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Making a Gift Album
- PLAN AHEAD! Making a gift album takes time, so plan ahead if at all possible. I
recommend 6 months at least depending on how many years you are trying to cover and how
much time you have to devote to the album. If you want to make an album in a month or
less, I recommend that you read the album in a day
article and then return here.
- Decide what type of album you are going to make. Will it be chronological or a theme
album, maybe a family cook book? Is it a memorial album of someone else's life or an album
about your family for a relative? Give yourself more time if you are trying to do an album
of someone else's life, it will take more time to assemble the photos and memorabilia and
it will be more challenging to journal. It will take less time if you will be doing a
"Blank book" that will not have photos in it.
- Collect photos and memorabilia for the project. If you are doing an album about another
person or a family cook book, now is the time to write to friends and relatives to solicit
photos, letters, memories, etc about the person who is the subject of the album. When
writing letters be sure to tell everyone what your deadline is and why you are doing the
album. See example letter
- Make a place to collect all of your materials and supplies that is separate from your
other album projects. A Cropper Hopper Class Tote makes a nice place to store your
supplies. Begin by labeling folders to sort your photos and memorabilia. What labels you
make will depend on the type of album you are creating. For a chronological album you may
want to make a folder for each year the album covers. for a tribute album you may divide
the life into "areas"- Childhood / career / Marriage and Family Life/
Achievements and Awards. After all of your photos are sorted you will have an idea how big
of a project you have ahead of you. You will also see if there are any areas that need
more information or photos. If you need to collect more information start the process now,
by writing more letters, calling relatives or doing historical research. There are many
good sites on the Internet to collect information on certain periods of time for your
scrapbooks. I recommend starting here: Cyndi's List
- Create a rough time line. Do not waste a lot of time but if you have 5 months left and
10 years to cover in a chronological album, then you know you need to complete at least 2
years each month. Remember to leave time for journalizing at the end of the project if you
will not be completing it as you go. Just get an idea of what needs to be accomplished
every month so it isn't a big surprise the week before you want to give the album as a
gift!
- When you have collected all the photos, memorabilia, stories, recipes,etc that you need-
BEGIN! Set aside time every week to work on your project. Creating a gift album is really
a wonderfully fulfilling project, so don't wait until the last minute.
- One month before your deadline, do a final time line, to make sure that you will
complete the album on time. This will give you an opportunity to get the album done even
if you have fallen behind. Also at this time, consider having the cover of the album
personalized with gold lettering. many places offer this service- check a Christian Book
Store in your area, they usually can provide this service.
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