The Scariest Things About Scrapbooking (And How to Make Them Less Scary) 🎃
There are things scrapbookers simply do not discuss after dark.
The 27,438 photos on your phone.
The paper stash that has somehow developed its own zip code.
The album you started in 2017 and quietly stopped making eye contact with.
And, of course, the most terrifying sound known to scrapbookers everywhere:
“You should put all those photos in chronological order.”
😱😱😱
Absolutely not.
In honor of spooky season, we’re dragging seven of scrapbooking’s scariest monsters out into the light—the giant camera roll, the blank page, the overwhelming stash, the Pinterest-perfect layouts, and the horrifying suspicion that you are somehow “behind.”
And instead of telling you to just start somewhere—which is approximately as helpful as yelling “RUN!” during a horror movie—I’m going to tell you exactly what to do next.
No scrapbook séance required.
No perfectly organized craft room.
And I’m reasonably certain we can get through this without alerting the Scrapbook Police.
Although they already know you skipped 2019. 👻
Let’s begin.
😱 HORROR #1: 27,438 PHOTOS. ONE SCRAPBOOKER. NO ESCAPE.
You only needed a few photos.
A few.
But first you found vacation photos. Then birthdays. Grandkids. Twelve nearly identical pictures of the dog. A recipe you screenshotted in 2022 and apparently still haven’t made.
You scroll for three minutes.
Somehow you’re now looking at Christmas 2017.
Things have gone terribly wrong. 😂
Back out.
We’re getting you out of there.
Open your photos and go straight to October of last year.
That’s it. We’re not organizing your camera roll. We’re not starting with 2004. We’re definitely not making a list of every important event you haven’t scrapbooked yet.
October. Last year.
Find one day, event, or ordinary moment you’d love to remember.
Maybe it’s Halloween. A pumpkin patch. A fall drive. Dinner with friends. Your grandkids in costumes. Or just a random Saturday with photos that make you smile.
Choose 6–10 photos that help tell that story.
Then—and this part is important—
STOP SCROLLING.
Close the photo app before you find yourself watching a video from 2019 and wondering why everyone looks so young.
You did it.
You went from 27,438 photos to 6–10.
The other 27,428 can continue haunting your camera roll. They’re not invited to scrapbook night. 👻
😱 HORROR #2: I PICKED 10 PHOTOS. THEY MAY NEVER ESCAPE MY PHONE.
Against all odds…
you survived the camera roll.
You chose 6–10 photos. You resisted the urge to investigate Christmas 2017. You made it out alive.
But your photos?
They’re still in there. 😱
Trapped behind the glass.
Waiting.
Wondering if they’ll ever experience the outside world.
We need to stage a rescue mission.
Print them. 😂
Here are my favorite escape routes:
- Persnickety Box— 50% off your first order with code PRINTS. This is a monthly printing subscription that pairs incredibly well with The Memory Collective Club kit!
- Persnickety Prints — For gorgeous, archival-quality prints with beautiful color and exceptional detail.
- Walmart one-hour photo printing — When we’re dealing with a hostage situation and need those photos out TODAY, Walmart is my go-to. I’ve actually been really impressed with their prints. Upload them from your phone, pick them up about an hour later, and congratulations: the hostages have been released.
And yes, I love having a photo printer at home—especially at crops or when I want to play with different photo sizes. It’s basically having your own emergency evacuation system. Just know that ink and photo paper can get pretty spendy if you’re rescuing the entire camera roll at once.
There is no prize for choosing the fanciest printing method.
Pick the one that gets those 6–10 photos out of your phone and into your hands.
The rescue is complete.
😱 HORROR #3: THE BLANK 12×12 PAGE IS JUST…STARING AT ME.
You have the photos.
They’ve been successfully extracted from your phone.
You have paper. You have embellishments. You have adhesive.
And now you’re sitting across from a completely blank 12×12 piece of cardstock.
It knows you don’t have a plan.
You stare at it.
It stares back.
Five minutes pass.
Nobody moves. 😂
We’re going to break the standoff.
Look at your photos, then look at the papers in your TMC kit.
Pick two papers you think look good with your photos.
That’s your entire job right now.
Use one as your background paper.
Use the other to back your photos—cut it just slightly larger than your photos so a little border of that paper shows around them.
Now put those backed photos on your background paper.
Look at that.
The blank page has been breached.
You don’t need to know where every sticker will go. You don’t need a title yet. You don’t need to envision the finished page.
You have photos on paper.
We’re officially scrapbooking. 🎃
Don’t have a kit? Take a peek at this month’s Memory Collective Club kit. →
😱 HORROR #4: TOO MANY PAPERS. TOO MANY STICKERS. SEND HELP.
You need paper.
So you look at the paper.
There are 600 choices.
Then come the stickers. And the letters. And the die cuts. And the embellishments.
Should these colors match? Coordinate? Contrast? Is that sticker too big? Do you need three embellishments? Seven? Why are there suddenly seventeen different kinds of adhesive involved?
SEND HELP.
This is exactly where a coordinated kit makes life easier.
If you’re newer to scrapbooking, start with what came in your TMC kit. The papers and embellishments were chosen to work together, so you don’t have to stand in a scrapbook aisle wondering which of the 47 orange papers is the right orange.
Use the two papers you chose in Horror #3, then pull a few coordinating embellishments from your kit.
That’s plenty.
And if you’re a longtime scrapbooker with a stash?
SHOP YOUR STASH.
Use the colors in your kit as your guide and see what you already own. Pull out some old stickers. Dig through your scraps. Grab ribbon, letters, die cuts, or whatever else makes you happy.
That random package of orange alphabet stickers you’ve owned since 2014?
TODAY MAY FINALLY BE THEIR DAY. 😂
Your kit gives you a starting point.
Your stash gives you even more possibilities.
And if you don’t have a stash yet?
Don’t worry. Give it time. 👻😂
😱 HORROR #5: I’M “BEHIND.” THEY KNOW.
Quick. Hide the unfinished Disney album.
Okay, but seriously…
Behind whom?
Is there a National Scrapbooking Authority keeping records?
Are the scrapbook police going to knock on your door and demand proof that you completed Christmas 2016 before you were legally permitted to scrapbook Halloween 2025?
Because if so, I have questions.
And probably several outstanding warrants.
You already chose your October photos.
Those are the photos you get to spend time with today.
Next time, maybe you’ll feel like scrapbooking something from last month. Maybe you’ll find a photo from 2007 that makes you laugh. Maybe Tuesday turns out to be worth a page.
There’s no required order.
Your scrapbook can move backward, forward, sideways, and occasionally disappear into a closet for six months.
The stories will still be there when you’re ready for them.
So if that little voice starts whispering, “But I’m so far behind…”
you have my permission to whisper back:
“Tell it to the Scrapbook Police.” 👻😂
😱 HORROR #6: I MADE A SCRAPBOOK PAGE. THEN I OPENED PINTEREST.
Big mistake.
Five minutes ago, you liked your page.
You were feeling pretty good about yourself, actually.
Then you opened Pinterest.
Apparently everyone else received a degree in Advanced Scrapbook Architecture while you weren’t looking.
There are layers.
There are clusters.
There are tiny pieces of thread artfully peeking out from underneath things.
BACK AWAY FROM PINTEREST.
😂
Pinterest is wonderful for ideas.
It is a terrible grading system.
Borrow a photo arrangement you like. Try someone’s color combination. Copy the way they placed a title.
Then make your page.
If something ends up crooked or wonky?
Congratulations. You made a scrapbook page.
Write the date.
Add something you remember.
Turn the page.
Years from now, nobody looking through that scrapbook is going to whisper:
“Such a shame about the embellishment cluster. Clearly no understanding of the rule of thirds.”
They’re going to look at the people in the photos.
They’re going to read what you wrote.
They’re going to remember.
Pinterest-worthy may be the most terrifying monster we’ve encountered yet.
😱 HORROR #7: THE BLANK PAGE HAS WON. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO MAKE A LAYOUT.
Perfect.
Copy mine. Seriously.
Choose one of my October layouts.
Use the same number of photos.
Put them roughly where I put mine.
Borrow the paper placement. Put your title somewhere similar. Add embellishments where you see mine.
You can copy the whole dang thing.
No scrapbook detective is going to dust your page for fingerprints.
And here’s the funny part…
You’re going to love yours way more than mine anyway.
Mine has my people and my stories on it.
Yours will have your people.
Your kids. Your grandkids. Your friends. That ridiculous Halloween costume. The pumpkin patch you go to every year. The person whose laugh you can practically hear when you look at the picture.
That’s the magic part.
The layout gives you somewhere to start.
Your photos are what make the page worth keeping. ❤️
See 6 Halloween Scrapbook Layouts You Can Copy →
Want Someone Else to Make a Few of Those Decisions? 🎃
That's exactly why I created The Memory Collective Club.
Each month, your kit arrives with beautifully coordinated scrapbook supplies, photo prompts, storytelling ideas, and layout inspiration to give you somewhere to begin.
You choose the photos and stories you want to spend time with.
I'll help with some of the decisions that tend to make scrapbooking feel overwhelming.
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Scrapbooking Really Doesn’t Have to Be Scary 👻
- Pick 6–10 photos.
- Print them.
- Start with supplies that already work together.
- Raid your stash if you have one.
- Borrow a layout when you need one.
- Write down what you remember.
And please stop worrying about the Scrapbook Police.
They have been severely understaffed since the Great Sticker Shortage of 2006. 😂
There will always be another photo.
Another page.
Another story you could tell.
You only need somewhere to begin.
And sometimes, the funniest, silliest, most ordinary stories are the ones you’ll be happiest you took the time to remember.
Your stories are worth your time. 🎃❤️