Premade Scrapbook Layouts: The Shortcut to Finished Pages

In 1873 Mark Twain received a U.S. patent for, of all things, a self-pasting scrapbook. Its pages were pre-coated with gum, so you only had to moisten them to stick in your clippings. One of America's greatest writers was also an obsessive scrapbooker who wanted to make it easier.

A century and a half later, we're doing the same thing.

Why scrapbooking still matters

People have been gathering keepsakes into books for centuries, from the Renaissance commonplace book to the Victorian scrapbook full of calling cards and pressed flowers. Today most of our photos live on our phones, thousands of them, rarely seen. A scrapbook page is the opposite: a few chosen pictures, the story behind them, and something you can hold, pass down and flip through on a rainy afternoon.

The hardest part is the design. Picking papers, cutting borders, layering embellishments, finding the theme: that's what keeps photos in the phone. That's the part we do for you.

What you get

Each layout is a finished, premade two-page spread on 12x12 pages, the standard scrapbook album size. These are physical, handmade pages, not digital downloads. They include coordinated patterned papers, embellishments and details like ribbons, glitter, distressed edges and hand-sewn stitching. All that's left is to add your photos and journaling.

Themes for every memory

• Birthdays and celebrations: sparkly "Celebrate" layouts, plus a margarita-and-martini party theme
• Holidays: Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, the Fourth of July and Christmas with a gold garland border
• Seasons: spring florals, summer beach and daisies, autumn harvest, gingham pumpkins and the pumpkin patch
• Babies and kids: It's a Girl, the first day of preschool with ABC accents
• Hobbies: Gone Fishing, nautical sailing, baseball and vintage sewing
• The sea and the zoo: mermaids, seahorses, deep-sea scenes and a panda in a hat
• Vintage florals: pink, black and gold; teal; peach rose; French vanilla; and blue florals

Tips for filling a premade layout

1. Choose photos first, then the layout. Look for the theme or the colors in your pictures.
2. Print photos at 4x6 or smaller to leave room for the embellishments around them.
3. Write something. A date, a place, a sentence about why it mattered. In twenty years, the words will be what people read first.
4. Use acid-free adhesive so photos stay put and don't yellow.

Gifts that become heirlooms

A premade layout with a few printed photos makes a remarkable gift: a grandparent's birthday, a first-year anniversary, a graduating senior's sports season. Wrap it in an album and it's the start of a whole family book.

Finish the album

Add your own touches with our handmade embellishments and die cuts, and keep the leftovers for a junk journal. Want a layout for a theme we haven't made, like your family reunion, a team or a trip? Ask us for a custom layout.