How to Make Heritage Scrapbooks That Last a Lifetime, and Beyond

There are two types of gifts I’m always thrilled to get: those that are handmade and those that incorporate family memories. Heritage scrapbooks embrace both of these concepts, resulting in a gift your family will always treasure. It takes just a little planning and mindfulness to make your family moments last a lifetime, and beyond.

According to the Scrapbook Preservation Society (SPS), the goal is to create a product that is “archival.” This means you are looking for materials that are durable and chemically stable. Chemicals make up the paper, adhesive, paint, photos and embellishments that commonly go into a scrapbook. Chemicals break down and react to one another, especially when bound together over time.

Choosing Archival Materials

Since everything in your scrapbook will be touching the pages, choose your paper carefully. It should be free of acid, sulfur and lignin. And remember, the absence of one of these doesn’t preclude the others.

Crafting a scrapbook that is both archival and reflects your creativity is a balancing act. After all, you’re doing this to inspire connections to heritage, and that means folks should look forward to picking it up and leafing through it.

Photographs are the heart of your scrapbook, so it’s worth a bit of extra time and expense to make sure they will last. Having the photos printed at a photo processing center is less expensive and more archival than printing them at home. A simple rule for placing a photograph on a page is that you should always be able to remove it from the scrapbook with no harm to either. Apply your embellishments so that they don’t touch the images. Rather than adhesives, use the old-fashioned photo corners here.

Adhesives pose a potential long-term threat to any of your scrapbooking elements, but are also necessary for creating an appealing design. Just use them sparingly.

Protecting Photographs and Pages

Though you want to make your scrapbook last as long as possible, it is not the ideal platform for archiving original source documents, photographs and clippings. Store the originals in archival boxes and use copies in your scrapbook. This especially goes for items printed on weaker papers like newsprint.

Pigment-based toners and inks are best for copies, rubber stamps and any other imprintable media you place in your book. They are chemically more stable and less like to stick to protector pages than their dye-based counterparts.

Protector pages are a critical part of making your scrapbook last. Use polypropylene page protectors. PVC page protectors inevitably break down, leaving their chemical remains fused to your pages.

Just as important as the materials you put into your heritage scrapbook is how you maintain it when it’s complete. Humidity and mold are the major enemies, so keep your book in a cool, dry place. The Scrapbook Preservation Society recommends storing it on end to minimize pressure on the surface of the photographs and prevent embellishments from creating impressions on other pages.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing more about heritage activities and gifts you can create with your family. In the meantime, I’ll have links to places you can find archival scrapbooking materials at www.hometownheritage.org.