Wouldn't it be great to have all that accumulated school "stuff" contained in a meaningful and fun way? Stored in a way that it could be looked at and enjoyed instead of being stuffed into boxes in the attic? Here are some ideas for doing just that. And come Graduation Day your student will have a great keepsake full of love and memories created by you!

I made each of my daughters a scrapbook for their high school graduation - if you start when your student is younger the task will be much easier!

  This layout includes a scanned copy of a crayon drawing of our family, photos from a field trip to the zoo, notes from the teacher.

Collect a large (5x7 or 8x10) school picture of your student from each year of school. Next, sort through your scrapbook paper collection to find papers that coordinate with each photo. I made a 12x12 album, so I found at least two 12x12 papers to create a two page layout for each grade.

Now the fun part - sort through those old school papers and "stuff" looking for things that would be the most meaningful and memorable. I kept the papers organized by school year and then I used my scanner and printed them in a size that would fit on my layout.

  A scanned  t-shirt and Brownie vest and badges. Layout includes copies of an original illustrated story, photos from awards day and friends.

Some ideas of things to look for include:

• Their signature when first learning to write (love those backward letters!)

• Pictures they drew of themselves, friends and family (in crayon of course!)

• Newspaper clippings about their school or class

• Honor roll lists

• Brownie/Cub Scout uniforms, badges

• Report card comments by caring teachers

• Autobiographies they wrote at different ages

• Lists of likes/dislikes

• Special T-shirts

• Driving permits and licenses

• Ballgame ticket stubs

• School Play programs

• Student ID tags

• Doodles from the edges of papers and notebooks (V.M.+G.N.)

• Lunch boxes

• Letter Jacket

• Trophies and Ribbons

I used anything that seemed to represent them at each particular age.

Letter jacket, report card, first day of work, prom, cover of a favorite book - all memories of Junior Year.

Next - Don't forget the photos!

• Field trips

• First Day of School

• Birthday parties

• Friends on the playground

• Class pictures

• Field Day

• Athletic events

• Awards Day

• Teachers

• Last Day of School

For the first page of the album I wrote a letter to my daughter remembering those first days of school and our dreams for her future.

First page of album, letter to my daughter printed on vellum*, some favorite photos, stickers from her "collection".

If you are not up to letter writing, here is a really cute poem I found that would make a great first page:

Grab a magic pencil, Open your eyes and mind, For now begins a journey, Of the most exciting kind. A journey into learning, A step...a start...a glow, And we will be there with you, To help and watch you grow!  Author Unknown

To create each 2-page spread I mounted the 8x10 along with a title giving the grade and year and a picture of my sweetie on the first day of school on the first page. On page 2 I arranged all the other photos and memorabilia I had scanned and printed for that particular year. I hand printed captions and dates by each item as a memory jogger. If I had larger items I wanted to include I made a pocket on the page to hold them.

The last page, of course, was a photo of my no-longer-little girl in cap and gown with stars in her eyes - all grown up and ready for new adventures.

I hope you will give this a try. I had a great time reliving those long ago school days while creating the albums and my girls have really seemed to enjoy looking at them and sharing memories with their friends.

*See my guide Using Vellum Papers in Your Scrapbook Pages and Cards