Fresh home from vacation, my first dread is unpacking my suitcase, the second is the scrapbook.

Don’t get me wrong. I love all the photo albums of our trips over the years. Call me old-fashioned, but I really prefer having an actual album versus just one online. It’s a great way to share our trip with friends and family, and we are one of those cheesy couples that actually pulls them out now and again to relive our adventures.

So if I love them so much, why the dread? Well, vacation is wonderful but when you get home, it’s back to the real world – work, kids, grocery shopping, chores. That schedule leaves little time for creative projects.

So I’ve come up with a few time-saving tips to put together a really memorable photo album in record time:)

EDIT AND ORDER

Like many of you, I get trigger happy with my camera on vacations and come home with not dozens, but hundreds of photos. Of course, they are not all worthy of being enshrined in the final album. So take the time to sit down at your computer and create a “best of” folder. Then once you’ve whiddled the photos down, put them in the order you’d like them to appear.  This way, when you send the files off to be printed, they will be returned to you in order… all set to go into the album.

ALBUM CHOICE

Choosing your album is key. For our very first trip together (more than 10 years ago), I got the typical scrapbook – full pages with adhesive, a blank canvas to really get creative. I treasure that book. But nowadays, I opt for albums with sleeves, so when I get my photos back – which I’ve already edited down and put in order – all I have to do is slip them in. In addition to the sleeves, I always get an album that has space to write next to the photo. This way, I can easily include dates, locations and funny memories, all things that will jog our memory years later, when we want to relive the trip.

SCENE SETTERS

Another trick is to take “scene setter” photos while you’re on the trip. A photo of a street sign, a restaurant’s name, a close-up of a map location… these will all help you tell your story. It’s a fun way to establish where you were, plus it saves time, since you don’t have to write it down.

“UNDER COVER” SCRAPBOOKING

Like me, you may really enjoy scrapbooking, even if you don’t have the time. There is still a way to get your creative juices flowing… AND finish a photo album in record time. Instead of scrapbooking on every page, use the inside of the cover (front and back) to make creative collages. You can use all those ticket stubs, menus, maps, and other paper memorabilia that you collected on your trip. Creatively arrange them, add in some catch phrases from the trip, maybe even incorporate some photos that you didn’t get to include in the album.

And “Voila!” – you have a beautiful, speedy scrapbook that you can treasure for years to come!

Do you have any time-saving tricks to commemorate your travels, family vacations, celebrations and more? We’d love to hear about them!