3 Ways You Can Finally Finish Scrapbooking
3 Ways You Can Finally Finish Scrapbooking
You had the best of intentions. Maybe you even attended a party and got super inspired. But, a couple of decades have passed and that scrapbook of yours is still sitting in pieces and you’re not feeling inspired at all.
You are not a bad person if you never completed that scrapbook showing the amazing time you had on your trip to Australia. Or, you didn’t document your daughter’s senior year in high school. Or, you didn’t put together a birth-to-graduation montage of your kiddos. You were busy when the kids were home and thought you would have time when they went to college or left home. But that never happened. In fact, you got busier.
What To Do With Your Incomplete Scrapbook
You have three options to deal with your scrapbook. You can do something, do nothing, or do a little bit of both.
Do Something
Make a plan to finish your scrapbook. But this time, do it differently.
Determine how long you want to invest in this project. It can be tempting to let the project dictate how long it takes but remember, you’re the boss, not the scrapbook. By determining a reasonable amount of time, you can work to that time rather than just working and working and working until it’s done or you give up.
Skip much of the embellishment you originally planned to do. You may have pieces you purchased that you don’t use. That’s okay. Trying to get fancy will get in the way of getting done. Which is more important to you at this point? If it’s been a couple of decades since you purchased the materials, getting done is probably the smarter choice. Remember, your goal is to tell a story—not create a piece of art. You can always donate materials you don’t use.
Work in 30-60 minutes sessions rather than looking for big blocks of time. (This is the same advice I give when it comes to decluttering. No surprise there—good time management is good time management regardless of what you’re working on.) If you decided you don’t want your scrapbook to take more than 3 hours, plan three Saturday sessions of 1 hour each. To make sure you stay on track, plan to finish at least one-third of your scrapbook in each session. If you run behind, you’re over-scrapbooking!
Do Nothing
Good news! You don’t HAVE to finish your scrapbook!! You’ve lived a couple of decades without that scrapbook and will continue to live if you just throw away or donate the materials. You are free! You are released! Instead, put the pictures in a photo album and leave it at that. The pictures will be just as enjoyable, you will have done far less work, and you will have freed up space in your home. Most importantly, you will have removed a HUGE burden of needless guilt in your life. Priceless!
Do A Little Bit of Both
Go ahead and complete your scrapbook, but do only half the work. If you’re scrapbooking a family trip, include your spouse in the process if they’re willing. They’ll have a different scrapbooking style than you do, but that’s part of the story, isn’t it? You’re two different people with two different ways of looking at things and now that’s part of the scrapbook.
If you’re scrapbooking stories around your child or children, invite them to join you in the process. You can even invite grandchildren to join you. No arm twisting though! If your kids are interested, you’ll have a very different experience than you would doing all the work yourself. In fact, the blessing will probably end up being the time you spent with your children rather than the completed scrapbook.
No Guilt
Scrapbooks are meant to be enjoyed; not to heap guilt on you. If the best thing for Today You is to donate or discard scrapbooking materials, go ahead and do it! Life is too short to let stuff make you feel guilty. If you decide you want to complete your scrapbook, no problem. But, consider working on it with lower expectations so you can complete it AND enjoy the process.
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