Scrapbooking Ideas for Recording Your Favorite Holiday Traditions

Before you see what we’ve got for you in this article, take just a moment to think of your holiday traditions. It might be Ugly Sweater Day at school or the White Elephant at work or watching “White Christmas” as a family.

Now scrapbook that tradition–but go all out with it in your design and product choices so that the spirit of that tradition comes through.

 

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Marcia Fortunato says, “We almost always get a real tree to decorate for Christmas, but shopping for a tree has never been a favorite activity for my husband or sons. This layout is about my family’s less-than-perfect process for finding a tree each year.”

“Even though it seems that more and more people are buying artificial Christmas trees, we’ve always preferred a real tree. However, our family has a more unique way of shopping. It’s never lived up to the fantasy in my head, but we’ve made it work. I’ve never documented this before, but now that my sons are all grown adults, I wanted to make a scrapbook page about it since although it’s not ideal, it IS real life and a part of our family tradition.”

“Photos were difficult to find (No pictures, let’s find a tree and go home!). But I did find one photo from a few years ago and paired that with one of our decorated tree from last year. In designing my page I used patterned papers with Christmas trees and cars and trucks loaded down with trees and packages. Besides adding the words Real Life to emphasize that part of the story, I added only a few other embellishments: small vinyl trees, a few evergreen boughs, hearts because I love my family despite the fact that they don’t always go along with my perfect plans!”

Marie-Pierre Capistran says, “On this layout, which is part of my December Daily mini album, I illustrate our favorite Christmas tradition: our elf. I have many mini stories like the day our elf Harmony arrived to tell us how the Advent calendar would work this year, and I show the kids and her interacting in many situations.”

“Our elf is very dear to us and appears in our house several times a year, not only around Christmas. She usually appears when the girls need comfort. Like when we move or when we fly far way, or when someone looses a tooth for example. Over the years, our elf has become more of a friend than just a tradition. To illustrated this part of the story, I added a speech bubble saying, Mommy, Harmony is much nicer than you are!” 

“Since our elf seems to be alive, I wrote a story about my daughter being really scared once when I said: Oh, she just moved! I wanted to bring this feeling to my pages as well. I used the actual note our elf left us and adhered it on the enlarged photo of the elf and her note. The effect is that even though it’s only a photo, there is something very tangible and real to it.”

 

Cynthia T. says, This page records my daughter’s Christmastime in northeast Brazil, Bahia, when she was a toddler. Being one of the hottest areas, our traditions there were completely different to England.”

“For example, even though we do have turkey, we rarely ever had a sitting dinner, tables are arranged with cold meats and as a buffet with lots of finger food and salads, beautifully decorated tables, sometimes celebrated at the beach where my daughter’s godparents live. Presents are opened at midnight with most children making an effort to stay awake, and my daughter was one to park herself near the tree.”

“Even though we don’t have family in England, we still keep our traditions here, with food and presents opening on Christmas Eve. It is, in a way, binding us with our family so far away.”

“I combined typical Christmas kits and elements with summer and sea styles and blended a couple of papers with one of the photos and filled the page. This to me reflects the feeling of lots of family and the composition being not a blocked or very structured one as it is informal the way we celebrate there.”

 

Shanna Hystad says, “This story is about my tradition of making crafts during the holiday season.”

“I searched through my photo library and found as may images that I could of past crafting projects. Not all my journaling has a photo of the finished product, but I still captured the story. My crafts almost always involve other family members which makes it a truly special time for me. I wanted to use the same items that I use in my crafting, like buttons, string, and stickers while keeping the design clean.”

 

Megan Blethen says, “We have begun a few traditions with our kids over the years as most families do. One year for Christmas Eve we decided to exchange pajamas instead of each of us picking a present and opening it. It has evolved into one of my all time favorite traditions.”

“For this layout I decided to use the photo of my husband and kids gathered around the tree waiting to open their pajamas last year. The quality of all the pictures with the pajamas in them didn’t turn out well so I will include those in a pocket page and do a bit more journaling. When I think of winter pajamas, I think of warm and cozy so I used the paper with the houses and cute little birds all bundled up. I also used a few stickers to reflect how it’s cold outside, but warm inside.”

 

Stefanie Semple says, “My daughter and I love shopping Christmas markets, finding ornaments and working on our respective collections. Every year I also make a point of getting one angel ornament in memory of the daughter Sarah who died on Christmas Eve 1994.”

“Christmas color schemes change every year, sometimes it’s pink and silver, sometimes metallic and other times the more traditional colors. I let my daughter decide on the theme or color scheme for our tree each year, and then we usually curate our collection and add to it, something special that speaks to us from that year or from our travels. I know that once the children have left home this tradition will pass.”

“I have photographed some of the quirky ornaments we found as well as her choosing her ornament for 2016. I added a mix of traditional colors with quirky and unexpected additions of the yellowish reindeer card with its red rose nose. The page has a variety of spills and messy stitching to denote the chaos and emotions that emerge at this time of year.”

 

Nicole Mackin says, “This layout focuses on our Christmas gift opening tradition. We open gifts from family and friends on Christmas Eve, saving Christmas morning for Santa’s gifts only. This is a tradition I grew up with and love that we are continuing this with our children.”

“On the layout, I included the numbers 24 and 25 because our gift tradition extends to both days. I also embellished with a variety of gift themed stickers and die cuts along with traditional Christmas related images and sayings.”

 

Karen Poirier-Brode says, “This page is how the Twelve Days of Christmas became a regular part of our Christmas Holiday tradition. As I explain in my journaling, with a name like Pear-Tree (which is the English translation of Poirier), it was inevitable, though it started with a hen.”

“The page illustrates the tradition with photos of my dining room table at Christmas over the years. Elements that decorate the page echo the theme of the song at Christmas and include pears, a hen, snowflakes, stars, word art, and poinsettias.”