Scrapbooking is catching on around the world, but no where is it most popular right now as with the seniors. Since they have much more time to spend with this project versus their children or younger counterparts, this is a natural hobbie for them!
To start out, seniors have so much life experience that it is no problem trying to find topics of interest or the people in their lives that they can dedicate a scrapbook too.
The only thing that may be a challenge is the budget. We went over that with an earlier post regarding scrapbooking on a budget. There are plenty of knick knacks around the house and of course tons of pictures in boxes and and everywhere at relatives houses and such. The first thing a senior should do is pick an obvious topic for the scrapbook. Do you know what we are thinking at the top of the list?? Grandkids!!
There is no end to how many pictures there have been taken with the grandkids, especially from the time of birth at the hospital. What senior does not have pictures of the grand children from at least their first several birthdays. So, gather the pictures first. Next, comes the theme of the scrapbook. It could be the "growing years" or the "next astronaut." or the "future rock star." If these young ones show any aptitude for any musical talents or dancing, or "brains" answering each city name in Africa, the themes are endless.
Once set on a theme, you should get embellishments and other scraps to complement the theme. Going to a scrapbook store near you could give you so many more ideas of the page design, embellishments, and other material items. I would suggest not to plan for a very large scrapbook because it could get so bulky that it will be uncomfortable to lug it around.
If a senior has never done a scrapbook before, it is wise to buy a beginning book in scrapbooking. Make sure it has a lot of pictures. The less words the better! We want the seniors to have fun while learning.
The other day, I had a wonderful conversation with a scrapbook nut! I have known this lady for over 10 years and never knew that she was addicted to scrapbooks. I came to find out that she is the master scrapper and is very accomplished at her craft. She told me that she has a designated work place to make her creations and a well organized shelf space for her materials and tools. I was amazed at how much she paid attention to the details of putting scrapbooks together.
One of the great topics that she discussed with me was scrapping on a budget. It sure sounds like a timely topic since we are going through our down economy now. (USA) There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of items you can get from flea markets, thumbing through your friends "junk" collection before they were going to throw things away, yard sales, or just going through your boxes of personal belongings that you forgot about years ago. We are talking about embellishments mainly. Getting a collection of pictures together on a topic is no problem, it is the embellishments that are hard to find if you are to "theme" your scrapbook out properly.
For example, let’s say you choose a theme about cars. There must be many embellishments you could gather about cars…from car emblems, hood ornaments, pictures of hub caps, stickers, license plates, parts of the owners manuals, old car keys, and so on. You could gather pictures of you and your family riding in the family car. It could have been and oldie classic, restored relic, or modern sports car. Even the family jalopy could conjure up many fond memories!
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