- Take some time to write out the story of your child's baptism. Write about why you decided to have your child baptized, where she was baptized, and by whom. Describe what the gathering or service was like. A church bulletin might help to jog your memory on service details. If you had a party or reception following the baptism, that is also something to take note of.
- After writing your child's baptismal story, look at it for themes and important parts. List these and use each item on the list as a page for your baptismal scrapbook. Gather photographs pertaining to each page, as well as items such as church bulletins, family videos burned onto DVD, scripture verses, and hymnal pages. Ask sponsors, grandparents, or witnesses if they would be willing to contribute written letters or statements for the baptism scrapbook.
- Choose background pages in colors or symbols that are meaningful to you. Perhaps you want to use a background featuring crosses, doves, or other religious imagery. Another idea would be to choose background pages corresponding to the liturgical season of your baby's baptism. You will also want to choose coordinating photo corners, borders, and stickers.
- Creating your baptism scrapbook combines all the preparatory work you have done into a finished product. Try committing to doing a page each week or each day until your baptismal scrapbook is completed. Play around with using interesting angles for picture placement. Allow the layout of the scrapbook to tell the story almost as much as the photographs themselves do. For instance, you might show a dove descending on the page featuring the water being poured over you baby's head. Or you might choose a heart, symbolizing love, to show how you felt while participating in your child's baptism. Be creative, take your time, and pace yourself. Allowing the scrapbook to unfold and your creativity to flow will help to ensure that you end up with a beautiful baptismal scrapbook that your child will cherish for a lifetime.
