# Scrapbook Questions



## KyMama (Jun 15, 2011)

I'm attempting to make my first scrapbook for my husband for his birthday. It will be about his time in the Navy and I've gathered all the memorabilia and photos I can find. I'd like to include his corpsman pin, but I have no idea how I would go about attaching it to a page. I found a couple more pins also so any ideas would be great.

What do y'all think of the Cricut machines? I'm thinking I could really get into scrapbooking and was considering purchasing the Cricut Mini, but would like some honest opinions before I spend the money.

Thanks


----------



## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

I'm looking for info on die cut machines, too. 

I got an email ad with a low price on a Cricut bundle. By the time I could look for info and reviews, the offer was gone and the price much higher. Then slightly lower without the bundle.


----------



## magic (Sep 20, 2013)

For the pins, you can get small memorabilia envelopes in clear or vellum. This will keep the pins and the paper protected. I have a cricut and use it all the time. Our church is always having me cut out items for Bible school, Sunday school crafts, baby showers, etc. I am also a 4H scrapbook leader and many of the kids in our club use the cricut for their project boards, demonstrations, and scrapbooks. I used it this week to cut out ornaments for our local library to use on a theme tree. I use it more for non-scrapbooking than for scrapbooking but I really like it. My teenagers and their friends have used the cricut to cut out items for their school projects as well. The cartridges can get expensive but you can swap cartridges, borrow from others, and find them on good discounts.


----------



## KyMama (Jun 15, 2011)

magic - Do you mind if I ask which cricut you have? I've been trying to read the reviews and they are so mixed that I don't know which way to go. I'm sure that I'd be using it more for other stuff like you and just occasionally in scrapbooking, at least to begin with.


----------



## magic (Sep 20, 2013)

I have the expression and have had it for 3 or 4 years. It will cut up to 12" by 24".


----------



## KyMama (Jun 15, 2011)

Thank you, magic. 

My best friend was wanting to make a scrapbook for her husband and my DH and I were talking about it last night. He said he would like to have a shadow box with all his pins, ribbons, medals and such displayed. He filled out some paperwork to receive his records so that we can order anything that is missing. So for his surprise scrapbook I'm going to concentrate on the pictures and certificates that I found. So far I have 2 pages done, at this rate I may be able to get it done before his birthday, December 24th.


----------



## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

KyMama said:


> Thank you, magic.
> 
> My best friend was wanting to make a scrapbook for her husband and my DH and I were talking about it last night. He said he would like to have a shadow box with all his pins, ribbons, medals and such displayed. He filled out some paperwork to receive his records so that we can order anything that is missing. So for his surprise scrapbook I'm going to concentrate on the pictures and certificates that I found. So far I have 2 pages done, at this rate I may be able to get it done before his birthday, December 24th.


You can always make an hinged bookcover for your scrapbook with a shadowbox on the front. You could use pressboard or 1/4" plywood for the covers and the box frame, and then bind the entire book with screwposts or (if it's thick enough) attach the box to the spine and back cover with tiny jewelry box hinges and mount hand-stitched pages inside.

That way you can display it as a shadowbox, but the back opens up with all the scrapbook memorabilia right there inside.


----------



## KyMama (Jun 15, 2011)

My DH won't let me buy a Cricut machine. Now before anybody tells me that they would just go ahead and get it, this is the only time that I can think of that he's told me to wait. He usually tells me to get whatever I want. I'm hoping that he's getting it for me for Christmas. I know that he was looking at them on Amazon the day after I showed them to him at Hobby Lobby. Unless he's planning on taking up scrapbooking. 

I love the idea of a shadowbox on the front, but he has picked out some really nice boxes. He was looking at rather large ones so I assume he has an idea of what he wants in there. There were definitely bigger than the front of my scrapbook. The linked image below is the scrapbook that I used. I saw it in Sam's Club one day and that's what started this whole idea. 

I'm finally finished with it and it's much thicker than I planned. Originally I was planning on doing a standard scrapbook by choosing select pictures and decorating the pages. When I started going through his picture album I realized that the pictures and pages were sticking together. I decided to remove them all before they were permanently stuck together. So I bought a lot of picture corners and added a bunch of pages. I used the picture corners in case they need to be rearranged. His album looked like he just stuck the pictures in there in no particular order. It ended up being a scrapbook in the front and just an album in the back. I left room around the pictures for him to help me label them later. And I changed my mind about giving it to him for his birthday, it's now a Christmas present. 

He has three certificates, 2 Suez Canal and 1 Rock of Gibraltar, that are 20 Â¾" by 15 Â½" that I framed. I also found his boot camp, his boot camp division and his field medical service school pictures. I've framed those and together with the certificates they are his birthday present. 

I really hope he likes the scrapbook and appreciates the framing of the photos.


----------

