At some point in time most of us decide we want to make a scrapbook of our family’s history.

For some of us this is easy to do since a member of the family may have been collecting and organizing family photos over the years. For others it may be a little more difficult.

Whatever the case may be, there are ways to put together a scrapbook that will tell a tale for generations to come.

The first thing you want to do is gather your photos and memorabilia. Remember, the photos you include shouldn’t be limited to just pictures of family members and pets.

You should consider lending a bit more to the historical aspect of your book by including pictures of the homes your family has lived in, vehicles they drove, places they worked and churches or meeting places they attended.

You may want to include memorabilia such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, medals and ribbons awarded to family members in the military, letters or small pieces of artwork made by a relative.

Even little trinkets collected over the years or old paper money or coins can be incorporated in your scrapbook. Don’t forget the old films and slides that your family members have. You can have pictures made from them.

Once you’ve accumulated what you of the pictures and memorabilia it’s time to decide how you want them laid out in your scrapbook. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the preferred method, and sometimes simpler method, is chronological order.

Be sure to leave space for the memorabilia on your pages, or you could even choose to place photos on one page and corresponding memorabilia on the opposite page. The choice is up to you.

Adding embellishments to your scrapbook is another personal choice. You may want to consider some heritage-based embellishments to expound on your family’s history.

Or you may choose a simpler theme and go with an old-fashioned look like that of a leather-bound book. Perhaps rather than starting from scratch you would prefer to use a pre-made kit to help you along. There are a variety of these, many theme-based, and are widely available.

Whatever you choose, this should be a very fulfilling and rewarding experience and will surely be something your entire family will treasure.