(and how I made mine in 2021)
I just finished the last detail in my 2021 Summer Memories Mini Album. It has been so fun to look back through it this week, add the finishing touches, and relive my summer. Here are my TOP FIVE reasons you should create a summer memories scrapbook. Bookmark this post and add it to your calendar for the next Summer Solstice!
FIVE REASONS TO CREATE A SUMMER MEMORIES SCRAPBOOK
Number 1: Summer goes by so fast! When I start adding up the weekends, alternating weeks with my son, vacation days and stat holidays between the Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox…y’all that number isn’t as big as I would like it to be! It’s so easy for me to get to the end of summer and think “I didn’t do anything.” Or get stuck in the thought loop of “there isn’t enough time”. And then I don’t do anything because I was obsessed with maybe not doing everything. In my experience, it can be a vicious circle. Documenting events and activities as I go helps me slow down and enjoy the time.
Number 2: It’s important to celebrate the little things along with the big. It is easy to remember that we celebrated my son’s 16th birthday party in the park with his family in 2021. But the time I met my SIL and nephew in the park for lunch gets fuzzy without the photo reminder. Or the not-so-great food court sushi trip. Those were still fun victories this summer, but they seem kind of “minor” in the grand scheme of things. They are still important to celebrate.
Number 3: It is so fun to look back on and relive those memories. I put the finishing touches on this book in December 2021, and it stopped me in my tracks. Some of these events were only three months ago, but I had forgotten the details. This book reminds me of the good, great, and silly times. It reminds me that I have a joy-filled life.
Number 4: Your kids will thank you for it. And if not your kids, then maybe your grandkids, or your siblings, or parents. When I think of the momentos I wish I had from my childhood, I yearn for something like this. A simple documentation of the activities my Mom thought were neat or important?! Wowee wow wow! I want that! Even if it was “just” photos and pretty papers. There will come a time that I hope my son cherishes these books as much as I do now.
Number 5: Your story deserves to be told. I know it can sound cliche, but we each have a story to tell and it deserves to make it out there into the world. As a scrapbooking veteran, I have seen so many courses to teach women how to get yourself into your scrapbook. We are very good at taking photos of our family, and kind of awful at turning the camera on ourselves. We’re getting better of course, and books like this are an indication. This book is me bearing witness to my life right now, celebrating important moments, and telling my story. What a gift.
HOW I MADE MY 2021 SUMMER MEMORIES MINI SCRAPBOOK ALBUM
Well, first things first, I need to come up with a shorter name for this. That’s six whole words, that’s a mouthful!
- I started by gathering supplies from my stash – paper, stickers, other embellishments – and assembling them all in one spot. A dedicated bin or folder is ideal for this project.
- I used what I already had on hand, but you could easily make yourself a “kit” out of new supplies. I really like the mish-mash look of my book, but that’s not everyone’s taste.
- Each page came together within a few days of the event, but I waited for ~10 days before printing photos (as I don’t have a photo printer at home). If I was worried I would forget the photo order, I added sticky notes with the event and the date. This also saved me time later when adding the photos back in.
- Journaling is key, but keep it simple. I was worried that if I tried to tried every detail of every event or story, I would burnout. And run out of space! A couple of sentences on each layout as a reminder worked really well for me. Alternately, if you did want to tell each story in more detail you can add a large pocket to each page, type out the story and print it, and insert that paper into the pocket.
- Make it “right-sized” for your documenting style, but keep it mini. My book is approximately 6″ x 8.5″ x 1.25″ because that’s a typical size for my mini books. I find this amount of space allows for a 4×4 or 4×6 photos to easily fit on the page along with journaling and some embellishing. Too much bigger and it feels less special. Any smaller and it becomes hard to tell the story.
I hope this gives you some ideas on documenting your summer! I plan on making this a tradition. My goals for future years are to:
- ask for others to contribute
- add pocket pages for more journaling and photos
- include my “Summer Would Be Cool If…” list at the front so I can see how much I accomplished
- add more calendar pages as dividers between the months
- plan events to help other people build their own Summer Memory album!
FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
You could also try a Family Scrapbook Tradition in your Summer Memories book, and get your whole family involved!
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