How To Make Mother's Day Memorable By Making A Scrapbook

Traditional gifts for Mothers Day center around chocolates, flowers and other pleasant but ephemeral items. Why not be different and give your Mom something she can keep forever, something deeply personal  and something which tells her you love her, all at the same time.

One of the best hobbies to go into is Scrapbooking, for it has a variety of uses especially in creating presents that turn out to be family prized possessions.

The star scrapbook is, like its name, a scrapbook shaped like a star which can sit on a shelf as a lovely display, or pack neatly into a handbag, all tied with a ribbon, ready to be shown and admired by all. This is a very personal gift and absolutely perfect for proud grandma's who will want to take the pictures of the new baby to be admired by all. These star scrapbooks are fairly easy to create. A youtube clip that shows step by step instructions on how to make one is available by simply looking up dinglefootdotcom and star scrapbook.

Another option is to make a full sized scrapbook that doubles as an album dedicated to yourself and your mom. You can feature pictures of the two of you from the time of your birth right up to the present day. Begin with the first picture you have of the two of you together; if you're lucky you'll have one taken just after you were born, then move through the album recording milestones. There will usually be 9 double page spreads a title page and an end page, so plan each one before you start, then it's easier to get your scrapbooking supplies and embellishments for a project like this all at the same time.

Here are some suggestions for pages you could create:

•    Me as a newborn - a page dedicated to the day you were born but with more focus on your mom rather than yourself.
•    The Christening - a page showing the family - add journaling to show who was there, when it was, again from your mothers point of view. Was she stressed out arranging it? See what you can find out without asking her so it's all a surprise.
•    Family Gatherings. Lots of families have times they get together, sometimes for big occasions, sometimes not. Whether it's Christmas, New Year or a golden or diamond wedding, be sure to add pictures and labels to show who was who, and write about your mothers role in the event, not yours.
•    The Anniversaries. Chronicle the anniversaries your mom has celebrated. Ten, twenty or thirty years. Include the best memories she's had.
•    Your mothers significant birthdays. Pictures, invitations, messages from guests and such can be included. Anything significant from her birthday celebration should be added.
•    Family holidays. This is an area for the little and big trips you've had with all of your family together.
•    Your graduation. A school or university graduation is usually an occasion for pictures with parents. What was your Mother wearing, where did she get it?
•    A previous Mothers Day
•    A wedding - yours or maybe your mothers!
•    Your mothers first grandchild (if she has any)

Mothers and daughters share a strong and special bond that grows even more when the daughters experience motherhood themselves. If you find it difficult to find words for the way you feel you can use rub one and stamped words to convey emotion, or take a look at quotegarden.com and search for 'Mothers'.

Given how special a scrapbook can be, it takes time and effort to make, if you are only beginning, perhaps plan for everything a full year ahead and go for variety; a single scrapbook page, framed so it can be hung on the wall as an artwork.  Half way between a simple picture and a full album, these single pages can make wonderful keepsakes and give you the opportunity to take your creativity in a slightly different direction. Amazon has plenty of shadow box frames that you can use, and because it will be displayed in a deep frame and not a flat one, you can experiment on 3D embellishments.

For inspiration look at some of K and Company's Grand Adhesions. These are relatively simply constructed using pads to raise some items of the page. Butterflies are easy to make 3D, one flat one duplicated cut out and added with just a dot of silicone and gently teased into shape. The same thing can be done with flowers, using something like the petal packs from Petaloo or, for a different approach the 20 blossom template from Hot Off The Press. Trace the flowers through the template onto paper, cut them out and assemble them.  Curl the petals for the 3D effect and add a little glitter, or even a gem or brad at the flower's center. It's all down to the paper you use, experiment with plain paper, patterns and of course vellum which gives a lovely delicate effect.

Shadow boxes are enjoyable to work with, don't take too long to do and its always nice to see your work displayed, rather than shut away in an album.

Once you've completed your gift, remember to wrap it nicely however, if you lack the opportunity to do this, visit your Mom. She'd rather see you than a whole house full of scrapbooks.