How to Create Your Own Personalized Gift
Learning how to create your own personalized gift is easily done. All that is required is a little knowledge about the individual you are making the gift for and the supplies to make the gift itself. Personalized gifts are a wonderful gift to give for a baby or bridal shower, a best friend's graduation, a retirement party or to a newborn baby.
Personalized Scrapbook
Materials needed:
- Scrapbook: Either a 12x12, 8x8, 81/2x11 or a brag book; Preferable one that has page protectors
- Scrapbook paper: Assorted colors in solids and designs
- Matting paper: Smaller pieces of scrapbook paper in solid colors
- Photos
- Stick glue
- Double-sided tape
- Stickers: Items such as letters, words, titles
- Memorabilia: Memorable items such as ticket stubs, invitations, flower petals
- Embellishments: Additional items to place on the scrapbook page such as silk flowers, ribbon or charms
- Decide on what type of personalized scrapbook you would like to make. You may want to make a "Best Friend-Through the Years" scrapbook for your best friend, a "First Year Together" for your boyfriend or a sports-themed scrapbook featuring your son's year in sports.
- Sort your photos according to which ones you want displayed on a scrapbook page together. This may include a group of photos showing birthday party decorating activities, another photo group of the actual party and a group of photos showing the gifts received from the party. If going in chronological order, arrange the photos according to age, years or dates.
- Start putting together your scrapbook pages. Choose a set of photos and the desired paper. Choose a paper that complements the pictures you will be adding to the paper. Ideas include using red paper to match photos with a red prom dress, paper with a grass background for soccer pictures or birthday party paper for birthday celebration pictures.
- Lay out your pictures on the paper in any order you prefer.
- Mat the pictures, if desired, before you tape the pictures to the scrapbook paper. This is done by gluing the pictures to a solid-colored piece of paper that is just a tiny bit larger than the picture. This sort of gives it a framed appearance.
- Using double-sided tape, tape the pictures to the scrapbook paper.
- Add journaling. This is a written word about the pictures and what they represent. Journaling can describe a day, a moment or a celebration. It can be handwritten or it can be printed from your computer. You can create titles and captions such as "Prom 2010", "Christmas 2009" or "Soccer Championships 2011".
- Add stickers to your layout. Arrange them in unique ways all around the pictures. Stickers may include those related to the prom, camping, birthday parties, holidays or vacations.
- Include memorabilia and embellishments on your scrapbook page. Memorabilia may include ticket stubs from a concert you attended, prom tickets or flower petals from a corsage, an invitation to a memorable party or a postcard from a great vacation. Embellishments are items such as charms, ribbon or silk flowers.
- Place the finished page into the scrapbook. It usually slides into a page protector.
- Continue on to do the rest of your scrapbook pages in this fashion.