07 January 2010

building a family scrapbook page by page

way back in 2002 someone in my family (am assuming our oldest and wisest sibling, gabi) came up with an idea to create a big family scrapbook. she is clever enough to make a daunting task seem easy. since my family lives across the states, all sorts of tactics have been created to keep in touch. this scrapbook page tradition is a favorite of mine. we do it every christmas season. it's so easy; just one step beyond sending the typical christmas card. i was a bit hesitant when i first heard of the idea but now that eight years have gone by, i am delighted with our memory book.

how it works. first of all (and most importantly) you need to convince your family members (or most of them) to be willing to contribute. after that's taken care of, you've got a family history book waiting in the wings. every sibling gets a binder for their little family (or future family). each christmas, every sibling is in charge of creating a scrapbook page (back and front) commemorating their own adventures and achievements within the year (babies born, mountains climbed, races run, a move into a new house, surfing lessons, family vacations, piano recitals, boy scout badges, etc.). it's a fun challenge to whittle our year into a double-sided page! i love seeing all the varied scrapbook styles collected into one book. no fuss or frills necessary, it's all about making a memory. there is no cutest page contest. one sister-in-law isn't crazy about scrapping, so she lets her 10 year-old daughter design their page. always a favorite.

then we each create eight color copies of our page (since there are seven of us kids and an extra for our parents) and slip it into plastic sleeves and mail them off to each other. without much work, we receive seven additional pages each year. it's a perfect method to keep track of all the important events in our lives. this is a simple way for benji to learn about his cousins and i get to see them grow just by flipping through the years–pages–in my book.


our family scrapbook page 2009

18 comments:

Alicia said...

What a great idea! This would be wonderful for my family scattered across the country as well. I love it!

J, K, L, and D said...

This. is. awesome. I might just have to copy (assuming I can get my brothers - or their wives - in on this.).

Dawn said...

You really have a wonderful family Marta.

talesofahummingbird said...

such a lovely idea - i'm thinking of doing an annual scrapbook page just for my wee little family. with all the pictures on the computer and memories in my mind, its nice to have something to hold in your hands and glance back at and smile.

The Schoonmakers said...

I'm definitely stealing this idea :)

Rebecca said...

I love this idea. Maybe once my brothers marry, we can do this. There is no way they would do it now.

Justin + kelly said...

What a great idea! You and your family are so crafty and clever!

Lise said...

What a wonderful idea! I love this.

Thanks for commenting on my blog today! I'm having fun checking out yours. :-)

Christie said...

It is a genius idea and I loved it so much that I forced it onto my side of the family, too. Now I get double the pages every year and we have a HUGE book with pictures of all the far away cousins. It's the best.

Miranda said...

What a fun idea! And did I spy a mention of the Boundary Waters in Minnesota? My husband grew up in Minnesota and is always talking about going back to the Boundary Waters to go canoe camping with our kids.

kh said...

WOW!!! Do you ever run out of awesome/incredible/fabulous ideas? You are a -deep- well of inspiration!

I can't see either my families doing this, BUT... I am totally doing this with my own kids! Right up my alley! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

The pages are so darling and so creative. Love that no two look the same.

anna jo said...

okay, okay I confess: I have never done the scrap book page. not for all the years I've been married to your brother. (have you even noticed?)

each year I vow to do it and to make up for all the past years. so expect four scrap book pages in the mail shortly. or five by next christmas. ;)

anna jo said...

oh, but I was also going to say that I showed miles all the pages we received this year. we went through all the cousins pictures and had a great time talking about everyone. he was really into it. like he didn't even cry or anything.

Melissa A said...

This is a wonderful idea. Us adults in our family don't do much in the way of exchanging gifts, but we each end up doing a little something. This year we seemed to all give photo's of some sort. My sister made books for all of us on blurb, which was a wonderful surprise to us all. I think I might propose this idea to my family.

leni said...

Marta, you did such a fantastic job. I love it, and I know that Benji will cherish it when he gets older. You're such an inspiration for all of us.

Travelin'Oma said...

I love these pages every year. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Nichole Dirks said...

I heart this idea!

[eeny] said...

That's such a fabulous idea. I defenitelly want to do something like that as soon as I will have kids. And I hope my sis will do it with me =)
Thanks so much for sharing, Marta. Your ideas are always a favorite.

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