How do I scrapbook letters that are written front and back?

Question

I about 300 letters my grandparents wrote eachother during the war, and I'd like to collect them in one place and give them them as a gift. I thought of scrapbooking, but many of the letter are front and back.

Answer 1

I just did this with some old family letters and newspaper articles for a scrapbook I am putting together for my daughters about their great grandparents.  

I bought some top loading clear page protectors at the office supply store. They have a tab on the side with holes for a three ring binder. I put the items in the page protectors and then some tape across the top of the protector, so if they ever want to they can remove the letters and look at them. The page protectors went into a binder with a front to insert a title page that I printed out.

It looks great, the letters are protected and preserved, and you can see both sides of the original.

And it did not take a lot of time, or cost a lot of money!

IHave fun!

Answer 2

One word of warning about office-supply page protectors:  some of that plastic may not be archival quality and may eventually damage the materials you're trying to protect.  For my stamp and letter collection, I use clear pocket pages made by two German outfits (Lindner and Vario/Leuchtturm/Lighthouse).  They're both acid free and contain no harmful chemicals.  They're completely safe for preserving the kinds of letters you're assembling.

http://www.subwaystamp.com/prodinfo.asp?...

Answer 3

When I scrapbook, since I'm a total penpal junky, that also is an issue. My solution? Skim some tape or glue along the very top of the letter. This way, you can fold it up, you'll be able to read the other side of the letter. If you scrapbook in a photo album with that sticky stuff and don't want to have to open the page (separate the paper from the filmy covering), I would suggest making a photocopy. Also, it looks good if you do one letter or two per page and have the envelope poking out from behind the letter. Hope this helps :)

~Sassy Tinka

Answer 4

Make a pocket for them and fasten the pocket to your scrapbook page.  Then put in the letter.  You can take it out when you want to read it.  I do that for other souvenirs I want in my scrapbooks, but don't want to deface with adhesive, brads or eyelets.

How to create the pocket:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/scra...

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More about making pockets at the link below.

Answer 5

Well, you certainly have a lot of choices in how you go about scrapbooking these. However, from my view - I can see that you are interested in making it easier to read the fronts AND backs without going through a lot of trouble.

You don't mention the size of the stationary/paper used for the majority of the letters. If they are smaller pieces of paper in size (as was the case often back then), you might be able to slip 2 letters into a 12x12 page protector.  This could elimate the bulk aspect of trying to fit 300 page protectors

into an album.

Otherwise, I would consider breaking up the letters into perhaps time frames and assembling more than one or two albums.

You can just use three ring binders and get a larger size to accomodate your needs (a 1" spine all the way up to a 3" or 5" spine). Be aware though, that the larger the spine, the more weight  (wear and tear) is placed on the album. I wouldn't use office brand page protectors unless they specifically say acid-free, because the idea is to preserve them, not rapidly degenerate them. So keep that in mind when shopping for products.

I hope this at least helps a little. Best of luck on your project. I am sure it will be MUCH appreciated!

Answer 6

I do it one of two ways. First is I make a copy made on acid free paper. I then use scrapbook tape to put them into the the scrapbook. The second way I go about doing this if I want the original letter in the scrapbook is to glue an envelope to the scrapbook and put the letter inside.

Answer 7

you could scan them front and back, shrink them down to a smaller size and make a book out of it...pleanty of ideas can be found in the scrapbook lounge at www.crafttvweekly.com

good luck