This year, become a student of the matron of innovation, Mother Nature, and make your creative scrapbooking sing with originality.

The Hues to Choose

Glimpse out your window and what do you see?

If you’re in the part of the world that experiences seasonal changes, you no doubt spot falling leaves, barren trees and crisp, gray-blue skies. Allow those colors to inspire you as you begin to develop themes for your Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas.

For instance, when purchasing your paper and cardstock, look for shades reminiscent of autumn. Gold. Rust. Brown. Stay away from bright yellow and spanking-new green for now – you’ll have plenty of opportunities to use those tints in the springtime.

Even your scrapbooking supplies can and should coordinate with the hues you choose. Markers of orange and deep red add an almost imperceptible autumnal cast upon the pages of your scrapbook albums. So do ribbons, stickers, and stamps of similar earthy tones.

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Creative scrapbooking is often considered a sedentary activity, but not when you’re exploring interesting Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas!

Don your favorite parka or sweatshirt and head out into the cool breeze of mid-afternoon for some pre-winter scavenging. Keep your eyes on the ground and in the trees for treasures to add to your November album.

Pretty leaves, delicate flowers, vibrant feathers, and even very small seeds and pebbles can add flavor and texture to the Thanksgiving pages in your scrapbook. Of course, don’t forget that anything alive may need to be specially preserved before inclusion in your book; otherwise, some plants tend to fall apart over time.

As you’re enjoying your nature walk, pay special attention to the scenes playing around you.

Fluffy squirrels scurrying about, people of all ages rushing to and fro while desperately holding onto their hats in the swirling wind, migrating birds flying in disciplined, “V" formations. When you get home, write down your observations; they’ll help you in the next steps of putting together your Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas.

Raid the Photo Box

Admit it. You have dozens (if not hundreds) of photos that are scattered around the house. Maybe they’re in a few boxes. Perhaps they’re cataloged in manila envelopes. Or it could be that they’re housed in a million different places and you’d be hard-pressed to find them all.

Regardless, it’s time to seek as many of them out as possible. After all, chances are very strong that several of them can be worked into your Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas.

Do you have a shot of Aunt Erma cycling against a November backdrop? How about three-and-a-half year old Billy playing in a huge stack of crunchy leaves? Those photos deserve a home… so why not incorporate them into your creative scrapbooking?

And if you aren’t certain you want them to be tucked away in your scrapbook albums forever, you can always make inexpensive copies of them on your home printer or at your local office supply store. Any way you choose to use them, they’ll be ideal additions to your scrapbook.

Make a Toast to Thanksgiving… And Get Started!

At this point, you have a host of Mother Nature-inspired objects, themes, notes, and remembrances to fuel your Thanksgiving scrapbook page ideas. So get a glass of your favorite fall beverage (hot apple cider is always a delicious motivator) and make a toast to the season.

Then get working on your creative scrapbooking. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it and just like the guest bedroom on your second floor, your album needs to be ready for visitors!