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Five tips for creating a scrapbook that captures your family story.

#1. Remember the moments. Life isn't comprised solely of holidays and occasions. Life is the moments in between those events. It may be easy now for you to remember what little Sue said to Grandma last Friday, but it won't come to mind so easily next week or next year. Jot them down in a journal today, so you can preserve those moments that you want to remember forever. Like the day that Johnnie picked a flower and brought it to you, straight from the neighbor's garden. Or the first time Becky rode a bike without training wheels and didn't fall. Scrapbooks should celebrate all life's moments, big and small alike.

#2. Step outside the routine. Most scrapbooks are filled with events, and rightly so. Birthdays, holidays, graduations, weddings. They all deserve a place in our memory books, but try scrapping them from a different point of view. Instead of or in addition to doing the basic Easter egg hunt page, how about creating something that tells a story? Show how your children have improved their egg-dyeing skills, chronicle the search for the perfect Easter dress, or simply journal your thoughts about how much your kids have grown over the past year.

#3. No picture? No problem. We don't always have the pictures to go along with the stories we want to tell. Don't let that stop you from sharing those memories, though. There are several ways to share a tale without the perfect picture on file. If it's a lengthy story, simply write it out. Use representative pictures when possible. You may not have a picture of Grandma baking, but photograph a basket of granny smith apples or of the grandkids enjoying a pie made with her classic recipe. Include recipe cards, postcards, ticket stubs or children's artwork in place of actual event pictures. Let the story carry you along, and you'll often find that no pictures are necessary.

#4. Include yourself. The story isn't complete until you have injected yourself into it, both as part of the family and of yourself as a person. Scrapbookers often find themselves behind the camera and forget have to make an effort to include themselves on their scrapbook pages. Your presence in the scrapbook will be cherished by your family for years to come. It isn't always easy to add information about yourself in the pages, but they turn an ordinary scrapbook into a treasured keepsake.

#5. Let go of perfection. Every month scrapbooking magazines showcase dozens of slick new products and sensational new scrapbook pages. Use them as inspiration, but don't be intimidated by their seeming perfection. Your scrapbook pages will have your personality, your vision. A page thoughtfully made with love and care will mean more to your family than a hundred pages created strictly as art, crooked handwriting and all.

Learn more about this author, Yolanda Kaye.
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