Requirements:

Most families take many, many photographs of their families, friends, vacations, and holidays. What happens to those photos? Are they tossed in a box or are they preserved and shared? These photos tell many stories— of our lives and our ancestors. Learn how to organize and store your photos and preserve them in an album that will keep them safe for decades. To earn this interest project award, complete at least seven of these activities. This includes one from each of the four categories, and two from any category that you choose.

Skill Builders:

1. Learn how different materials can affect your photos. Why are some papers and plastics harmful to photos? Learn the meaning of the following terms: lignin-free, acid-free, archival, fade-proof, and PVC-free. Find an old family photo album and examine it to see if the album materials preserved or harmed the photographs.

2. Investigate the cropping tools a scrap booker uses: trimmers, scissors, punches, and specialized cutting systems. Choose five photos and determine what should or should not be cropped on each one. Use trimmers, scissors, or some other cutting system to prepare these photos for your scrapbook.

3. Journaling is one of the most important steps in preserving your photos. Pick three of your favorite photos and write about what is happening in the photos. Imagine what you would say if you were describing this photo to someone in person. Include these interesting details in your journaling. Answer the questions who, what, where, when and why.

4. Investigate your family history. Interview an older relative about a photo from the family album. Encourage your relative to tell you the whole story about the photo. Which members of the family are in the photo?

5. Make a list of hobbies that could be documented in a photo album such as gardening or quilting. Think of at least five hobbies that could be recorded in a photo album.

6. Memorabilia is the term for all the extra items from an event that are not photos. Memorabilia includes things such as programs, ticket stubs, maps, postcards, brochures, and invitations. Create an album page that includes memorabilia.

7. Learn about the color wheel. Which colors are primary colors? Which are secondary colors? What does monochromatic mean? Use the wheel to plan pleasing colors for your album page. Coordinate the decorating colors with the colors that appear in your photos.

8. Investigate the best way to label a photo. Why is it unwise to write on the back of the photo with ballpoint pens, regular pencils, or markers?

Technology

1. Scrapbooking has entered the computer age. Find out what software is used to create album pages on the computer. What types of lettering, clip art, and decorations are available on the software?

2. Find 3 Internet web sites that are intended for people who do scrapbooks. What type of information is on them? What types of tools or resources do they offer to help scrap bookers?

3. Download photos from a digital camera onto a computer and organize them into groups. Try editing them by cropping or adding special effects.

4. Compare 3 different scrapbooking magazines. How are they different? What kinds of stories are featured? What kinds of products are advertised?

Service Projects

1. With your parents’ permission, organize your family’s photos. Ask your parents to help you identify the people in the photos and when the photos were taken. Use a photo-labeling pencil to lightly write the basic information on the back of the photos.

2. Help a younger Girl Scout troop create a troop album.

3. Create a photo-safe scrapbook for your troop or council.

4. Make a travel diary, take photos, and collect memorabilia on a family vacation. Make a vacation scrapbook to keep a record of your trip.

5. Attend a wedding and make an album of candid shots from the wedding for the bride and groom.

6. Make an ABC album for a daycare center.

7. Make an album for a favorite sports coach, drama coach, bandleader, etc. Document the practices, parties, games, ticket stubs, performances, printed programs, and/or awards from that season.

Career Exploration

1. Visit a professional photographer. Does he/she use a 35mm or a digital camera? How does he/she store photos? Does he/she use archival quality albums?

2. Interview the manager of a scrapbook store. What are the best and worst parts of running such a store? How did he/she become a manager of such a store? What types of tools, paper, pens, and albums does he/she offer? How does the manager advertise the store?

3. Interview a person who runs a home-based business based on scrapbooking. What are the advantages of running a home-based business? What are the problems?

4. Visit a factory that manufactures a scrapbook-related product such as scrapbooks, stickers, archival paper, or scrapbooking tools. And Beyond - Related Interest Projects • Generations Hand in Hand • Photography • Travel • Heritage Hunt