Home And Family USA

A great way to preserve cherished memories of family and friends, of special places visited, as well as milestones such as graduation, weddings and the birth of a baby is with a photo scrapbook. If you have boxes and boxes of old photographs and mementos, a photo scrapbook is what you need to get your memories organized.

A visit to your local hobby and craft store will afford you the opportunity to examine the many different styles of photo scrapbook that are available. They come in all shapes and sizes, as well as in a multitude of colors. You may want to purchase a plain one and customize the cover yourself. As for the inside of the photo scrapbook, there are endless choices when it comes to photo mounting pages, papers with pockets for securing mementos such as napkins, ticket stubs and matchbooks, and different tools to use for decoration purposes.

Some families are so organized and so thoroughly enjoy putting together a photo scrapbook, that they end up having to purchase bookshelves just to store their photographic creations on! People who enjoy making photo scrapbooks as a hobby will make one for just about any celebration or occasion. I have seen a photo scrapbook made for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, the birth of a child, graduation from high school and college, retirement, as well as ones centered on a families’ genealogy. Many people also enjoy putting together scrapbooks that center on family vacations.

There are many ways in which to make yours’ unique. Different colored paper can be used within the photo scrapbook, as well as different sizes and fonts for the text pages. Colored pencils, markers and paint pens will also add a personal touch. If you have loose mementos such as napkins, invitations, hotel receipts or the like that need to be secured, stiff paper featuring pockets can be put into your scrapbook as a way to keep these items together.

When mounting photos for your book, it is wise to first sort the pictures by date, occasion, etc. before placing them into the photo scrapbook. More than one picture has been ruined because it was mounted on the wrong page and then had to be removed. Also, to add some flair to your photo scrapbook, consider using both black and white, as well as color film when taking pictures. The contrast between the two when mounted on the same page is dazzling.

Don’t be afraid to experiment! Use stencils, glitter glue, border edge scissors, multicolored paper, textured paper and different types of film to make your photo scrapbook one of a kind. It can be passed down from generation to generation, and will provide your loved ones with wonderful stories of all the memorable times your family has shared.

I have been fascinated with world globes and maps for as long as I can remember. I think that it all started when I was three or four. I went into my father’s study looking for him. His study was a place that had always fascinated me. It was full of old, dusty objects that I did not understand. He had shelves and shelves of books, and I used to daydream about what could be in them.

My dad was always willing to explain things to me but when I asked about his world globe map, he demurred. He would not tell me what it was. He seemed to be thinking. Finally, holding it out of reach, he told me that it was a map of the world. I asked excitedly to see it, but he would not let me. Then he asked me a question. “What do you think the world looks like,” he asked?

I remember exactly what I said. I had a friend who had described an antique world globe map to me, dragons and all. Although I knew that one did not run into dragons every day, I was quite sure that they existed in the oceans, as well as on other continents. I began describing all the fantastic creatures that I believed existed on world globe maps. My father listened patiently, gravely even. He never corrected me. He never tried to dispel my illusions about maps of the world, nor did he participate in my game of imagination. He simply listened to me until I was done creating my fantastic world globe map.

When I finished, he took me into my own bedroom. He pulled out my box of crayons and said one word to me. “Draw,” he said, and smiled. I began to draw my world globe map. I was constantly frustrated by the fact that I could not include everything that I imagined, but nonetheless I continued. Soon I had an entire continent, then two. This was the beginning of my love affair with maps.

Since then, any picture of the globe that I see fascinates me. Rather than teaching me the shape of the continents and the layout of the world globe map, my father taught me something even more important. He taught me to use my own imagination and come to my own conclusions. He taught me that the world is a place full of wonder, even if that wonder does not show up clearly on every world globe map. It is a lesson I will never forget.