How to Use Old Photos in Scrapbooking

Old photographs can be one of life's most cherished possessions but they need to be treated well in order to maintain their preciousness. If you are like many people, they are collecting dust in an old box. Start looking for those boxes of photos, dust them off and read on to find out what to do next.

Instructions

1. Get organized and collect photographs from family members.

2. Get yourself an acid-free photo-safe file or box.

3. Using file dividers, label them to divide your photos into categories such as people or time periods. This will make it easier to begin the process of scrapbooking.

4. Get a scrapbook album, photo safe adhesive, scissors and acid-free permanent pens.

5. Choose the photos you want for your first page and relate them to a theme. The number of photos is up to how much you want to show off the theme, how many pages you want to use and how much journaling you will do in order to preserve the precious memories of your photos and to tell the story of them.

6. Create backgrounds to go with the theme and photos you have chosen.

7. Add journaling. Without journaling your old photos are just photos on a pretty page and are little better than they were in the dusty boxes your family had them in.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep all photos in a cool, dark, dry and upright location.

• You may need to restore some of the older photos in your collection. This can be accomplished by either going to your local photo counter, like Walgreen's, or by scanning them into the computer and using your own photo-editing software.

• Create your own background paper by scanning or photocopying some family heirlooms that you could not normally include in the scrapbook, such as a section of your grandmother's wedding dress.