Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Scrapbooking: The Birthday Albums

This month, I'm focusing on getting some scrapbooking done. One of the projects I worked on this weekend was my kid's "birthday albums." I started this tradition when Henry was five - scrapping one simple layout every year. On Sunday, I did several layouts in Henry's album, including the 16th birthday layout above. When I completed the layout for his 18th birthday and declared the album "done," I had a deep feeling of satisfaction.
I completed Clara's 14th birthday layout.  This was when Clara was in a particularly difficult stage - she did not want a party and invited her best friend  (and my least favorite person) over.  Her 15th and 16th birthdays are much happier memories, but I need to order photos for those pages.
The pages in these albums are super simple, but the power in the albums lie in the fact that they are 18 years in the making!!! 
There is something special about being able to look back at the birthday parties for an entire childhood in one album (even if the layout is just the kid with the cake and the friends who were there).
Here's a selection of layouts from Clara's album  (ages 1, 5, 9 and 12)
 
And similar pages from Henry's album (ages 1, 5, 9 and 11):
There's been times I've thought about abandoning these projects, but I'm glad I've kept with them. And maybe someday the kids will be grateful as well. 
Do you do any similar projects?
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16 comments:

  1. LouFebruary 17, 2015 at 11:00 AM

    They will love them. I have albums for the first five years for my eldest two. i never got around to doing one for my youngest!

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  2. LouFebruary 17, 2015 at 11:00 AM

    They will love them. I have albums for the first five years for my eldest two. i never got around to doing one for my youngest!

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  3. scrappyjackyFebruary 17, 2015 at 2:32 PM

    I don't have a birthday album for each kid....but have a 'birthdays' album that includes all 3 of them in it.

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  4. BeverlyFebruary 17, 2015 at 10:21 PM

    ummm I'll just say unfinished project :)

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  5. JuliaFebruary 17, 2015 at 11:56 PM

    I've always scrapped each birthday and what they did to celebrate and with who. Still have gaps though! I've also got an album for primary school with their year photo on a layout and a summary of the events in that year. Again - still load of gaps!

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  6. humelFebruary 18, 2015 at 2:02 AM

    I don't, but I now wish I did! What a lovely idea! Might have to root through some old photos...

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  7. alexaFebruary 18, 2015 at 2:21 AM

    I think there is something very special that records an event and the people in it over time... I have no photos of any birthday celebration (though my parents were not given to celebrating anything, really) and so memories are very faint. You will have given them an enormous gift with these.

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  8. SianFebruary 18, 2015 at 4:08 AM

    They're fantastic. I don't have birthday albums, but I do have school ones with a double page for each year of class. Hands down, these are the most looked at albums in the house.

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  9. LindaFebruary 18, 2015 at 4:50 AM

    Wonderful! Lovely to see peeks into the birthday albums! I did a mini book class a couple of years ago for my 2. It was fun sorting out photos to go in it and trying to work out what year! Still a couple of gaps. My album goes up to when they were 18 too.

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  10. CheriFebruary 18, 2015 at 5:16 AM

    they will come to appreciate them a lot! I have a Birthday album for Jay that has him and the three girls each year around his birthday. Single page 8x8 - one 4x6 photo.

    For the girls, I have "School of Life" albums that include birthday pages, although not consistently. It is one of my unfinished projects that is on tap for this year!

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  11. AlisonFebruary 18, 2015 at 11:05 AM

    I love this idea..like Mel, I might just have a root through old layouts and pics! Xx

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  12. KarenFebruary 18, 2015 at 2:56 PM

    This is wonderful! I did the same, and finished Sarah's a couple of years ago. I have a LONG ways to go on Matt's.

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  13. The Mann FamFebruary 19, 2015 at 9:33 PM

    These birthday albums look great. What a great idea.

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  14. Missus WookieFebruary 21, 2015 at 5:15 AM

    Well done on getting Henry's finished!

    I have similar albums for birthday and Christmas and need to work out what needs to be done and finish them off. Haven't decided if those will be paper or digi or hybrid. Done will be good tho'.

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  15. MelissaFebruary 24, 2015 at 7:42 AM

    I think these are fantastic albums & the kids will definitely appreciate them some day! I have an album called "Through the Years" that Robbie bought me our first Christmas & each year I complete a page. It has a space for one photo & then a page of journaling prompts. I love looking through the album each year because it's a great snapshot of our married life!

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  16. AnonymousMarch 7, 2015 at 9:16 AM

    What a great idea. I'm sure they'll love them.

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