How to Scrapbook for the Digital Age

Jan. 16, 2006 — -- "Good Morning America" and Babytalk magazine are teaming up to hold a nationwide search for the cutest cover baby.

But of course, your own baby is always the cutest and you want to capture those precious first years and remember them forever. There is no better way than to cherish those memories than to start a scrapbook -- for the digital age.

"Scrapbooking has a reputation as being complicated," said Babytalk editor Susan Kane. "But it can be easier than a traditional baby book that makes you fill in pages and pages you don't want to go on about."

She said some women find it to be a social outlet, and there are Web sites where moms can meet other mothers in their area to scrapbook together.

Kodak's Easy Share Gallery Album and the photo service Shutterfly make the process easier with ready-made templates that just need to be filled in with comments and photos, Kane said. Growing Tales software is another way to put baby books online, she said.

"Moms tend to be online a lot these days, [to] keep a computer in the kitchen, looking things up about [the] baby's health," Kane said. "If the baby does something funny or cute, it's easier to run to the computer and jot it down, rather than finding out where you left that book last time."

Digital Photo Album -- Rag and Bone, $35: Allows you to take out the pages of any scrapbook, stick in the printer, print out your photos on the pages, then stick it back in the album, Kane said. You can print at least four photos on a page.

Shadowbox, $25-$45: If you don't want a book, you can put beautiful memories in this box. It's easy to create something treasured and gorgeous.

The child in the photo must be between four and 15 months old as of April 30. No professional photos will be accepted.