If you want to create a family history, but you’re not necessarily into numbers, dates and complicated tree charts, there’s still a way to record the past.

In fact, there’s a way to do so that might be more detailed than records alone can hope to be. By incorporating a scrapbook into your family history collecting, you’ll force yourself to find out more about the people who create your family tree and your end product will be that much more rich for the effort.

Calling for such things as pictures, journal entries and personal recollections, a scrapbook is a great route to go for a less than ordinary family history. The completed work will not only provide the “facts” about the family, it will also offer explanations and a great glimpse into the past.

While you’re not likely to find photos or portraits of family members from hundreds of years ago, a good scrapbook format will enable you to record some great historical information about those you can glean it about. Be as detailed as possible where you can. Include pictures, personal thoughts on the people you know, favorites things, hobbies and so on.

For those who are so far back recorded family history doesn’t include such personal information, don’t despair. Just include as much of their stories as you possibly can to make sure their important ties to your present are recorded for future generations as well.

The book you create, including photos and journal entries, will become an instant family heirloom so don’t forget to include yourself. This book will serve to keep the memories of your ancestors alive and yours as well as time marches on.

Rather than just a name and a date on a family tree, scrapbook genealogies offer more of the people who are included. By including everything you think important about your relatives, you’ll be doing their memories honor and providing your family a valuable tool for researching its history in the years to come.

Getting started in such a pursuit can seem a bit overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Look at it as a labor of love and proceed slowly and methodically, remembering to enjoy the pearls of the past you uncover as you go.

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