Moms’ Night Out: Scrapbooking!

What mom doesn’t love a night out with the girls? Sometimes it can be hard to get away, whether it’s because you have a nursing baby, or because you feel guilty about all of the things you have to do at home, or because you don’t really have the money to spend on drinks and dinner. One way to spend time with friends that might appeal to you is to have a monthly scrapbooking club. Scrapbooking get-togethers are gaining popularity with moms, and here’s why: They’re held at members’ homes, so moms of nursing babies can bring them along without worrying; everyone shares supplies, so it’s cost-effective; and you’re doing something useful (organizing all of those photos!), so there’s no guilt to be had! If this sounds like something you might want to try, here are some pointers:

• Encourage everyone to sort their photos ahead of time. Showing up with a paper-ream box full to the brim with photos does not for a relaxing evening make! If each person comes with a dozen or so photos, that’s probably plenty for one evening. Remember, you’ll be doing lots of chatting and eating, and maybe having a drink or two, too!
• Gather up a nice assortment of scrapbook paper, vellum, photo corners, stencils, decorative scissors, stickers and other embellishments. Ask each of the participants to do the same. If each person picks up a package of each of the above, you’ll have a lot to choose from, and no one will spend too much money.
• When choosing supplies, make sure to buy only items that are acid-free. Anything sold specifically for scrapbooking will be; anything else, you’ll need to check the labels.
• Borrow some scrapbooking books from the library and bring out any examples of scrapbook pages that you’ve already made. These will serve as inspiration! Look at themes, borders, lettering styles and how things are put together.
• Make sure you have a large, clear space for people to work. If your dining room table is small or if you have invited more than a few people, beg or borrow some card tables to set up.
• It should go without saying that you need to keep any food and drinks away from the table that you’re using for scrapbooking! Even if cups are covered or you’re using water bottles, moisture from condensation or accidental spills can wreak havoc on your pages.
• If anyone is bringing children, have a plan to keep littles occupied. A small table filled with craft supplies and kiddie stickers will keep the young ones out of the mom-only supplies. Give them safety scissors, construction paper, some special novelty papers (foil, wrapping paper, scrapbooking papers), buttons, sequins, glue sticks… whatever you can think of that will help keep them entertained.
• Encourage everyone to keep her sense of humor! Remember that this is supposed to be fun, not work. If cutting and gluing starts getting stressful, take a break and just indulge in some chatting and chocolate-eating for a while.

Finding ways to spend time with adult friends will help you keep your sanity intact as you go through your journey of motherhood. Even when you have babies, it’s important to make time for you. Scrapbooking meetups can take place every month or every season… whenever you have time! As a plus, you’ll start getting through that pile of photos that we all have laying around; if you need to, just consider it an organizational project!