Making a photo album for a gift is a really nice idea. These days both men and women prefer a gift that holds more sentiment and shows that someone has really thought about what they are giving.

I am increasingly being asked how to make a photo album that stands out and is more personalised than your average photo album. The best place to start is of course the album itself. You will not be able to use a standard photo album mainly due to the accessorises you will want to add will most likely not be able to fit into the pockets were the photos will go.

You will need to decide if you want to use a three ringed album, a leather photo album or a standard scrapbook album. The choices in style and colour are endless so take the time to find something that suits the theme of the photos you are going to add.

If you want to know how to make a photo album personalised I would recommend having a look at someone else’s ideas before you begin. Asking other people how to make a photo album will probably give you many new ideas together with the inspiration to get you started.

Once you have selected your photo album you will then need to decide what style you are going to have it. If the photo album is for an older generation then you may decide to go for a heritage or distressed look. If you need to know how to make a photo album look distressed, the best way is to design your pages using old colours such as sepia. You can even have your pictures printed in an aged colour to add to the design. I would also recommend using specialist distress ink to colour papers and by simply tearing pieces of paper that have been inked in distress ink you can give a great dimension to a scrapbook page.

The basic idea of how to make a photo album is to create pages that contain a few photos that have been decorated and embellished which in turn will give a personalised and exiting read over just thumbing through a standard photo album. You can also add journaling to your pages explaining what exactly is happening in the pictures or detailing where and when the event took place. You can even add some scrapbook quotes and sayings to express the mood on the day.

It is always nice to add memorabilia to a page so always remember never to throw away old ticket stubs, leaflets and receipts from events you have attended as you never know when they will come in handy.

If the photo album is a gift for a friend, ask your friend’s partner if they have any bits and bobs that were kept from the event and if they are suitable use them to accessorise the pages.

One of the most important things when learning how to make a photo album is to always use products that are acid and lignin free. Using items that are not could over time damage the pages you have created.