Build Your Own 2026 Scrapbook with these Creative Ideas

Scrapbooking is a wonderful way to preserve memories and create a special place to revisit the moments that bring you joy. Every celebration, day trip, and milestone offers an opportunity to capture those experiences and turn them into creative layouts, leaving your personal touch on each page.

If you’re enjoying your ‘Go-Go years’ and don’t want those moments to slip by, scrapbooking is the perfect hobby to start. Whether you’re a seasoned scrapbooker or exploring a new pastime in retirement, creating scrapbooks is a beautiful way to stay inspired by life.

The creativity is a great way to practice mindfulness. According to Mental Health Today, it’s a fun way to engage your creative mind and ease symptoms of anxiety and depression. Our HSL Chairs have mental health and wellbeing benefits. Pair the mindfulness from scrapbooking with a HSL Chair, and you’ll feel more comfortable and confident in wellbeing.

From milestone birthdays to the birth of a new grandchild, capture every second of love with these creative ideas.

If you’re new to scrapbooking, decide how much time you’d like to invest in your new hobby. Some people like to build up their ideas and spend the day executing them. Others like to take each moment and design them before committing to a design or spontaneously creating a page whilst the memories are still fresh in their mind.

Scrapbook journals only have a certain number of pages, choose what each page will be used for in advance, even if it’s a rough idea.

It’s worth considering how you’d like each page to look. A lot of traditional scrapbooking includes patterns, stickers and other embellishments. Some people prefer to keep the scrapbooks simple with a photo and a date. Have a look at other people’s books and get an idea of what you like and dislike.

If you choose an album you don’t end up liking, the likelihood of you using it becomes slim. Have a shop around and find a style and size you like.

Some journals have a cover image already, whilst others remain blank so you can design the front yourself. It’s important to decide what colour you’d like the pages. White is more practical but black adds a level of professionalism, and coloured paper can add more fun and creativity.

The size of the book is important too. Larger styles mean you’ll have to fill the pages up with more resources and time, whereas smaller ones are faster to fill but leave less room for creativity. If you’re on the go, a smaller book is great for your travels, whereas if you decide this is the perfect activity to sit in a comfortable chair, a larger book can keep you motivated.

Your scrapbook can follow the same theme throughout or change from page to page. Be inspired by the season or the event that took place!

Here are 20 theme ideas to get you started,

• Animals and Pets
• Beach
• Books
• Butterflies
• Fairy tales
• Friends and family
• Movies and music
• Milestone Moments, like birthdays and anniversaries
• Romance
• Sentiments and words
• Seasons, including Christmas and Autumn
• Travelling

To decorate your pages, you’ll need to start a collection of different materials and photographs. The most basic scrapbooking supplies you’ll need are,

• Paper
• Cardstock
• Scissors
• Pens
• Glue and tape

These can all be obtained at an art store. You can also invest in a scrapbook kit, which will include everything you need.

For extra bits, you could start collecting titbits from your outings. These can include,

• Receipts
• Tickets
• Greeting cards
• Used gift wrap
• Old book pages
• Notes written by a loved one
• Newspaper clippings
• A gift shop bag from somewhere you’ve visited
• Labels from food and drinks
• Left over confetti

Now that you have everything you need, it’s time to get scrapbooking. Decorate the front cover and build memories throughout the year to add to your pages. Try out different styles, colours, fabrics, and print off all the photos that make you smile.

Don’t forget to add dates and add a little note about what made the memories so special.

Once your scrapbook is full, it’s a wonderful keepsake to look through and reminisce. Each page is an opportunity to honour the people in your life and travel back to specific moments that brought you happiness.

For more craft ideas to enjoy, head over to our Feel Good Hub. Why not check out these related articles?

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