HOW TO SCRAPBOOK USING HAPPY PLANNER PRODUCTS!

May 4 is National Scrapbooking Day! Created in 1994, National Scrapbooking Day is the first Saturday in May and is all about sharing your love and craft of scrapbooking with the world! As you can imagine, we get pretty excited about it. So, we thought we’d talk about our love for this crafty pastime with some modern scrapbook ideas. 

Did you know that Happy Planner has its roots in scrapbooking? It’s true! And it’s why our disc bound system was created – to make it quick and easy to remove pages and create until your heart’s content. Today, we’ll show you how to use stickers, washi, and other Happy Planner products to create spreads that will capture your memories for years to come!  

1. Choose your planner & layout.

Happy Planners were made to serve as planner scrapbooks, so we’re going to pick one of our favorites to glam up. If you’re looking for something more album specific, our Memory Keeping Photo Journals were made to capture your good times and add your own touches. We did a deep dive in a previous blog post about how to best utilize your scrapbook photo journal, but you can always apply the tips here to those layouts as well!  

We like using a Big size planner since it allows the most room to add flourishes and really has that album feel. It features a vertical layout which lends itself perfectly to some of the decorating techniques and tools we’ll use. 

2. Select a theme, event, or time of year.

We’re keeping our floral theme going with flower scrapbook stickers, and washi tape (we love our florals). You can also choose a theme specific to the week or month you’re working on. If it’s during a special time or year, like a holiday, a seasonal sticker pack would work too. If it’s for an event, like a wedding or a birthday, you can choose stickers that work for those occasions as well! We kind of have it all.

Choose which photos you’d like to use. It always helps to check the timestamp on your phone (assuming your phone is your camera) if you’d like to place specific photos on certain days. Use a collage app of your choosing to resize and print your photos to fit perfectly on your planner pages. Either print them on photo paper at home or at your local photo printer.  

Next, you’ll want to grab our Big Weekly Box Punch and crop your photos to size. You can also do this by hand with scissors or a paper cutter for larger pictures that spread across multiple boxes. Decide where you’d like to place your photos before affixing them to the page by doing a “dry run.” If you have any souvenirs from the week (ticket stubs, etc.) add them into the mix!  

Our stickers are the perfect balance between function and creativity. Once you’ve affixed your photos and memorabilia in the desired places, grab your scrapbook stickers! The colorful memo boxes fit snuggly into the vertical daily box spaces. Jot down memories from the day or important notes or to-dos. It’s up to you! Capture the mood of the day with a quote or buzz word. Add flourishes into corners or blank spaces that need a bit more pizzazz. Create a narrative and tell the story of the week.

Don’t forget the washi. It’s the icing on the cake! Use it to make cute frames for your photos or liven up your planner’s pre-existing pages. The planner we chose is practically a blank slate. Add washi accents to the dividing lines between the daily box spaces. You can even use it as a backdrop for other stickers to add a bit of dimension to your designs. Make a mistake? You can cover it up with washi. 😉

Use some of the smaller blank stickers to add labels to your photos or planning sections. And wait... you have not exhausted your artistic skills just yet! Have fun with a pen or a pencil and do some doodling. You don’t need to be Van Gogh to add a smiling sun, flower or heart. It’ll make your creation that much more unique.  

Do you love it? We hope so! If you’ve been using your planner for just planning (makes sense) we hope we’ve offered you some inspiration to take it to the next level. There’s so much amazing creativity out there. If you have any ideas using your own scrapbooking stuff – please, share with us on social @the_happy_planner. All it takes is some stickers, washi, and lots of imagination to make your memories extra special! 

Happy scrapbooking!