How to Make a Scrapbook For Your Parent's Anniversary

An anniversary scrapbook tells your parents that you admire their marriage and their ability to stick together through good times and bad. The book will give them a chance to sit together and reminisce about all they have been through together. Making the scrapbook will also give you the chance to see your parents in a different light--as a couple who love each other, rather than just mom and dad.

Choose a scrapbook. Decide if you want a large book or a smaller one. Scrapbooks come in 12-inch-by-12-inch pages as well as 8 1/2-inch-by-11-inch pages. Determine how many pages you want, as well. Some scrapbooks come with a set number of pages, others allow you to add pages if you need them.

Outline your scrapbook based on the number of pages in the chosen scrapbook. The first page is the cover, and the last page will be for adding a personal note to your parents. In between, each two-page spread should have a focus. You can choose a chronological layout with each spread dedicated to a set number of years, or you can choose to break their married life up into topics, such as vacations, child-rearing, special accomplishments and anything else important in your parents’ lives.

Collect photographs. Base your search on the outline you made. This will keep you from collecting too many pictures and will keep your search focused. Dig through your parents' old stacks of photos. Call and email relatives and ask if they have any photographs they’d be willing to give to you. As you find the photos, keep them organized in labeled envelopes so that you know where they belong in the book.

Choose embellishments to make your scrapbook complete. Bring your scrapbook outline to the craft store so you can remember what you need. Pick out background pages, stickers, ribbons and anything else that catches your eye and matches up with the one of the pages you have planned for the book.

Create the scrapbook. Start by adding photos to a two-page spread, then add your embellishments. Finally, add text to the page. Include important names, dates and locations and add commentary, or applicable literary quotes and song lyrics to make it personal.