Wow, this year is quite the year for the graduates, right?
The year 2020 will go down in history for being quite the buzzkill for our well-deserving grads! Keep in mind that while your grad may be cheated out of prom or a walk down a historic lawn to get that diploma, they don’t have to miss the PAR-TAY, their cap and gown pictures, or having that piece of paper that says, “THEY DID IT!”
Let your grad pose with rolls of toilet paper or Lysol! We can’t do anything about it so why not do something to make them smile?!
Making an album to celebrate your graduate’s achievements is easy and will be a walk down memory lane that you will never regret.
I have made three graduation albums and, each time, I finish in just a couple of weeks. Choosing your pictures is fun but it is the most time-consuming part. I used the following as my guideline and chose my favorite pictures only. The pictures had to take my breath away in order to make the cut. This process helped narrow it down and to make the album especially meaningful to my grads.
Sample Graduation Scrapbook Album Layout
- Page 1: A baby picture and a senior portrait
- Pages 2 and 3: Favorite pictures of the graduate growing up at different ages
- Page 4: Family pictures of us all together with full names of those in our immediate family.
On this page, I did a large journaling segment on the “-isms” of the grad. Meaning, the quirky, fun things about the graduate that are unique to them and their personality. - Page 5 and 6: Photos of extended family, including cousins from both sides of the family with the graduate
- Page 7: Favorite pictures of the graduate growing up with mom
- Page 8: Favorite pictures of the graduate growing up with dad
- Pages 9 and 10: Favorite pictures of the graduate with grandparents
- Pages 11 and 12: Favorite pictures of the graduate with siblings
- Pages 13 and 14: Any special events (For us, it was a girls trip to NYC)
- Pages 15 and 16: Graduate with very special friends
- Pages 17 and 18: Grad doing fun activities like tubing, four-wheeling, boating, fishing…
- Pages 19 and 20: More fun activities
- Pages 21 and 22: Sport pictures with long a journal passage about her experience with that sport
- Pages 23 and 24: More sports pictures (a second sport) with more journal info
- Pages 25 and 26: Special pics from other extracurricular activities/honor society/church stuff
The remaining pages feature senior-year moments and activities:
- Pages 27 and 28: Homecoming spirit week pictures, parade pics
- Pages 29 and 30: Homecoming dance pictures with friends
- Pages 31 and 32: 18th birthday pictures, pictures of gas prices, prices of a gallon of milk, trendy items that the kids are into
- Pages 33 – 36: Prom photos
- Pages 37 – 40: Senior trip photos
- Pages 41 and 42: Graduation announcement and graduation party invitations
- Pages 43 and 44: Trips to tour colleges
- Pocket page to collect letters of college acceptances
- Pocket page to collect senior year report cards
- Pocket page to collect achievement certificates
- Pages 45 and 46: Messages and well-wishes to the grad from guests who attended the graduation party
- Pages 47-50: Pictures of the actual graduation ceremony
- Last couple of pages with senior photos collected from fellow grads
- Final page with a picture of grad with the college she chose to go to
The photo categories I chose may be different for you, but I suggest you choose the categories first and make sure you have about 4 to 8 pictures to include in each one for a great double-page spread.
Once you have all the pictures, the rest is easy. Consider choosing a color scheme (such as school colors) and that will pull it all together.
Good luck! A graduation scrapbook album is worth the effort! Congrats to you and your grad!
About Beckie Belote
Beckie Belote has worked in direct sales for more than 20 years helping other women live more creative, meaningful, and fun-filled lives through scrapbooking workshops and retreats. As a Creative Memories advisor, she also helps her teammates across the country to build successful businesses. Becke is a cheer coach and part-time teacher. She lives in Newport News, Virginia with her husband, has two amazing daughters, two rotten dogs, and one bird.
About Creative Memories
Creative Memories offers you ways to enjoy and share your photos with friends and family through do-it-yourself scrapbook albums as well as Fast2Fab quick and easy albums. Shop CreativeMemories.com to find bookcloth scrapbook albums, seasonal embellishments, unique border makers and more.
