Preserve your happy memories with a New Year’s Scrapbox! It’s a fun DIY project that becomes a one-of-a-kind souvenir—a piece of art that preserves your memories for years to come.
A New Year’s Scrapbox is truly DIY—that’s Design-It-Yourself and Do-It-Yourself, because there are so many different combinations of things you can frame into a unique souvenir. Putting one together is a great activity for the New Year’s Day holiday, too. DIT (Do It Together) with the people you celebrated New Year’s Eve with and decide what memories you want to include.
The background of this scrapbox is an enlarged photo of my daughter ringing in the new year with a New Year’s Eve tiara and party blower. The photo is glued to the back of the scrapbox, where it becomes the backdrop for some party souvenirs. In the top left of the photo, where there’s dead space, I taped a list of resolutions my older daughter hand wrote. You could use your resolution list, or pick another paper memento, like a placecard or paper napkin from a New Year’s Eve dinner party. Or, plan ahead and print out one of our downloadable New Year’s Eve templates, like Cheers to the New Year champagne-glass shaped toast prompts, resolution cards, or New Year’s Times newspaper where you fill in the highlights of the past year. You can fill it in during your celebration, and frame it after!
Then, add a 3-D element; I attached a party blower from our celebration onto the background with a pushpin. You might save the cork from the champagne bottle (if it fits), novelty glasses, noisemakers, or any other souvenirs from New Year’s Eve.
Finally, it can also be fun to add a tactile element like confetti or curled ribbons to the bottom of your scrapbox.
Making scrapboxes is such a fun way to preserve memories, and you can create them as souvenirs of any occasion from birthdays to holidays to beach vacations. They also make thoughtful gifts for any one you’ve shared a memory with—or, in this case, rang in the new year together!
For more scrapbox ideas, click here.
What You’ll Need
- “Scrapbox” Shadowbox Frame
- A memorable photo
- A paper memento—resolution list, toast prompt, party decor, whatever brings back New Year’s Eve memories!
- A 3-D souvenir—party blower, matchbook, champagne cork, noisemaker; use your imagination!
- Ribbons, confetti, or streamers
- Glue, glue dots or other adhesive—I like moldable glue or foam dots, which can give paper mementos a 3-D effect and make attaching oddly-shaped objects easier
How-To
Step One: Open your frame and tape or glue the photo to the back.
Step Two: Add the paper memento on top with a foam dot. (Put all the elements in place before gluing to make sure they’re where you want them to be before it becomes permanent).
Step Three: Set the back of the box aside and lay the front (the frame and glass part) face down on the table. Attach the 3-D souvenir on top of the paper memento.
Step Four: Fill the bottom with a layer of confetti or ribbon.
Step Five: Replace the scrapbox frame following 3-D frame directions, secure in place, and hang on the wall or give as a thoughtful and personal DIY gift.
