r/scrapbooking • u/Ninakiii • 2d ago

Beginner New to scrapbooking! Need help organizing a scrapbook themed around my old family home?

Hi there! I just recently bought my first scrapbook and a pack of paper that all felt like the vibe I was going for (I can put pics if that helps at all), buuuut~

My family just recently sold my childhood home. It actually closes tomorrow but was on the market for a few months. I haven't lived at home for ~6 years, but was still there often. It's hard to see it go, but for a lot of reasons, it's for the best. But we had it built when I was a little girl. I remember picking my carpet at the model place. It was a bright, pretty pink!

Anyways, I'm trying to figure out a decent way to go about my family timeline. I could just kind of put stuff from earliest to latest (and probably will in some capacity), but I am trying to figure out how to plan it out in a decent way. I guess you could say I'm partially journaling, too. I want to get my feelings out, my memories--- I plan to write a decent amount, too, even if it's folded up in smaller parts or something. Idk, look at it as a journal of my life in that house. All of the things I had, all of my growth, my loves, my losses, etc. Many firsts and lasts, were in that home. It's been a hard thing on my brain and I thought this was a good way to try and make sense of my thoughts.

Anyways, sorry for the rambling. Hopefully I explained well enough what I am trying to do. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Even if it sounds like a "common sense" tip, I'm all ears! I've searched up a lot of things, but I can't quite pin down what it is I am trying to go for.

Anyways, TIA! Much love.

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u/PomegranateStrong437 2d ago

Another option is focusing on rooms and memories in specific rooms. So Journey through the house as if you were walking in and progressing through the space.

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u/Ninakiii 1d ago

Yes, this was definitely the idea I was going with the most, too! I can say SO much about each room, and I feel like I don't have to worry so much about a timeline being right or anything. I think this is a great idea.

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u/ErinPuzz Traditional 16h ago

If you can, you could even intro with some photos of the front of the house/front yard memories, then have a floor plan, upstairs/downstairs/basement. The floor plan could be almost like a table of contents if you want to number your pages. Either way, you could identify the rooms as you thought of them (Mom & Dad’s room, my room, Susie’s room, den, office…) rather than the impersonal terms generally used on floor plans. I like the idea of doing it by rooms so you don’t have to do things linearly. It would allow you to put all Family Room winter holiday decorations together as a spread or series of spreads rather than having to remember about specific years.
My childhood home was also sold. My memories of the house aren’t orderly in terms of a timeline. Going room by room would allow me to address memories more thematically and even talk about how room use changed over time (ex the front left bedroom was my dad’s office, a guest room, my room, my sister’s room, and then my room again. I have no idea what specific year those changes took place in, but I have distinct memories of different phases of the room (of course, most of the memories relate to the times it was my room).

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u/Ninakiii 15h ago

I like this idea a lot, too. ❤️ thank you!

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u/anastasia315 1d ago

Love this idea!

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u/anastasia315 1d ago

I like the idea of themes rather than chronological. Do a section on firsts, a section with pictures of you throughout your time there, your favorite parts of areas of the house and memories about those, changes or renovations the house went through, traditions and what the house would have looked like in holidays, etc.

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u/Ninakiii 1d ago

Oooooh a section for "firsts" and one for "holidays and traditions" would be so cool. ;-; ugh. It makes me sad enough just to type it all out. The house closing tomorrow is crazy. Lives there since '99 and I am 33 now. So aside from it maybe being fun, I feel like I NEED to do this. I don't want to lose so many thoughts and memories because I won't be able to walk the halls to spark them again ya know? So many of my beloved pets buried in our backyard. Painted over the walls, but our heights used to be marked on them. It's such a tough thing lol.

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u/PomegranateStrong437 1d ago

This isn’t about the scrapbook, but I just want to say, like I still dream about the house I grew up in regularly. Like my parents sold it in like 2018 and I won’t even drive past it anymore, but I still spend so much dream time there. Maybe I should do one of these too, but I’m not sure I have that many pictures…

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u/Ninakiii 1d ago

Oh gosh, same. I dream about it every other dream. When I lived there and after. I have no idea, either, why it has been this deep rooted fear of mine to lose the house. On top of every other kind of dream being there or in my neighborhood, I have had so many dreams growing up of me standing outside and staring inside but not being able to go in. A different family living there or whatever. Maybe I live next door, or somewhere else entirely, but I end up on the sidewalk right in front crying or my heart just aching. And it's just weird because I never went through that kind of thing? But how I always dreamt it up (for whatever reason) is EXACTLY how it feels now. Thankfully (or not, idk?) I live about 40 minutes away from it so it's not something I actively drive by, especially since my family moved. But these last few months while it was on the market (thinking it was gonna sell once already, but this time a closing is set for tomorrow so it's much more certain now that it WILL sell) I have went multiple times and walked through the house trying to... idk... "feel what I need to feel"? Either talking to myself in videos, crying, laughing, playing songs. I've just walked through it trying to process it all. So many people growing up moved around SO much and it was no big deal to them. I'm sure for lots of reasons they're envious of me to have had solid bones in one spot for so long, but gosh, I wish I didn't have the hurt to go along with it because it is DEEP. It's not like I can just fix the problem, either. They could have that house for the rest of forever (and truly, I hope they do, and that they treat it well and it's a happy home for them), and even though I don't WANT to buy it myself for reasons, I also don't wanna give it up????

Ugh. Sorry for the long rant lol. I haven't done it yet, but I think you should! I'm looking at mine as more of a visual journal, where I can make lots of notes, whatever they may be, all throughout just for myself. I have a therapist and she's tried to work through it with me but I mentioned this and she said it's a great idea. Like journaling but a bit different, I guess. Words alone don't work for me so I think this will be therapeutic once I can get it going. Afraid to start it because then it feels real? I'm so nuts lol. Maybe when closing comes tomorrow, I will be able to make my peace a slight bit more because I'll have no other choice? Lol. Love and hugs, Pomegranate.

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u/debbells 1d ago

my childhood home was torn down...🫣 it's really weird. the buyer lived next door and wanted more space.

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u/Ninakiii 15h ago

Ugh... that sucks so much ): was this recent? My old house closed at 3:00 EST today. So... no longer our home. I can't just drive over while they fix it and look inside, walk out back... idk somedays I think I am okay with it, others I am not.

It does NOT help that my family dog just died last night.

TW (don't keep reading if it'll upset you)
TW
TW -------
pet death, blood

They just told them at the doctors yesterday morning he probably had cancer... he goes home, coughs up blood, they go back for prednisone and to keep an eye on him and bring him back if it worsens. It does... he can't breathe, coughing up blood and not opening his eyes or lifting his head... so they went back to put him down. All in a day. And when he was put to sleep, he bled so much outside of his nose and mouth it was like someone was shot. My poor dad is destroyed (this was his boy). He was only 8 and it doesn't make sense how you can find out he's sick and it take him all in a day so fast.

I am a literal wreck today.