How to Enhance Your Year-in-Review Photo Book with Memorabilia

The magic of photo books is in the transformation of digital images into something tangible – a beautiful printed book, full of memories, that you can hold in your hands. Those digital images are typically photographs that capture special moments and the faces of the people you love. But, photos are not the only kinds of digital images that deserve a showcase in your book. Scannable memorabilia – think ticket stubs, kids’ artwork, hand-written notes, and travel souvenirs – can enhance a photo book and deeply enrich its narrative.

While you’re gathering images for a year-in-review photo book, be sure to look around for meaningful memorabilia. Items that make you smile and remind you of a special person, time, or experience, are ideal. With some technical tricks and a little creativity, it’s easy and rewarding to add memorabilia to your book alongside those treasured photographs.

Scannable memorabilia ideas

There are endless types of memorabilia that you might choose to feature on the pages of a year-in-review photo book. Think about all the items you collect and keep for no reason other than the memories they evoke when you hold and look at them.

Some of these items are priceless and sentimental, such as Grandma’s handwriting on a birthday card or the champagne cork from your wedding toast. Others are a little sillier, like plastic spiders from a fun Halloween party, or the fortune cookie message that made you and your BFF crack up laughing over lunch.

Here are some more ideas for scannable memorabilia:

Paper memorabilia

Hand-written letters, recipes, envelopes with exotic stamps, postcards, journal pages, excerpts from books, printed poems, party invitations, gift tags, doodles, and cardboard coasters are just a few of the possible paper goods you could save and scan for photo book accents.

Kids’ art and treasures

Scanning your children’s paintings, drawings, collages, and writing is a great way to preserve them, along with the sweet memories of their budding skills and creativity. Your kids will be so proud to see their art on the pages of a printed book. Also consider their favorite treasures, like stuffed animals, blankets, games, and toys – these are often scannable too.

Tip: Mixbook’s My Kid’s Year in Review theme is perfect for preserving this kind of memorabilia alongside photos.

Handicrafts and hobbies

Take pride in your own creative pursuits and showcase items like handmade quilts, needlework, paintings, drawings, paper crafts, and more. Represent your hobby with paraphernalia. A chess player could scan their unique game board and pieces. A runner might save race bibs and medals, while a musician could scan old guitar strings or a piece of sheet music.

Baby items

New parents save all kinds of baby paraphernalia, and many of those items are perfect for scanning to include in a year-in-review photo book. Your baby’s hospital wrist band and tiny hats, socks, and mittens are ideal for scanning. The images make adorable, and deeply sentimental, accents to a baby photo collection.

Travel souvenirs

Scan memorabilia that represents amazing travel experiences, such as an annotated guide book, a museum map, a sauce-stained menu, foreign coins, postcards, and tourist pamphlets.

Flowers and plants

Consider pressing or drying flowers from a sentimental bouquet, such as a bunch of flowers from a date or a gift delivery. A bridal bouquet is definitely worth saving and displaying on the pages of a photo book. If your garden is your happy place, consider scanning some pretty leaves or sprigs of plants.

Jewelry

Rings, watches, a tie pin, brooch, necklace and all kinds of jewelry can have major sentimental value. These can usually be scanned successfully, and the images make a lovely addition to a year-in-review photo book.

Textiles

Items of clothing and textile home goods can evoke powerful emotions. Examples include a bridal veil, a vintage tablecloth, a special silk tie, winter hat, and all kinds of adorable baby clothing. For larger textiles, you can scan just a corner of the piece.

Pet paraphernalia

If your year-in-review photo book absolutely must feature your furry friends, scan some memorabilia that reminds you of your sweet companion. Favorite toys, a collar or leash, a paw print, and those special treats that make them go nuts are all good choices.

Want to dedicate an entire book to your pet? Choose the Illustrated Dog or Illustrated Cat year-in-review books by Petsmart.

Milestone mementos

If you and your family celebrated any major milestones in the past year, augment photo spreads dedicated to those milestones with scanned mementos. Examples include the tassel from a graduation cap to feature in a Graduation Year in Review book, the numbered candles from a milestone birthday cake, and the keys to the front door of a new home.

Tips for scanning memorabilia

Scanning memorabilia is usually the best way to turn physical items into digital images for use in a photo book. The task varies in difficulty depending on the size and shape of the item you’re scanning, and can take some trial and error. Choose from the following options to scan your memorabilia:

• A home flatbed scanner or multifunction printer
• A copy shop scanner
• A scanning app on a smartphone or tablet (these apps offer better results than the device’s camera).

Related: How To Digitize Photos: 6 Simple Scanning Steps

For flat items such as paper or textile paraphernalia, simply place the items flat on the scanner bed and follow the standard instructions for your machine. If you’re using a scanning app, arrange the items in a well-lit area and position everything to eliminate shadows. Smaller items benefit from a plain backdrop, such as a sheet of paper or tablecloth.

For bulkier objects or delicate items, leave the scanner top open. Either turn off all the lights or place a box over the item before scanning. Experiment with different placements and settings until you get the results you desire.

If necessary, use photo editing software or apps, such as Adobe Photoshop or Google Photos, to improve your scanned images.

Ways to showcase scanned memorabilia

Upload the digital images of scanned memorabilia to your Mixbook account along with the photos for your book. The Mixbook Studio presents many ways to feature scanned memorabilia in your book. Here are a few ideas:

• Turn the image into a background, and play with opacity settings.
• Use the image as a custom sticker, which you can easily resize and reposition. Use stickers to accent your spreads in the style of old-fashioned scrapbook pages.
• Place the image in any of your theme’s photo frames, which you can resize, reposition, or layer with other images.

Related: 5 Unique Ways to Add Souvenirs to Photo Books

Ready to fill a photo book with memorabilia?

We love seeing all the creative ways Mixbookers make their year-in-review photo books totally unique. If your next book features scanned memorabilia, show it off! Share your creation on social media using #mymixbookstory or send it to us at social@mixbook.com.