Family scrapbook ideas for the ordinary year
Make a family scrapbook for one year or season. Include ordinary routines as well as occasions, and label the people and dates for someone reading it later.
Start with one period in your photo collection. Keep pictures of everyday meals and afternoons at home beside birthdays and holidays.
Let people contribute a drawing, recipe or something they made if they prefer that to a portrait. Their pages do not all need the same arrangement.
Make a book from these memories
Add your photos and keepsakes, then put the book together in your browser.
Choose the start and end dates
Choose a calendar year, school year or season. Keep older family history in another section or book.
Sort the photographs by month. For months without an occasion, look for ordinary scenes at home or on a regular outing.
Include routines as well as occasions
Keep a photo of the kitchen table or the place where coats pile up. Take a picture before a room changes if you want to remember how it looked.
Pair the setting with a flat object from that period, such as a copied school timetable or a garden label.
Let people choose their own material
Ask each person to choose a photo or object. Agree a deadline and how much space their contribution will use.
Before sharing the completed book, check who agrees to have their picture and contribution seen by the intended readers.
Pages to make
The household at the start
Place a photograph of the people involved beside the home or meeting place as it looked at the beginning of the period.
A repeating routine
Show the same walk, meal or activity on two different dates. Add an object linked to that routine, such as a copied timetable.
A shared occasion
Use one group photograph from a birthday or gathering. Pair it with a small detail photo and the invitation or menu.
Each person's choice
Give each contributor a small area for their chosen photograph, drawing or made object. Keep their own words beside it.
Questions
Should a family scrapbook be chronological?
Chronology works well for one year. If the photographs span several years, group recurring routines or places and give each group its date range.
How do I include relatives who live elsewhere?
Ask them for a photo or object from the same period. Place it alongside the shared event or routine it relates to, with the location identified.
What if one person appears less often in photographs?
Use their drawing, recipe or chosen keepsake. They can take part without appearing in as many portraits as everyone else.