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Cut, Crop and Create

Birthing a Scrapbook Club

By Laura Cone

She suggests using embellishments on pages such as a miniature christening dress, birth certificate, baby bottle and pacifier. It's also easy to find scrapbook paper that follows the new baby theme. "Nowadays you can get any specialty scrapbook," she says. "I don't have a lock of hair as the grandmother, but if you have a lock of hair you can encase it to protect it and put a ribbon around it. It's just about using your imagination."

Wolfe says starting a scrapbook club is not just about swapping ideas, networking and making new friends, it's also practical. "It's a nice way to share supplies because it can be an expensive hobby," Wolfe says.

If you want to start your own scrapbook club while you're pregnant, consider how many people you will want to involve. You can handpick a few friends or use an online invitation Web site such as Evite.com to ask a larger group of friends if they want to join.

If you decide to host the club at a local scrapbook store, church or library, you will probably need to be willing to include strangers if they want to join. How many times a month to meet is another consideration.

Finally, consider opening your club to new moms, because once you have your baby you might enjoy having a built-in playgroup for your tot while you continue creating scrapbook pages for your child's first day of school, first prom and maybe even his or her wedding.

Basic Scrapbook Materials When you start a scrapbook club in your home, you will want to provide some of the basic tools for people to use such as paper cutters, punches and stamps. Members of your group will need a journaling pen, adhesives to attach pictures and, of course, a scrapbook album. If you meet in a scrapbook store, members will be able to purchase their own supplies. Laurie Delphia of Littleton, Colo., the owner of Freeze Frame Scrapbooking store, says people who are new to the scrapbook hobby need to decide what style of album they want to use. "They need a basic adhesive," she says. "They need either scissors or a cutting system. As they go along, they need papers and embellishments." She says the adhesives used should be acid-free. Women who are expecting might want to purchase a memory kit for a new baby, an item often sold online or in scrapbook stores. The kits often include nontoxic acid-free glue and stickers and ideas for the project.

Want to see more?

• Scrapbooking: Creatively Keeping Track of Baby's First Year
• Your Child's First Birthday Party: Learning to Identify and Nurture Little Feelings
• You'll find more fun activities here.
• Talk about it!

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