How to Scrapbook Children's Art
Over the years, your children are going to bring home hundreds of art projects. Some art projects can be easily glued into a scrapbook. Other projects cannot, because they’ll most likely be too large or too three-dimensional. It’s those projects that will make storing difficult. But thanks to the wonderful art of scrapbooking, you can take anything your child creates and turn it into a beautiful book to be shared for generations to come.
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Things You'll Need
- Scrapbook
- Scrapbook papers
- Archival Mist
- Acid-free glue
- Acid-free tape
- Camera
- Old sheet
- Portable floor lamp
- Clothes line
- Clothes pins
- Photographs
- Artwork
Instructions
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Photograph your child’s artwork. If your child’s artwork can fit on top of your scanner, you can simply scan the artwork into your computer. But if the artwork is large, you’ll need to photograph it. Find a spot in your home that has good lighting and no background clutter. You may need to place a solid-colored sheet on a wall, then place the artwork in front of the sheet to get a true representation of the artwork and snap away. Take several photos to ensure that you get a good shot.
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Print the photos. Have your photographs printed on archival quality paper, using archival ink. Choose a size that allows you to really enjoy the work your child created, but make sure it’s no smaller than a 5-by-7 inch print.
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Neutralize your child’s artwork. Hang your child’s artwork on a clothesline with wooden clothes pins. Spray the front of artwork with a light mist of Archival Mist to neutralize the acid in the paper and ink (see Resources below). Then leave the photo alone to dry. Once dry, spray the backside of the artwork and let dry again.
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Cut your child’s artwork. A traditional scrapbook is 12 by 12 or 8½ by 11 inches. If the artwork is larger than those dimensions, you’ll have to cut it to fit inside the scrapbook. If you must cut the artwork, try to find the most appealing piece of the work, then cut it so that you can place a simple frame around it.
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Purchase a scrapbook. If going with a themed scrapbook, pick something that defines your child. It could be a hobby, color scheme or design. Just remember to keep the inside papers neutral so that your child’s artwork isn’t competing with the design of the paper.
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Adhere your child’s artwork. Adhere the pages using acid-free glue or corner tape. You can adhere the art based upon the dates in which it was create, or you can adhere the art by grouping them into themes such as shapes, holidays, colors or scenes.
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Adhere photos of your child’s artwork. This comes in handy for the pages in which you had to cut out the best part of your child’s art in order to fit it inside the scrapbook.
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Keep embellishments to a minimum. The main focus of the page should be your child’s artwork, not accents that take away from the art. Use letters to give each piece of art a title, but avoid using ribbons, glitter, buttons, tacks or other embellishments that may take the eye off your child’s artwork and onto the embellishment.
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Trash, recycle or donate your child’s artwork. Once you are completely satisfied with the scrapbook you’ve created, it’s time to get rid of the artwork you either don’t have the room for or simply don’t want to keep.
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Tips & Warnings
Use the photos you took of your child’s artwork to create digital scrapbooks that can then be printed and delivered as Christmas present to grandparents, godparents and close family members.
One way to get rid of that artwork is to create little gift packages that can be delivered to the residents of retirement homes and/or hospitals. Folks that don’t receive gifts or family visitors for the holidays love to receive handmade gifts from children.
