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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2019)
10A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • JANUARY 10, 2019 Scrapbooks can help document your year Many interesting and special events take place during the course of a typical year. While the trend is to share photos and anecdotes via social media, these memories tend to be forgot- ten soon aft er they are posted. Rather than rele- gate birthdays, holidays, school milestones, and other such yearly events to the black hole of cy- berspace, craft y men, women and children may want to display them in more prominent ways. Scrapbooking is a popular hobby that can help people document various events over the course of the year. But scrapbooking can be much more than that as well. Scrapbooks can serve as valuable resources that speak to the way life once was. Such traditions are not new. Books highlight- ing family memorabilia, such as recipes, poems, letters, and illustrations, were popular in En- gland as early as the 15th century. Even school yearbooks are a type of scrapbook, highlighting students and events in a single convenient book. Th e reasons for scrapbooking are the same today as they once were. Scrapbooks preserve memories, record family stories and pass down information through generations. Scrapbooks can even be customized in any manner their creators desire. For those who have resolved to devote more time to documenting happy times and special events in the year ahead, scrapbooking is a great way to do just that. Here’s how to make the pro- cess creative and successful. • Devote a box to “scraps.” At the beginning of the year, set aside a medium-sized box, such as a shoebox, that can store various items you want to include in your scrapbook. Th ese may include ticket stubs, receipts, brochures from trips, or any other items you deem worth saving. • Make time to scrapbook. Set aside a few days each month to go through collected items and organize them so you have an idea of what will be included on your pages. Every event may not make the fi nal cut, but that’s up to you. • Indulge in some craft -store shopping. Not everyone has the time to design each scrapbook page from scratch. Fortunately, there are numer- ous pre-designed templates or slip-in pages that require little work on the part of scrapbookers. • Use your own handwriting. Handwritten sentiments can make the scrapbook even more meaningful. • Don’t overload with photos. Let one or two photos on a page best convey the emotions and stories. Create balance with white space, text and other accents. • Categorize your photos. Disorganized pho- tos can make scrapbook creation more challeng- ing and ultimately frustrating. Organize your photos by month and rely on cloud-based photo storage systems to keep them safe. Th en, when you need them, you can print only those images you want to include in your book. • Have fun with the process. You have the en- tire year to create a beautiful scrapbook. Take your time and experiment with diff erent ideas. Hidden ways you can benefi t from having hobbies Finding time for hobbies can be diffi cult. Commitments to work and family take up the bulk of many people’s free time, mak- ing it hard to squeeze in a favorite hobby. But hobbies can bene- fi t people in some interesting ways. Understanding those hidden benefi ts may compel some people to make more time for their favorite downtime activities. • Hobbies can improve your effi ciency. Penciling more activities into your day planner may not seem like something that will help you create more time for hobbies, but it just might. For example, if you know you have a soft ball game or choir practice at night, then you might waste less time surfi ng the internet or talking around the water cooler during the workday. In a 2017 study conducted for the staffi ng fi rm Offi ceTeam, researchers found that the aver- age offi ce employee spends about fi ve hours per week on his or her mobile phone doing things that have nothing to do with the job. Th at’s fi ve hours you could be working, opening up more time for hobbies before or aft er work. • Hobbies can foster social connections. In his 2000 book, “Bowling Alone,” political scientist Robert Put- nam described a reduction in in-person social intercourse that once enriched Americans’ so- cial lives. By making more time for hobbies, particularly those that promote interaction with other adults, men and women can foster social connections that otherwise might never blossom. • Hobbies can provide health benefi ts. Th e American Institute of Stress notes that some hobbies can help people reduce their stress. Th e AIS notes that some 56 million women in the United States now knit or crochet. Th at marks a 51 percent increase over the last decade. Th at revival is attributed to the stress-reducing properties of knitting and crocheting. Men and women coping with stress need not learn how to wield a sewing needle to alleviate their stress. Activities that promote slowing down and in- duce a relaxation response similar to knitting and crocheting can be equally benefi cial. • Hobbies can increase quality time with your children. Parents with hobbies can double dip, using the time they would ordinarily spend with their children to teach them some of their favorite hobbies. Take kids along when you go fi shing or teach them how to plant fl owers and tend to a garden. Th is is a great way to increase quality time with your children while also af- fording you a chance to continue engaging in your favorite hobbies. Hobbies can benefi t people in ways they nev- er imagined, making them worthwhile pursuits no matter how much or how little time you may have. TF18C535 Baker Bay Bead Co. 541-942-3941 www.bakerbay.com 35655 Shoreview Drive Dorena, Oregon 97434
