A Living, Growing Scrapbook

I'm finalizing the present situation for this year. I've managed to pull it together, despite my rather lax attitude toward the holidays this year.

I still have a few more presents to go, namely for my beloved, Matt. I'm going to register him for a woodworking class, since he's been obsessed with the idea of using power tools to construct something for a while now.

I'm also thinking about putting together an album to chronicle our life together. We have so many pictures online, but it would be nice to have something to curl up with on the couch and flip through.

I was inspired by this post from Progressive Pioneer about pulling together a scrapbook without all the fanfare. Here's what she had to say:

I've tried to be diligent about recording Sam's life from the beginning. I decided early on that the most important thing was to simply record the important things, not to have a perfect, charming-looking album. I knew if there was too much pressure about how it looked that it would never get done. But if I could just jot things down here and there, there was a much better chance that in twenty years Sam would have something to look back on.

I feel the same way. I know I have to free myself from my perfectionist tendencies or I will never get it done.

Plus, I want a living, breathing object. One that expands and develops as our family expands and develops. I'm thinking about using a 1.5 inch binder and making a pretty binder label down the side (probably from my old Nikki McClure calendars). We can label them (probably in five-year increments?) and watch our collection grow.

I'm thinking cardstock, sheet protectors, and photo corners. I've never used photo corners in my life, but they seem like a good option. Or maybe double-sided tape? Is that archival quality? It's got to be cheap and easy...

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