40 Beautiful Scrapbooking Ideas to Try

Scrapbooking is a wonderful way to display photos and preserve your favorite memories. Not to mention, it’s incredibly therapeutic. There are countless fun ways to use different kinds of materials, create elaborate themes, and even make interactive scrapbook pages. To help you get inspired, we’ve put together 40 scrapbooking ideas. You’ll find examples of scrapbooks with different formats, cover page designs, layout options, and tons of other scrapbook decoration ideas. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned crafter, there’s something for everyone. 

Let’s dive in! 

There’s really no right way to scrapbook—you may prefer to purchase a ready-made journal with blank pages to fill with your memories, or you may want to take a more DIY approach and make everything from scratch. If the latter sounds like fun, try some of the DIY photo scrapbook ideas below. 

This adorable mini scrapbook is made from just one piece of cardstock and can hold up to 10 photos. It’s small enough to carry in your wallet and flip through whenever you need a pick-me-up. Learn how to make it here. 

This creative mini-photo album opens up into a star and can be turned inside out to reveal up to 24 photos. Learn how to make it here. 

Who knew brown paper bags make such cute scrapbooks? You can even create little inserts to place inside the bags—tie a ribbon for easy retrieval and use them to display more photos or store small mementos.

One of the easiest ways to create a DIY scrapbook is to simply collect your pages, hole punch them, and use binder rings to hold them together. Your scrapbook can be as thin or as thick as you’d like, and you can always go back and remove or add more pages later. 

Like the binder ring idea but only have one ring? No problem! Use it to hold these adorable little tags. Just like the mini scrapbook, you can carry this tag album with you everywhere you go! 

Whether you’re buying a ready-made journal or making your own, every scrapbook needs a stunning cover page that reflects its theme or occasion. Here are some fun ideas. 

Show off your scrapbooking paper collection by cutting out little shapes and displaying them on the front cover of your scrapbook. Hexagons work really well, but you can also try circles, triangles, or squares.

These gorgeous paper flowers add so much depth and dimension. Try making flowers, or any other 3D elements, really, to take your cover page to the next level. 

If you happen to also love drawing or painting, why not show off your skills on the cover of your scrapbook? If you’re making a scrapbook as a gift, this will add an extra meaningful touch. 

Bring back memories of summer by displaying delicate pressed flowers on the cover page. This scrapbooker even added a gorgeous doily to complement them. 

Add a bit of dimension to your cover page with a layer of sequins. The sequins are trapped in a pocket behind a clear sheet of plastic, so they move around freely as you shake and turn the scrapbook. 

Elevate your scrapbook’s cover page by stitching letters or a design with yarn. Then, affix an embroidery hoop on top to give the illusion that the needlework is still in the hoop.

If you’ve always thought that scrapbooking is just gluing photos to a page and sticking on some decorations, you’re in for a treat. Scrapbooks can actually be quite interactive! You can use paper to make pockets, envelopes, pop-ups, hidden messages, and lots more. Here are just a few fun layout ideas to try. 

Make little pockets throughout your scrapbook by leaving the top edge of the paper unglued. You can use them to hold more photos, descriptions to accompany photos, or even cute little messages. 

Have lots of photos that go together but not enough space on the page? One option is to make a waterfall photo display. The photos will be hidden when laid flat, but when you pull on the tab at the bottom, they’ll flip up one by one like a waterfall. 

Another option is to make a mini accordion book. Add as many photos as you’d like, then fold them up and keep the little book closed with some ribbon, yarn, or even a magnet. 

Did you love pop-up books as a child? You can use a similar principle to make your photos pop off the page. They’ll lay flat when the scrapbook is folded and pop up when you open it. 

Some photos are meant to be experienced in order. Save the best for last by hiding them behind a gate fold with a ribbon or a napkin fold. You can even write a little surprise message on the inside of the folds.  

If you’d like to include certain mementos in your scrapbook but don’t like the idea of gluing them permanently to the page, envelopes will be your best friend. Use them to store photos, notes, coins, tickets, or other things of that nature. 

Maximize the space on your photo scrapbook page by creating a sliding overlay. The number 1 in this example sits on a transparent sheet that’s wrapped around the page and can slide from left to right. When you’re done looking at the photo, you can slide the overlay to the right and read the accompanying text. 

If you’re after a more minimalist look and feel, or you just need a few simple spreads to break up the interactive ones, check out the quick and easy layout ideas below. 

Photo grids are the perfect way to display multiple photos that follow the same theme. In this example, they are all birthday photos from different years. You can draw the grid, use paper strips, or use twine like this scrapbooker.

Using pocket pages is one of the easiest ways to create a scrapbook. Simply cut rectangles of scrapbooking paper that will fit into each pocket and decorate them with photos, messages, quotes, and stickers. It’s a foolproof way to put together a neat and cohesive scrapbook. 

Taking photos regularly is a great way to track how things change over time. If you are putting together a baby scrapbook, for example, sharing one photo a day for a month will illustrate the baby’s growth—something that’s so easy to miss in the chaos of everyday life. 

Unlike babies, you probably don’t change much over the course of one month, but taking one photo a month for a year can be much more telling. The photos don’t have to necessarily show physical changes—simply looking back at what mood you were in, who you were with, and where the photo was taken will help you get a snapshot of your entire year. 

Polaroid photos are perfect for scrapbooking because they have a built-in space for captions. If you’re hoping to achieve a minimalist aesthetic, just using polaroids alone is a great option. Don’t have a Polaroid or Instax camera? No problem! Making your own Polaroid pictures is fun, easy, and a lot cheaper. Watch this class to learn how. 

Our favorite memories don’t just exist in the form of photos, mementos, and stories. Sometimes, memories are associated with a certain dessert or a special meal. Preserve this memory by including a recipe page in your scrapbook. You can sprinkle in recipes that match the time period or theme of your scrapbook or even make an entire scrapbook dedicated to recipes alone. 

Scrapbooking is meant to preserve memories and invoke feelings of nostalgia. What better way to do this than with a vintage theme? Use it for a few spreads in your scrapbook or go ahead and make the whole thing vintage-inspired! 

Use yellowed paper, old newspaper clippings, and desaturated colors to give your scrapbook an old, worn-out look and feel. You can even use a filter before you print your photos to give them a vintage vibe. 

Pretend you don’t have access to a computer and printer—hand write everything in cursive. If you do want to include some print, use stamps or clippings from old newspapers, tickets, and labels. 

Using a wax seal stamp is a wonderful way to attach papers, twine, lace, or feathers to your scrapbook photo page. It will reliably hold things in place and look perfectly vintage. 

Use floral decorations, drawings, cutouts, and pressed flowers to give your scrapbook a dreamy vintage aesthetic. 

Few anniversary gifts are more meaningful than a scrapbook that documents your adventures together. Here are some cute scrapbook ideas for couples. 

At one point or another, you may have dragged your partner into a carnival photo booth for that perfectly timed kissing shot. If so, that photo strip would look perfect in your couple scrapbook. And if not, you can just as easily make a pseudo photo strip for the same effect. 

They may be corny, but they’ll bring a smile to your partner’s face. Besides, no one else needs to see your couple scrapbook, so go ahead and overload it with cuteness. 

Sometimes, generic quotes aren’t enough to express how much you appreciate your partner. In those cases, be sure to include a personal message (or a few) that’s meant just for them.  

Have you ever come across a cute comic strip and thought, “That sounds just like us!”? Go ahead and add it into your scrapbook. And if you’re not one to browse newspapers and tear-off calendars for comic strips, why not make your own?

Have a special date night you want to cherish forever? Be sure to save any tickets or receipts from it so you can add them to your scrapbook later. 

You didn’t take all those beautiful wedding photos for nothing! Display them in a scrapbook, along with other mementos from the big day, in a way that reflects your love and commitment to each other. 

This gorgeous cover features a simple illustration of a bride and groom, but take a closer look at the bride—her dress and veil are made with real tulle, her hair is made with yarn, and her flowers are made with sequins and beads. 

Of course, wedding photos are a must for your scrapbook, but what about other mementos? Feel free to include a copy of your invitations, menu, table cards, and other stationery. You can even include a pressed flower from the bride’s bouquet and fold your vows into little pockets in the scrapbook. 

Your first dance as a married couple is a special moment you’ll always remember. Relive that moment every time you flip through your wedding scrapbook by writing out some of the lyrics of the song you danced to. 

We don’t always get the chance to visit the same destination twice. Luckily, you can document the experience in a travel scrapbook and flip through it whenever you’re feeling nostalgic. It’s much cheaper than booking a plane ticket!

Show off all the destinations you visited in a single trip by featuring them on a map. These can be cities in a country or even just attractions in a single city. Include a picture of what each destination looked like and connect it to the corresponding place on the map. 

The journey is often just as much fun as the destination. Highlight the journey on a map by marking your starting place, the end destination, and the route you took. These travelers used a piece of twine to mark the route and even included a few road trip photos. 

Restaurants often have branded paper napkins. If you visit one you particularly like during a trip, feel free to grab a spare napkin to include in your travel scrapbook later. 

Traveling abroad involves a lot of public transport—planes, trains, buses, and ferries. Hold on to your tickets and include them in your travel scrapbook to help preserve the memories.