Ok, let's be honest, when I heard the name "
Smash Book" for the first time, I thought of the elementary-drama, hate-filled insult books from yesteryear... however, these little scrapbook-cheats are nothing of the sort... in fact, they are only filled with joy and wonder.
I love scrapbooking. There, I said it. It's just so... fun! I guess everyone needs a creative outlet, right? The thing is, scrapbooking is SO time-intensive, and time is something I don't have a whole lot of at the moment. So these Smash Books are a great option.
They're basically a little spiral-bound scrapbook whose pages are already colored/decorated/designed (eliminating the step of doing it yourself!). So this means every little detail won't always match your theme... so I wouldn't use them for like, my wedding or anything. But they are SO great for several reasons - they are perfect for capturing memories as you go. Each book comes with a pen/marker, and the other end is a glue stick (I also keep colored tape handy) so you can attach movie stubs, receipts, autographs, or whatever else you want to put in there to remember your trip by. You can also buy little envelopes and other details to stick in there to keep your memorabilia. It's also fast. By the time we got home from our cruise, all I had to do was print the pictures and stick them into the spaces I'd allocated for them. So rather than waiting months for the project to be done, we already have the scrapbook of memories from our awesome trip.
A few tricks and tips I've picked up - carrying all the supplies in a gallon-bag makes them easily accessible but self-contained. I keep tape, mini scissors, various smashbook accessories, an extra pen/glue stick, and whatever else I need. Plus it's a great place to keep the stuff you want to stick in there but don't have time to address yet. I love to use it as a trip journal as well - both Kip and I would write entries throughout the week, so that will be cool to go back and read. Some pages merit multiple picures but don't have the space (note: I used a mini-smashbook for the cruise, but I have some in bigger sizes) you can layer them.. basically tape the top of a picture down, then tape another, and you can lift the top ones to see the bottom ones.
Overall, it's a fun, simple way to capture memories... as long as you don't mind it being a little random and haphazard!
