Even as society has maintained a snowballing desire to digitize everything, there’s a persistent need for physical memorabilia – for example, scrapbooks, which you can hold in your own two hands and look through. As AI seems to consume more and more of our daily lives, people crave the imperfection and sentimental nature of handmade work. Over time, we’ve shifted not only how we take photos, but also how we look at them. From the very first cameras to today’s smartphones, and from dark room prints to digital camera apps, photos have maintained their heartfelt value.
Printed photographs can be seen across the world – in museums, on bookshelves, and even on university-provided cork boards. Certain image-related things, such as old photobooks, seem to be a lost art, overshadowed by digital options where you can simply import photos, organize them yourself, and get them printed instantly. Well, what about scrapbooking? Not many people turn to scrapbooking as a way to capture their time anymore- maybe seeing it as too messy, too expensive, or too time-consuming.
So, why scrapbook? The thing about scrapbooks is that they provide physical memorabilia that you can flip through. Memorabilia that allows you to reminisce about different times in your life. They’re more permanent than a corkboard arrangement and a more fitting creative outlet than online photobooks. Isn’t the idea of having something to lay out on your coffee table when you’re older, and have people flip through a nice idea?
If I’ve sold you on scrapbooking even a little bit, here is one important thing to consider: how creatively freeing it is. You can organize it however you want; chronologically, by color, person, or vibe. Scrapbooks don’t have to be uniform; each page can be entirely different, as crowded or as simple as you’d like. Each photo can have as many or as few captions as you feel are needed, catered to whatever you have to say, and whatever you’d like to remember. Scrapbooks are personalized, meaning everyone is creative enough to make one. Even if you really don’t think you are able to create a vision on your own, you can always look at Pinterest for inspiration.
While scrapbooking can seem like both a lot of time and energy, it’s beneficial to change your mindset and think of it as a creative outlet or a hobby. While yes, it takes time, you can devote as much or as little time to it as you want- everything about it is entirely on your terms. It can be something you decide to work on weekly because you’re scrapbooking your whole semester, or maybe you want one for just a singular trip. And you don’t need to invest much money either. You can start with old photos and an unfinished notebook, and see how you feel. You can use markers, pens, or whatever materials you already have; old scraps of colored paper, notecards, ticket stubs from museums, fairs or even transportation, boarding passes, 601 wristbands… Scrapbooks are adaptable to you; they only contain what you’d like them to. The best part is that the only real skill you need is knowing how to use a glue stick.
Scrapbooks provide endless opportunities to keep track of all your memories and the moments in your life. They give you something to save and cherish for as long as you’d like. If you don’t know where to start, reflect on the winter holiday you just had; photos you took, places you went, people you saw. Carry over the happy memories into the next semester, devote little snippets of time to honor them, and create your own scrapbook with whatever materials you have. And remember, it doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s because it’s entirely yours. Use song lyrics, dates, stickers, pour everything onto the page, so years later you can look back and say “remember when…”