This week I want to talk about a subject that's pretty dear to me. How to still make a special scrapbook even when your photos are bad (or non-existent even!). It's not always easy to get good photos during celebrations with friends and family. And you know what, that's a good thing. It's not cool to spend your whole life glued to your camera or worried about how to get a nice photo at a super dark party. With the sun setting earlier, it's not the easiest time of year to get awesome photos of all your fun events. Many times I realize after a party that I have zero photos, or maybe a few grainy selfies with my friends. It's not ideal, but that doesn't have to keep you from scrapbooking your happy memories.
So if you've struggled with photo guilt, you're not alone! Today I'm here to share a few simple methods for compensating for less-than-perfect photos.
So our holiday party was this past week. It was an incredibly fun night full of great conversations, amazing food, drinks, and… bad photos. Above you see most of the photos that exist from the whole evening. Not ideal, but I'll show you how I made up for it and still scrapbooked our fun night!
Idea 1. Stamp your favorite moments.
Above are many of the memories that I wish I would have captured photos of. But since I didn't, I stamped them, cut them out, and used them on this cute card. Now our happy memories are present in a cute way, and it really fills out the page with my awesome grainy photos. Try this—it's easy!
Do you have receipts, menus, or handwritten notes from your night? Above are my toast notes from the party, just cut down. It's a personal detail that may not mean anything to anyone else, but I'll always remember what it is when I look through my book.
Idea 3. Journal on your photos.
You can use Messy Pens to do this. They're photo safe. This photo is kinda awful, but the little journaled sentiment helps—I think!
Last weekend we had a brunch date with the Gummermans. We got a few cute photos, but definitely not enough to share a complete story. So I doodled some of the sweet things from our morning on a card to round out the page. This is an especially good idea when you have an event (like brunch) that doesn't necessarily need any heartfelt journaling, but you'd still like to capture some details about the experience. :)
I hope these ideas are helpful and encouraging! It's fun to have amazing photos, but when you don't, it doesn't have to stop you from creating a special scrapbook! xx. Elsie
This was really good but what if u can’t draw or dont like to draw?
Hi! Thanks for sharing these tips. Great ideas! I was wondering which Alphabet Roller Stamp would you recommend (Pebbles, Studio Calico…etc) for custom phrases. I´ve read many reviews and was wondering if you had any preference. I would be very thankful for any tips! Happy holidays!
I love the style of your work!
This is perfect and just what I need to motivate me to make the best of the photos I do have. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love these kind of tips!
so pretty! love this idea so much, especially as a crafty, low cost gift for christmas!
thisandthatplease.co.uk
tash x
love this! makes me want to make a scrapbook cause most of my photos are less than professional lol
xx nikki
www.dream-in-neon.com
This is so cute! I always end up sad about having too little pictures or just blurry ones but this is a nice way to actually still do something with them!
Thanks for sharing.
Liefs,
Yara
Love the idea of journaling on photos! All of these are such great ideas. Pinned!
These ideas can be a lifesaver! Thanks. 🙂
You guys are so great!
And we can never dispense a pic just because is a little blurry.
Life is a little blurry sometimes. 😉
Xo
Thanks for the Scrapbook ideas! I was inspired to do the ‘Week in the life’ project you mentioned a while back and when I went to make the book I realized I had no ideas and my photos were so boring! I love seeing what you come up with. You make it look so easy!
Thanks so much for sharing Elsie! I always look forward to your Sscrapbook Sunday posts and this was a really useful topic to talk about. I went through a phase where I just couldn’t get motivated to use my real camera or take pictures for quite a while so the only photos I have are phone pics. I’m not in the process of back-tracking and putting these memories into albums but it’s proved challenging. I really appreciate these tips!
Something else that I’ve found useful is to compile a bunch of mediocre quality phone pics into a collage online and print that and combibe with journalling and other stuff. Often the quality looks fine with tinier prints and it can be a neat effect!
xx Kathryn
www.throughthethicket.ca
Thanks for this post! We just moved and my daughter has a bundle of great and not so great photos of the friends she left behind. She wanted to put them in a scrapbook but wasn’t sure about some of the blurry ones, even though she was really torn about not including all of her besties. This post is perfect!
What a genius post idea! Feeling so inspired now. 🙂
Haha i really need this cause all my photos are no good ones ; )
http://mykitschworld.blogspot.com.es/2014/12/christmas-sweaters.html
I really love this idea of scrapbooking! I have SO many photos that need sorting out and this would be perfect! I’m looking forward to getting my new ABM planner do I can make a goal to start doing these from next year 🙂
Lulu xx
Elsie!! Love this post so much. It’s perfect for evenings/weekend events (e.g., an intimate dinner!) when I wouldn’t be so inclined to bring my camera, but will totally use my iPhone for a quick shot of my whiskey sour and my man looking handsome as he glances at the menu 😉
Thanks so much for sharing!! Can’t wait to order some messy pens 🙂
This is great. My mama guilt and memory making took a big leap forward when I just accepted that my kids will have a few, and maybe not the best shots of their birthdays. With three little boys and orchestrating a party, plus bad lighting, it’s just not worth agonizing over. I try to get the candle blowing and a couple happy face shots when they are opening their gifts. Everything else is icing on the cake. Living by Lake Michigan we have tons of gorgeous beach photos in their scrapbooks. A few blurry candles won’t hurt anyone. 😉 Thanks for the added encouragement.
Thanks so much for these tips, Elsie! I’ve been wondering what to do with my not so good photos and this is a much better (and fun!) alternative to not using them at all.
Thanks again 🙂
Chrissa