variety of web sites including my own which has over 150 topics.
Consider if you'd like to do an album on your own, purchase a pre-made adoption book from your favorite bookstore, or even hire a freelance scrapbooker. They will do a pre-designed book for you. One of the best options is the Adoption Scrapbook Album. It's twenty pages of transparency overlays, and you get to choose five that specifically fits your child's experience. They make scrapbooking stylish and fast.
Go visit your local craft store or scrapbook store to get some stickers and other embellishments. I rarely find more than a couple that specifically mention adoption, but buy some that have sayings about family, baby happenings, love, and other life events. You can use these in your book when you have a little spot to fill. It adds some style.
Get out your digital camera and snap photos around the house that first year of your child's life (and later too!) Photographs of that day-to-day stuff like spilled Cheerios all over the living room floor and the towering pile of laundry will give you interesting journaling topics. Down the road you will be so glad you journaled about and photographed the uneventful things as well as the vacations. Your child will have a terrific time reading about it too.
Be imaginative, but don't get obsessive. Unless you want to make new friends, don't join "cropping parties." Buy a decent paper cutter, only cut your photos with straight edges (avoiding circles will save hours), matte your photos using solid-color card stock, and purchase the patterned paper in bulk (craft stores call them "slabs.").
Write it down now. It's a good idea to get the adoption scrapbook album done sooner rather than later so your toddler can look at it, at least start keeping notes as you go so you will have lots of journaling ideas to choose from. Purchase a small notepad to carry around in the diaper bag so you have it handy when you want to write down something that happened or just record your thoughts.
My son turns five-years-old in a couple of week. The first year of his life I grew so weary of strangers telling me, "It goes so fast." But now I am one of those people smiling at little babies and gushing to new moms, "Cherish this time. It goes too fast." Adoption is such an extraordinary experience. It is so easy to think that you will remember every emotion you ever have when you look into your sweet baby's eyes. But come on... our brains can only hold so much. Our children do grow up so quickly, so record those cherished memories now before you forget.
Don't feel overwhelming with the task of creating an adoption scrapbook album. One of the easiest and most natural places to start is with an extensive list of topics about the adoption experience. This can help get you brain focusing on events you may otherwise overlook. These lists can be found on a variety of web sites including my own which has over 150 topics.
Consider if you'd like to do an album on your own, purchase a pre-made adoption book from your favorite bookstore, or even hire a freelance scrapbooker. They will do a pre-designed book for you. One of the best options is the Adoption Scrapbook Album. It's twenty pages of transparency overlays, and you get to choose five that specifically fits your child's experience. They make scrapbooking stylish and fast.
Go visit your local craft store or scrapbook store to get some stickers and other embellishments. I rarely find more than a couple that specifically mention adoption, but buy some that have sayings about family, baby happenings, love, and other life events. You can use these in your book when you have a little spot to fill. It adds some style.
Get out your digital camera and snap photos around the house that first year of your child's life (and later too!) Photographs of that day-to-day stuff like spilled Cheerios all over the living room floor and the towering pile of laundry will give you interesting journaling topics. Down the road you will be so glad you journaled about and photographed the uneventful things as well as the vacations. Your child will have a terrific time reading about it too.
Be imaginative, but don't get obsessive. Unless you want to make new friends, don't join "cropping parties." Buy a decent paper cutter, only cut your photos with straight edges (avoiding circles will save hours), matte your photos using solid-color card stock, and purchase the patterned paper in bulk (craft stores call them "slabs.").
Write it down now. It's a good idea to get the adoption scrapbook album done sooner rather than later so your toddler can look at it, at least start keeping notes as you go so you will have lots of journaling ideas to choose from. Purchase a small notepad to carry around in the diaper bag so you have it handy when you want to write down something that happened or just record your thoughts.
My son turns five-years-old in a couple of week. The first year of his life I grew so weary of strangers telling me, "It goes so fast." But now I am one of those people smiling at little babies and gushing to new moms, "Cherish this time. It goes too fast." Adoption is such an extraordinary experience. It is so easy to think that you will remember every emotion you ever have when you look into your sweet baby's eyes. But come on... our brains can only hold so much. Our children do grow up so quickly, so record those cherished memories now before you forget.
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