Family Premade Scrapbooks

It's been roughly 4 months since we moved from sunny California to north New Jersey. We made lots of friends and adopted some family members over in California, some Ron members for life, I know I will forever stay in touch with them. And while I'm honing on the fact that the world globalized a lot since I came into it, I'm sad we're not at that stage where you can just yearn for someone and he or she will show up, like a living hologram. Instead we have a leaving scrapbook album, lots of photos, emails, phone calls and visitors. They pass across the love, but it's not the same as sharing dinner or experiencing them in person.
I'm currently working on this expended family scrapbook album and hope to put in it memories from the past as well as future visits:)

Hug someone you love today,

Sarit.

Prepare your Thanksgiving Scrapbook

I love Thanksgiving. It's a great holiday with a great name, carrying the promise of a family gathering, warmth, fireplace, good food, sharing laughs and love. It's the only American holiday everyone can celebrate, regardless of religious denomination and other differences. The only holiday everyone can add their own thanks to, their own flavours, scents and traditions, without changing it completely.
Here are two ideas from my premade scrapbook albums selection, hope to add more....

Stay warm,

Sarit.

Your Halloween Mini Scrapbook Photo Album in 2hrs!

Halloween is coming and with it tons of photos. The problem is, once you ate the candy and took the photos, no one feels like putting them in a decent album, and so you miss on a lot of memories as they stay locked in one of your computer files, never to be seen.

So here are some solutions for you:

1. Choose your photos carefully. Try to choose ones that are telling the story of this Halloween for your family or, if you're a brave scrapbooker who designs a mini album for each one of your kids, choose the photos that tell the story of each kid.
2. Go through your scrapbook supplies and get all the purple, orange and black papers out. Get all Halloween embellishments on the work table as well.
3. Save some candy rappers (not the sticky ones), napkins, pieces of decoration to enhance your mini scrapbook album.
4. Pick a 6" album (I find them to work well for both wallet AND standard size photos) and decide on a one, common, uniting layout to use through your scrapbook mini album.
5. Glue glue glue.
6. Embellish, journal and enjoy!
   

Below are some ideas for Halloween layouts:

Have a spooky-sweet one...

The Smart Way to Shop for Supplies

Are you a scrapper? Do you like colors, patterns and have lots of ideas? Can you get lost for 2 hours or more at the craft store? I do too.
Whether it's scrapbooking, knitting, paper, fabric, yarn, stamps or any craft, I get lost in it. A good kind of lost, the kind that makes you happy, full of ideas and wanting to get the whole store 'cause you just have a use for everything and anything in it.
I admit right here right now - I over shop, over stock and than am upset I didn't buy more of that...(fill in the blank) when I could.
Having said that, my 5 golden rules for you are:

1. Go in with a plan.
2. If you have supplies that you'd like to use and need just this little tiny thing to complete it, BRING THE SUPPLIES YOU ALREADY HAVE WITH YOU.
3. Need something to start you off (or: went in without a plan?) - buy only for that one project you want to do. DO NOT buy extra stuff for that paper you may (or may not) have in your scrap bin.
4. It's called scrapbook because we are dealing with SCRAPS. Don't throw them, don't keep them, USE THEM.
5. One project at a time. Yo can always come back to shop (they'd love to have you any time) and get re-energized for a new project with new colors, patterns and shapes. Your creative juices are there, they WILL flow next time too.

Stay healthy and happy, be creative and seize the day:)

Sarit.

Celebrating The Jewish New Year with Hand Made Cards

Every year I make these. These are 'Shanot Tovot' or Jewish New Year cards. At the beginning of the Jewish New Year we greet each other with 'may you have a sweet new year','may you be healthy and happy', 'may this year be successful' and 'may you be inscribed (by G-D) for good, long life'.

Now days, when most of us find things on the net and send them out with a click of a button, from our comfy homey computer stations, there's a special added value to personalizing your message, hand writing it and sending it the old way, through 'snail mail'.

I love Rosh Hasana and love hand made gifts. They enclose in them some of the giving spirit used to make them, the invested giver's good mood.

Have a great new year, use it for good deeds:)

7 Keepers for Your Child's Kindergarden Scrapbook Album

1. Take a photo of her, back and front, with her little (or little too big) backpack. You can use it as first and last page of your kindergarten scrapbook.
2. Save the first day's name tag, stickers and whatever he got at school for later use in your scrapbook.
3. Save the lunch menu, it can be a cute layout, or make a note of your kid's favorite lunch foods.
4. Take a picture of her at the school's playground - where is her favorite hang out?
5. Goes without saying - a picture of him with his buddies.
6. Take a few photos of her preparing to go to school: waking up, brushing, washing, dressing up, breakfast - print them up in a wallet size format or a film-strip, it'll make a perfect story-by photo -page.
7. Did they get homework yet? - photo them doing H.W., photocopy the first worksheet/assignment sheet, fold it and add it to your scrapbook layout in a
   scrapbook pocket.

School Scrapbook for each child is as easy as 1-2-3!

School mornings are tough, trying to stay calm while handling all the morning tasks and various moods. When we are finally on our way, all tucked in the car, my kids sing the following song:

"I love my mom
My mom is cool
and now it's time
to go have fun at school"

Here are some school layouts from my premade school scrapbook album - It's as easy as can be with these layouts:

1. Get a premade school scrapbook for each one of your kids here. It's a good investment as you

will be using this scarpbook for grades K-6 (7 years!)

2. Choose the one most precious photo for each year for each child.

3. Adhere your best memories photo to its corresponding layout.

You now created great K through 6th school keepsake photo album individualized for each one of your kids with minimal effort :)