Add pictures into existing scrapbook by Two Pink Hibiscus -

Do you have a finished scrapbook album, but found more pictures that belong in that album? Today we’re talking about how to add pictures into an existing scrapbook.

I fell behind on my scrapbooks. I essentially took off most of June, all of July, all of August, and most of September. So much for my goal of completing one scrapbook per month, eh?

I got caught up in summer activities and wanted to enjoy the daytrips, boating, beachgoing, hiking, kayaking, going out with friends, spending time with family, and biking.

If you’ve been following along, you know that I finished each of my brother’s albums in April and May.

I was getting ready to start on mine, when I discovered more pictures for both of my brothers’ albums (as well as for the additional albums still on the list.

After finding more pictures for each of their albums, my first thought was “But my brothers’ albums are done!!!” My next thought was, “But these newfound pictures really, really, really belong in those albums.” Like to the point that if I don’t put them in there the guilt will be for my eternity.

This month’s scrapbook lessons have to do with retrofitting extra pictures into an existing album.

And there are multiple ways to do this — all of which I used.

How to add pictures into an existing scrapbook

Add photos to an existing page without impacting the layout – In most cases, you might be able to squeeze in one photo, but sometimes you can strategically add in more than one depending on your layout. The arrows in the pictures below show the added photo(s) to an existing layout. I literally plopped the photo right onto the page and called it done.

Added 1 photo — Adding a single photo to existing page

add 2 photos — Adding 2 photos to existing page

Re-position a few features on a page – if you have one or maybe two small pictures that could be included on an existing page with a bit of maneuvering of pictures, then go ahead and do it.

In a few cases, the paper behind the picture tore as I tried to reposition pictures. One thing you’ll need to consider is making sure you cover that up. This can be done by strategically positioning the layout of the pictures or adding embellishments to cover up the mistakes.

Rearrange page — Moved the captions from the right side to the bottom and inserted photos down the right side.

Create an entire page layout – this is a last resort. If the sizes and or volume of the pictures and the current layout won’t allow for repositioning, but the photos that were already on the page, and the new photos really belong on the same page, then consider recreating the entire page. This usually means gutting the current page and starting over with a completely new layout and likely even a new background page.

Created a new page joining old pics and new pics

This could also be the case if you just have a page worth of new photos. if you have several new pictures around the same time, even within a 5 year span, create a new page using just the new pictures and insert it in the middle of those years. I mostly ran the albums in chronological order by month/year so if it was a range of years between 1980-1985, then I’d put the page in around 1983.

Here are a few more pages I retrofitted.

And there are more pictures!

And just when I thought I couldn’t come across any more that need to be creatively inserted into this album, I stumbled over a few more boxes that contained pictures. October will be a cornucopia of finishing their albums, for a THIRD time. I know I could just toss these extra pictures in a box but I feel that the person who took them (ie. My mom) spent the time, energy, and money on taking them, developing them, labeling them, and holding onto them for years and years and I feel the only right want to do this is to include them in the album. I’ve also considered putting them in as the last page, but the professional organizer in me just won’t allow me to do it. J

So for the second time, my brother’s albums are finished, knowing there will be a third (and hopefully final) version.

My album has just been started and I will plan to use October to finish it and share some new layouts with you.