When you’re looking for a way to break the ice with a new acquaintance, deepen an existing friendship, or uncover more about the personality and values of someone you love, one of the easiest and quickest ways to do so is to ask about their favorite things. And that translates beautifully to the canvas of a scrapbook page! Here at the Sweet Shoppe, we’re spending 2024 with a focus on the importance of showing up in your own memory albums. These kinds of pages are commonly known as “All About Me” scrapbook layouts, and in today’s blog post, we’re looking at ways you can share more about yourself simply by sharing a few of your favorite things.

There are several different ways to approach a “favorite things” layout, including:

• Monthly Favorites
• Seasonal or Holiday Favorites
• Trip or Travel Favorites
• Topical Lists of Favorites
• Individual Favorites

We’re going to tackle these one by one, so let’s get started!

All About Me: Monthly Favorites

I first learned about “Monthly Faves” layouts from Lynnette of Nettio Designs, former Sweet Shoppe babe and template designer. To create a Monthly Favorites layout, jot down a list of ten of your favorite things from the month in question. These can be anything from a song you’re listening to on repeat or a TV show you’re binge-watching, to a new favorite snack or recipe, or something more monumental like an event or activity. Then add a photograph of yourself shot sometime during that month and create a layout. It’s simple and straight-forward, but you’ll be surprised by just how meaningful these layouts can be.

I did this for the entire year of 2015 with the intent of creating a single album. When I was done, it amazed me just how much I’d captured in those twelve pages. From the start of the year when my faves included the MyFitnessPal app, Baked Cod, and Watching the # on the scale go down – obviously a time when I was hyper-focused on improving my health – to the months of planning & styling V’s senior shoots, starting Veronica’s Senior Photos and photographing V’s senior prom group – when my stepdaughter was wrapping up her final year of high school – to time with Mom & Dad, Mom’s fast recovery from surgery, and Mom’s Cancer is CURED – when we had a big health scare with my mother that had a very happy ending – and finishing the year with favorites like Adele’s 25 on repeat, Antibiotics. Lots of ’em. , Straight No Chaser in concert, and Sharing Light Up with the Reedlets. Re-reading those pages brings back a slew of memories for me, and I’m so very grateful I captured those simple lists of my favorite things month-by-month.

Whether you commit to creating a Monthly Favorites layout each month and gather them into a separate book, or just periodically create one as I’ve done in the years since, these layouts will definitely be ones you treasure. Here are some Monthly Faves layouts created by our Babes and community members to kick-start your creativity:

All About Me: Seasonal or Holiday Favorites

Take the same concept as a Monthly Favorites layout and apply it to a specific season or holiday, and you’ve got another easy All About Me layout! Consider a Summer Favorites or Fall Favorites layout to chronicle what you love about that time of year, or a Christmas Favorites spread listing those things that bring you joy during the holiday. Here are some samples from our Babes and community to get you started:

All About Me: Trip or Travel Favorites

Yet another way to apply this concept to a layout is to focus on your favorites associated with travel. This can be traveling in general or a specific trip, which makes a fantastic recap for a vacation! I love asking everyone in the family what their favorite things were on the way home and then using those lists in a layout … but remember, first and foremost, we’re working to get your favorites written down!

All About Me: Topical Lists of Favorites

Another way you can use this “list of favorites” concept to create a layout all about yourself is to focus on a specific topic. What are your favorite books of all time? Or, if you’re a voracious reader, the ten best books you read in the past year? What are your favorite TV shows or movies? What about your favorite songs or recipes or board games or ways to connect with your spouse or children? Pick a topic, and you can use it to create a meaningful layout. Here are some ideas from our Babes and community members that you can use as a jumping-off point:

All About Me: Individual Favorites

I’ve got one last twist on this concept to share with you, and it’s perfect for those who love to journal (like Jacinda, above) or want something a little more in-depth than a basic list. Just pick any one of your favorites and dedicate an entire layout to it. You can include photographs or digital scrapbooking stickers and elements representing the item, and then write out a paragraph (or more!) explaining why it’s your favorite.

• How did you learn about it, or eat/see/listen to it the first time?
• What do you love about it?
• What does it mean to you?

For a fun, on-going project, collect these layouts into a single book or album. I did this in 2002 when going through a really rough transition, and found such joy not only in creating those layouts, but in sitting down and flipping through my album. Having a bad day? Struggling with depression? Pull out your little book of favorites and open to a random page. Give it a read. I guarantee it’ll lift your spirits!

Although my Book of Favorite Things is quite dated from a scrapbooking standpoint (those stickers! And heart-shaped brads! And those fonts!) I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling reading through my journaling from 22 years ago. “Blame it on my mother for all the chocolate milk she drank while pregnant with me,” I wrote. “(It was the only way they could get her to drink milk!) … my very favorite chocolate of all is the German Kinder-Schocolade, with its high milk content and utter lack of bitterness.” Not only does this serve as a lovely memory-jog for myself, but someday when my grandchildren or nieces flip through the album, they’ll learn more about who I am and what I love. “Call me strange,” I wrote, “but I find the sound of football on the [tv] to be strangely comforting. Sometimes I’ll tune in to the latest game and just leave it on for background noise … not really caring who’s playing or who’s winning … but feeling warm and comfortable, thinking of my Daddy.” What does that say about my relationship with my father, and how it might mirror their own relationship with their football-watching dads?

Are you ready to dig a little deeper with your All About Me Favorite-style layout? Here are some ideas from our Sugar Babes and Sweet Community members:

 

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Favorite people, favorite places
favorite memories of the past
these are the joys of a lifetime
these are the things that last
(unknown)

Whether you choose to record some of your favorite things in a monthly format, grouped by season or holiday, surrounding a specific trip or event, organized by topic, or as a more detailed individual layout, you’ll find the time you put into creating these scrapbook pages pays off in dividends. Reviewing your favorites can serve as a way to jog your memory, as a way to lift your spirit, and as a way for others to learn more about you and what you value. Give it a try, and be sure to share your next All About Me: Favorite Things layout in the Sweet Shoppe Gallery!