Fireman Axe

September 4th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Fireman Axe

Creating Firefighting Scrapbooks For Your Son - 7 Simple Tips

Scrapbooking reflects the principle of "organized chaos." You can put almost anything in a scrapbook, and creativity is a major asset for people who make scrapbooks (or scrappers). You can combine a wide range of materials, colors, textures, and images to create something as unique as you are.

Yet, every scrapbook is organized around a theme, the subject of the scrapbook. It may be a person's life, an important event, a favorite vacation location, or any number of things the scrapper wants to remember. Scrapbooks are meant to preserve and interpret favorite memories, but the best scrapbooks do it in a way that tells a story.

The theme ties every element together in your scrapbook. If you're making a scrapbook for a gift, your theme may be something that is important to the recipient. A very popular theme for young boys is firefighters.

Especially since 2001, all of us have been more aware of how heroic these public servants must be. Many grown men still dream of becoming a firefighter long after childhood is over.

Creating a scrapbook on a firefighter theme is a great project that you can ask your young man to join. Even though young boys may find the idea too girlie at first, they'll love helping find the images and embellishments representing firefighters. You and your project assistant can have a great time collecting the elements and creating a firefighting scrapbook honoring the profession and telling the child's story at the same time.

Here are some ideas for themes and supporting elements that may get your and your young potential firefighter off to a good start.

1. Colors.

There are several colors we associate with firefighting that make great color schemes for scrapbooks. Beginning with the ever-popular "fire engine red" and white, you recall the familiar fire trucks and sirens. But you don't want to create an "ambulancing" scrapbook, so you can add other colors common to firefighting. Mustard yellow is the color of a fireman's coat or parka and the oxygen tank he wears into burning buildings.

Another nice touch is to use the colors of the traditional firefighting dog. Black spots on a white background help honor the Dalmatian and keep your scrapbook color scheme interesting. Combining red and orange with a deep blue represents flames, and adding aqua or light blue introduces water.

2. Images and Firefighting Shapes.

Images are an important basic element of any scrapbook. Using familiar images, shapes, and symbols maintains your firefighting theme and adds to your scrapbook pages. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

3. Fire Engine. This popular vehicle is easy to recognize and easy to reproduce for your scrapbook. Your young man will quickly know what it is by its familiar shape and bright fire engine red colors. You can use it as a background image or make cut-outs to frame your photos and mementos.

4. Firefighter. Firemen have a familiar and recognizable silhouette, with their fire hat, parka, and axe. You can show your firefighter in different poses and positions throughout the scrapbook to add a sense of action to your pages. Holding the fire hose, climbing the ladder, or bringing a person out of the flames are all exciting ways to honor their courage.

5. Fire Hydrant. Another familiar shape and image is the fire hydrant. You can add that mustard yellow color to complement the firefighter's parka, and the hydrant shape makes a great frame. But you may want to be careful in how you use it, given the hydrant's popularity with dogs.

6. Hook and Ladder. This vehicle has very distinctive features that represent the firefighter in action.

7. Firefighter Symbols and Shapes. Several shapes come to mind when thinking about firefighting. The familiar shape of the fireman's badge is a nice one for scrapbooks. The fireman's hat is a distinctive shape easy to recognize. You might also consider cut-outs of Dalmatians, flames, the fireman's axe, or the siren to accent your pages and make your theme loud and clear.

These are just a few ideas for a firefighting scrapbook. You and your young boy will have a great time thinking of other ways to incorporate the firefighter theme in your scrapbook.

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