DIY Gift: Scrapbook-in-A-Jar

As a crafter, you may have people within your close-knit circle who are into scrapbooking, or may be into several crafts including scrapbooking. 

It could be a family member, a distant relative, a neighbor or colleague, a lady with whom you have lunch once a week, or a member of your Bible study group. 

It could also be someone among your group of volunteers. 

Instead of giving your crafter friends a pricey scrapbook kit, have you ever thought of trying something unique and putting together scrapbook materials inside a jar? 

Is Scrapbooking Still Popular?

As an industry, scrapbooking has peaked in the mid-2000s, with brick-and-mortar stores dedicated to scrapbooking supplies and tools turning up nearly every year. 

Scrapbooking, as a hobby, has reached the far-flung corners of the world, with workshops and retreats being held to demonstrate new techniques, introduce popular brands, and to get scrappers to showcase their works.

Admittedly, the scrapbook craze has slowed down since its heyday in the mid-2000s, but it has remained to be a popular hobby.  

Scrapbooking: How it Has Adapted in the Digital Age

While digital scrapbooking is now a thing, a lot of scrappers deviated from attending workshops and retreats to joining Facebook groups dedicated to all things scrapbooking. 

There are also lot of websites that cater to scrappers and paper crafters that offer free printables of scrapbook paper, as well as tutorials on making scrapbook pages look more aesthetic, how to use different tools to achieve desired effects, etc. 

Why Give A Scrapbook-in-A-Jar as A DIY Gift?

Scrapbooks-in-a-jar are budget-friendly.

An entire scrapbook kit can be extremely pricey. And even if you select a few materials from your stash and buy the rest piece-meal, the thought of putting everything within the constraints of a jar will help you prioritize which scrapbook materials to include.

You can customize or personalize each scrapbook-in-a-jar.

No 2 scrappers are alike. One of them may be a stay-at-home mom in her 30s who enjoys storing photos of her family vacations and arranging them aesthetically within the pages of a scrapbook. 

Another may be an elderly lady who recently retired from the workplace, and picked up scrapbooking as a hobby to keep herself preoccupied. 

And then there are the scrappers who incorporate their interests, tastes, and preferences into their scrapbooks. 

To illustrate, animal lovers who are into cats and dogs may be looking for die cuts of paw prints or bones. Sports junkies would appreciate miniature basketballs or footballs.  

Still, a few others see scrapbooking as a healthy way to de-stress.

So when personalizing your scrapbooks-in-a-jar, here's a list of questions to consider:

• Does she like putting a lot of photos into her scrapbooking layout, and enhance the pages by adding embellishments?
• Does he combine text (either handwritten or printed) with pictures and embellishments?
• What are her favorite themes (travel, special occasions, family activities, goals achieved) and color templates? 
• Was there ever a time when scrapbooking became a way to cope for her (e.g. to help deal with the loss of a family member, close relative, pet, etc.)? 
• What effects does he enjoy using in scrapbooking? 
• Does she keep a lot of mementos (e.g. concert tickets, movie passes, notes, greeting cards, holiday letters, etc.) and incorporate them into her scrapbooks? 

You can declutter and destash some of your scrapbook materials when putting together scrapbooks-in-a-jar.

If you already feel like you've hoarded too many scrapbook materials, giving some of them away can help you declutter and destash. 

Customizing a scrapbook-in-a-jar is a good exercise in creativity.

There are no hard-and-fast rules in putting scrapbooks-in-a-jar together. So go ahead; let your imagination loose and your creativity run free.

You don't need to adhere to all the craft materials mentioned in the list below. 

You can use excess wrapping paper, quilling paper turned into stars to act as fillers, lace, paper doilies, old newspapers and magazine pages.  

DIY Scrapbook-in-A-Jar: Procedure 

(**DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means I'll be collecting a commission each time you click on any of those links and make a purchase.) 

Materials

Empty jar 

• Stickers 
• Die cuts 
• Ephemera
• Rolls of washi tapes 
• Clips

Paper or jute twine 

Double-sided glue dots
by life_station.ph

Glue dots

Ribbons 

Gift tag 

Felt-tip pen/marker

Optional

• Craft knife/cutter 
• Paper puncher
• Calligraphy pens

DIY Scrapbook-in-A-Jar: Putting Everything Together

(1.) Arrange everything neatly inside the jar. Don't worry about making it look aesthetic. 

(2.) Seal the jar with the lid. 

(3.) Punch a hole onto the gift tag and insert the ribbon. Tie it around the lid of your scrapbook-in-a-jar. 

(4.) Using a felt-tip pen or marker, print the recipient's name on the gift tag. Or, to make it fancier, use a calligraphy pen.

DIY Scrapbook-in-A-Jar: Add-Ons and Smart Substitutes

Here are other ways to customize your scrapbook-in-a-jar:

• Insert a cute or whimsical bookmark inside the jar.
• Use a craft puncher to shape gift tags into hearts or stars.
• Wrap washi tape around the lid of the jar. 
• Clip on a miniature keychain or twilly onto the ribbon instead of a gift tag. 
• Replace the ribbon with a tassel or pom pom made of colorful yarn. 

Scrapbooking: How It All Started

If you want to know more about scrapbooking as a hobby, its history, etc., read --

Making Memories: All About Scrapbooking