How to create a holiday scrapbook

Have you just returned from an amazing holiday? Many people like to post their snaps on social media, or maybe even create a special photo album filled with printed pictures from their holiday. If you love to craft, or are just looking for a more unique way to remember your trip, why not try creating a holiday scrapbook? This special kind of scrapbook is a wonderful way to display your holiday memories, and is a great intro to scrapbooking for beginners if it's your first time creating one.

At Spotlight we love everything crafty, and we have all the papercraft supplies you need to create a gorgeous travel scrapbook at home. In this article we'll go through everything you need to know about DIY scrapbooking, including what you'll need, how to make a scrapbook using a blank base and example scrapbooking ideas and layouts. People who love to scrapbook are known as 'scrapbookers' or 'scrappers' - we hope you'll be inspired to become a scrapper yourself today!

Quick Links

• What is scrapbooking?
• What do I need to create a DIY scrapbook?
• What can I use to create a holiday scrapbook?
• How to start your travel scrapbook
• Tips for creating scrapbooking layouts and scrapbook designs
• Scrapbook decorating tips and tricks

What is scrapbooking?

If you've heard the term and are wondering 'just what is scrapbooking?', you've come to the right place for an explanation! If you want to be technical about it, scrapbooking is a method of arranging, preserving and presenting some personal history of yours into a book. The memorabilia you use is up to you, but people most commonly preserve photos, drawings, paintings and printed media. Once all the media is in place, the scrapbook is then decorated using any number and type of crafty décor, and sometimes written annotations are also added.

The scrapbook created is always unique to the crafter, and they're a wonderful way to help remember a person, place or time. A holiday scrapbook will help you look back on your fun holiday memories, and it's also a handy way to preserve mementos from your trip that you might otherwise have to throw out. There's no set method on how to scrapbook, and we all have our own scrapbooking ideas - everyone creates their scrapbooking layouts their way, so they all turn out a little differently!

What do I need to create a DIY scrapbook?

You'll need papercraft supplies to create a scrapbook. Here are the basics of what you'll need:

• Blank scrapbook with page inserts
• Craft scissors
• Glue and other adhesives
• Photo mounting materials (corners, photo mounting tape or acid-free glue)
• Coloured markers, pens or pencils

When choosing your basic supplies, make sure to look for quality materials with labels like 'archival quality' and 'acid free'. These labels mean your paper and materials won't degrade over time, and your holiday memorabilia will stay in good condition.

If you want to create a professional scrapbook that is heavily embellished, here are some extra supplies you'll want:

• Stamps and ink pads
• Stencils and embossing tools
• Fabric trims
• Craft stickers
• Craft ribbons
• Cutting machine

Really, you can include any kinds of papercraft decorations you want! Include any kinds of extra supplies that you love the look of, and that you feel will improve the look of your holiday scrapbook.

What can I use to create a holiday scrapbook?

Now that you have all your scrapbooking supplies, you'll need to gather your holiday mementos! If you are going on a trip soon that you know you'll want to immortalise in a scrapbook, hold on to the following things:

• Polaroid pictures
• Brochures from tours and experiences
• Maps
• Receipts from special purchases or events
• Luggage tags
• Spare change in local currency
• Stamps
• Postcards

Keep an eye out for any small, flat trinkets that strongly represent the surrounding area - they'll help you remember every step of your journey!

Pressed flowers and leaves are lovely to add, but keep in mind that if you are travelling overseas you may not be allowed to bring exotic materials back to Australia with you. If there's a native flower or plant that really speaks to you, try finding a faux version instead!

How to make a scrapbook for holidays

You have everything you need to create an incredible holiday scrapbook, but how do you start it? That blank piece of paper can be intimidating if you don't have some scrapbooking ideas already formulated! If you're not sure how to begin, try these easy steps to create your own scrapbooking layouts:

1. Organise all your memorabilia into a rough chronological order. Then split them into chunks that could fit nicely on a page. Usually, you won't have more than three full-size photos on a page.
2. Open your scrapbook and organise page one's trinkets in a way that looks nice on the page. Don't glue them down yet - instead, use a grey lead pencil to lightly indicate where each piece will go. If you don't want to use a pencil, snap a photo with your phone to use as a reference later. Leave plenty of space around your mementos for decorations and journaling.
3. Go through each page and decide your layout. Doing this before sticking anything down means you can ensure you have an equal spread of memorabilia on each page, and nothing is left out.
4. Once everything has a place, start sticking things down! Make sure to use adhesives that won't damage or degrade your holiday trinkets.

Don't feel like you have to sort your pages by date if you have your own ideas for scrapbooking pages! You could sort them by place, or even by travel companion if you met with different people along the way.

Tips for creating scrapbooking layouts and scrapbook designs

Stuck on creating the perfect scrapbook layout? Here are some handy tips and scrapbooking ideas to keep in mind as you make your scrapbook design:

• Create a focal point for the rest of the page to be designed around. This point is usually a photo, but in a holiday scrapbook it might also be a pair of tickets or even a map. You can design the rest of your page around this focal point!
• Feel you might have a little too much negative space around your trinkets? Use a strip of lace, ribbon or paper trim to divide your page into sections. These borders will create neat little areas for you to fill with your holiday memorabilia.
• Photos looking a bit flat when they're just stuck to the page? Use photo corners to create some neat details that will also help keep your photos from curling on the edges, or create a paper or card backing with a 1cm edge around each side of your photo for a neat-looking border.
• Worried about your handwriting being crooked? Use a ruler and pencil to draw straight lines to write on, then do your journaling in pen and erase the lines once the ink has dried. You can also draw the lines with a pen for a cute postcard-like design!
• Have a lot to write on one page but not enough space? Buy or create a small envelope that you can pop your little description into, then stick on the page! You can also write your piece on paper and fold the paper itself into an envelope that you then 'open' to reveal the whole description. For tips on making an envelope, have a look at our felt envelopes project.

If you want even more unique ideas for scrapbooking pages, have a look at our papercraft and scrapbooking projects page!

Scrapbook decorating tips and tricks

Now that you know how to scrapbook like a pro, here are some of our favourite scrapbook decorating ideas we think you'll love!

• Layer paper for a fun visual effect underneath your smaller decorations. Layer paper with different colours, patterns and even textures - just don't make your page so thick you have trouble closing your scrapbook properly!
• You can cut your pictures to crop out things like extra scenery and other people, but avoid cutting them into odd shapes - stick with square, rectangle and circular/oval shapes for your images. If your images are one of a kind (like old photos without a digital backup), avoid cutting them just to be safe.
• Cut out letters and even appropriate pictures from magazines for an old-school design. Make sure they're stuck down fully, as the light paper will curl up otherwise.
• If you don't love the look of your handwriting, type and print out your journaling instead, then stick it into your holiday scrapbook. Although handwritten notes really are a lovely touch - who knows, you might enjoy looking back on your old handwriting in the years to come!
• If you need to use glue on thin paper, try to use dry options like glue dots and craft tape, rather than wet glue, as wet glue can make the paper soggy and wrinkly as it spreads.
• Use staples as an alternate adhesive option when glues aren't available or appropriate. Staples can create a cute, rustic look if you think about how they're placed!
• Use a hole punch to create holes that you can weave through lace, ribbon or trim for a chunky and unique decoration that appears on the front and back of a page! Bonus point if you can weave through something holiday-related, like a special-pass lanyard or a shell necklace.
• Save your small paper scraps. You can create small, cute shapes with them that will look lovely glued onto your pages in the blank spaces.

Create a holiday scrapbook with Spotlight!

We're so excited to see what kind of holiday scrapbooks you can create! You can find everything you need to make a travel scrapbook online at Spotlight, where you can use your payment option of choice to easily make an order and then have it home delivered or organised as a click and collect.

Alternatively, visit your local Spotlight store and our lovely team will be happy to help you find the scrapbooking supplies you need in person.

For more fun craft projects, check out our craft projects page online. And for fun ideas and inspiration, have a read of our excellent create blog.