Army Scrapbook Ideas

Making a scrapbook of your loved one's Army career can be one of the best ways to pay tribute for his bravery and sacrifice in defending our country. Gather memorabilia from his army career, and get ready to put together a memory scrapbook he will cherish.

Choose Quality Materials

An army scrapbook should be made of the highest-quality paper and glues to preserve the photos and memorabilia for future generations. Use acid-free paper in your scrapbook to prevent your photos and documents from getting discolored in storage. Use acid free glue that will not buckle or bubble the paper or photos. This usually means a glue stick that has no water in it. Acid in paper or glue interacts with your keepsakes and can discolor them or cause them to become brittle. All plastic covers and sheet protectors need to be PVC and lignin-free to keep the photos from sticking to the plastic. Pens need to be permanent ink that is also acid free and does not bleed or show through on the other side of the paper.

What To Include

Items to include in the scrapbook may be the originals or copies of important documents such as enlistment or service documents, awards, ribbons, medals, recognitions, promotions, newspaper articles, and a written history of the highlights of the person's military career. Each document should be carefully mounted on acid-free card stock with either photo-corner brackets or moisture-free glue.

Photographs

Photographs of each stage of his military career with memory captions under each photo are a necessity. A photo of him in his uniform getting ready to go into training camp should be included, as well as photos of boot camp, life on the base, any military vehicles he drove and pictures of him in foreign countries. Ask him to take plenty of photos while in the army so you can include them in a scrapbook.

If the photos are digital, you should take the time to edit, enhance and crop them in a photo editing program on your computer.

Glue the photos to acid-free card stock or use photo -corner brackets.

Journal

The scrapbook can be a journal of your thoughts and feelings. Or ask your loved one in the army to jot down some feelings you can include in the scrapbook. Write the captions under the photos from your point of view or his, and stick with that throughout the entire scrapbook.

Include letters written home from your soldier, or excerpts of some of his letters that are not too personal. A pouch at the back of the scrapbook can be used to store additional letters.

Many scrapbooking stores sell very nice embellishments and stickers for army scrapbooks. Shop around and find items to decorate and make the scrapbook extra special. Another nice item to include is maps of the countries he traveled to during his army career. When selecting paper for the scrapbook, choose the army colors of greens and browns throughout.

References

• Scrapbook Company: What Type of Supplies To Use
• Scrapbooking Ideas: Military
• Scrapbook Crazy: Military