Not sure how to start scrapbooking without spending a fortune? You only need paper, adhesive, scissors, pens and photos. Pick one small set of pictures, plan a page, and glue it down.
If you are still choosing a hobby, browse more beginner craft projects before you buy anything.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Basic starter supplies | Paper, adhesive, scissors, pens, photos (5 items) |
| Album types | Traditional, digital, mini (3 types) |
| Modern scrapbooking origin | 1980, Elk Ridge, Utah |
| Volumes assembled by that originator | More than 50 volumes |
| Common heritage album order | By family, one generation at a time, present backward |
| Practice tip | Scrap last week’s photos before last century’s |
These figures come from Altenew’s scrapbooking guide and Family Tree Magazine’s heritage album guide, last updated January 25, 2024. Details can change, so check the source before you rely on them.
What is scrapbooking, and where did it start?
Scrapbooking is a way to keep memories on paper. According to Altenew’s guide, a scrapbook typically includes photos, journaling or written memories, keepsakes such as tickets, letters and notes, and decorative elements like stickers, washi tape and die-cuts.
Each page you make is called a layout, and a scrapbook is simply a collection of those layouts put together in an album, as My Social Book’s beginner guide puts it.
Altenew’s guide traces the modern hobby to 1980, when a woman in Elk Ridge, Utah, designed pages with her family’s photographs. She placed them in sheet protectors held in 3-ring binders, and Marielen Wadley Christensen went on to assemble more than 50 volumes (Altenew).
Older habits matter too. The same guide says Thomas Jefferson kept newspaper clippings about his presidency in a scrapbook album, and it describes a pre-pasted-page book called Mark Twain’s Adhesive Scrapbook.
The basic supplies you need
Beginners often assume the hobby needs a craft-room full of gear. Altenew says you only need basic supplies to start:
- Paper for the pages, plain or patterned.
- Adhesive to fix photos and keepsakes in place.
- Scissors for trimming photos and paper.
- Pens for titles and journaling.
- Photos, which are the heart of every page.
Family Tree Magazine makes the same point for family albums: you don’t need to spend a fortune on doodads and die cuts. Stickers, washi tape and die-cuts can wait until you know what you like.
Altenew also notes there are multiple scrapbook types, including traditional, digital and mini albums. This guide focuses on the traditional paper album because it needs the least equipment.
Choose a style and a small first project
Before you buy anything, answer a few questions. Family Tree Magazine suggests asking yourself:
- Which style do you like best: lots of embellishments, or a simpler look?
- How much time and money do you want to spend?
- How confident are you in your crafting abilities?
If your confidence is low, the magazine’s advice is to learn the tools and techniques by scrapping last week’s photos before tackling last century’s. That keeps irreplaceable pictures safe while you practise.
Simple is a good starting point. The same guide says old photos suit an understated look, such as a simple white background with handwritten notes.
Next, choose a topic. My Social Book’s guide suggests thinking of the moments you want to document, such as a trip or a child’s first match, and building the album around that story (My Social Book).
Plan and build your first page
A little planning saves photos. My Social Book warns that without it you can cut photos to the wrong dimension, forget the space for journaling, or commit to a poor layout design.
Use this simple routine for your first page:
- Pick one topic and a handful of the best photos for it.
- Sketch a rough layout on scrap paper, leaving room for a title and journaling.
- Lay the photos on the real page without glue and move them until the arrangement looks balanced.
- Glue the photos down once you are happy.
- Write a few lines of journaling: who, what, where and why it mattered.
- Add one or two decorations at most, then step back and judge the page.
The sketch-and-shuffle step is straight from the source: it recommends scrapbook sketches and playing with a few photos before gluing them to the real pages (My Social Book). Journaling matters because a caption turns a picture into a story.
Protect photos and plan a family heritage album
If your project uses older family pictures, treat them gently. Family Tree Magazine advises grouping items by family and setting them aside in acid-free page protectors, file folders or boxes.
You do not have to use everything. The same guide says to choose the best or most appropriate photos and store the rest safely, and to include pictures of 3D heirlooms such as a great-grandmother’s tea set.
For the order of pages, Family Tree Magazine says the most common arrangement is by family, one generation at a time, starting in the present and working backward. It also suggests keeping ancestral documents such as birth certificates and land records in a separate binder that acts as a companion to the album.
Paper crafts to try after your first pages
Once a few pages are finished, you may want to try something else that uses paper and patience. If you like working with strips of paper, you can start with a short explainer on what is paper quilling.
If you would rather decorate objects than pages, find out how to do decoupage as a next step. Neither craft replaces scrapbooking, but both reuse the skills of cutting, placing and gluing paper.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to start scrapbooking?
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Altenew says basic supplies are enough: paper, adhesive, scissors, pens and photos. Add embellishments later if you want them.
Do I have to spend a lot of money?
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No. Family Tree Magazine says a family scrapbook can be beautiful yet budget-conscious, and that you don’t need to spend a fortune on doodads and die cuts.
Which photos should I use?
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Choose the best or most appropriate ones for your topic and store the rest safely. Trying to use every photo makes pages crowded.
How can I practise without risking old photos?
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Follow Family Tree Magazine’s advice and scrap recent photos first. That lets you learn the tools and techniques before you work on family keepsakes.
Can I scrapbook digitally?
Show answer
Yes. Altenew lists digital albums alongside traditional and mini albums as scrapbook types. The steps above apply to paper pages.
