Have you been seeing tons of adorbs scrapbooking Reels on Instagram? Are all your besties working on books of their own? If you want to pick this crafty hobby up but aren’t sure where to start, consider this your guide to DIYing the cutest scrapbook.

Step 1: Choosing Your Vibe

Before you dive in, settle on a theme for your scrapbook. Are you going for a chic, minimalistic look or a cluttered aesthetic?  If you’re stuck on ideas, pull inspo from whatever era your scrapbook is representing. If it’s your amaze beach vacay, go for a breezy coastal theme. If it’s capturing a whole year of your life, recreate whatever vibes your year gave off, whether you’re loving balletcore or you’re in your granola girl phase.

Once you’ve decided, think about what color scheme will match your aesthetic. Will you need airy pastels or deep blues? Nostalgic greens and yellows or cotton-candy pinks? Sticking to one palette makes your scrapbook look so much more put-together.

Step 2: Gathering Your Supplies

Get ready for the *ultimate* Hobby Lobby shopping spree. Before you start crafting, you’ll need a few things…

A scrapbook, ofc! First things first, pick out your fave book to house your pages. Keep in mind the size of the pages you’ll want. Larger pages make for more organized spreads, but smaller pages will give you that messy, cluttered aesthetic.

Scrapbooking paper. The base of all of your pages, your paper determines the entire look of your spread. Grab lots of solid color options for simpler spreads while mixing in some patterned prints to spice it up.

Pictures. Consider this your ultimate*photo dump–go through your camera roll and pull all the cutest pics. It helps to plan out the topic of each page so you’ll know what pics to print (only one trip to Walmart, pls!). Print them out at your nearest Walmart or CVS, or, for extra vintage vibes, snag a photo printer to recreate all your fave shots as Polaroids.

Adhesives and cutting tools. Trust, having a paper cutter on your side will make your life a whole lot easier when you’re scrapbooking. And you’ll need something to stick down all your elements. We heart washi tape–it comes in such a wide variety of colors and prints.

Embellishments. Quite possibly the most important thing on the list, embellishments bring life to your scrapbook. They can be anything from concert tickets to stick-on jewels, stickers (a must-have), ribbons or pressed flowers. The more creative the embellishments, the more aesthetic the scrapbook. Use your imagination!

Step 3: Crafting Your Spread

Phew. You’ve planned it all out, picked out the perf book and snagged all the best supplies. Now, it’s time for the hard (or should we say fun?) part–putting it all together. Filling up an entire scrapbook with IG-worthy spreads seems daunting at first, but we promise–the more you practice your crafty new skills, the more natural they’ll come.

Before you glue anything down, lay it all out on the page to make sure you love how it looks. If your pages are lacking life, try gluing your pictures down at angles or overlapping each other. You can also try cutting out the backgrounds of more exciting pics to give your page an extra nostalgic look. And, if you’re really stumped, don’t be afraid to look on Pinterest for some inspo.

For the lettering on each page, don’t just sketch it out with a Sharpie. Get crafty by making your headers out of ribbon, construction paper or even washi tape.

Once you have the basics of your spread glued down, scatter embellishments anywhere and everywhere. Got a corner that needs something extra? Hot glue some preppy bows down over it. Need something in between two of your fave pics? Stick on a few rhinestones, and you’re good to go, girl!

No matter what, don’t worry about messing up–as long as your scrapbook brings you joy, you really can’t go wrong. Ready to hit Hobby Lobby and get started? Us, too. Let’s get crafting!

Tag us on IG @girlslifemag showing off your scrapbook creations!

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Image credits: @studio_magari, @alexismariemade, @the_stationer