How can you give a gift that will go on giving long after it is unwrapped, lauded and put away? If you are considering making a personal scrapbook for some of the special people on your list, check out some of these Christmas scrapbooking ideas listed below. (You may have to concentrate on a few people if you are pressed for time. Next year, you can do the people you missed this time around.) It’s no small job, and will require planning on your part, but when you are finished, your Christmas scrapbooking idea is sure to be the talk of all the family this holiday season.

Think of yourself as the FBI and that maniac, J. Edgar Hoover. Keep secret files (photos, etc.) just like he did on everyone who is the subject of your Christmas scrapbook idea. Only work when inspired. It will show otherwise. Gather photos and ephemera enthusiastically. Use only those items that make you laugh, cry or seriously reflect on that person, or you with that person, or something along those lines. Sort the wheat from the chaff (but not necessarily in that order). If you are ambivalent about including pieces in your Christmas scrapbooking ideas, they probably don’t belong.

Decide on the type of scrapbook you want to make. Here are some thoughts on that.

• If you want a recipe album, concentrate on a few recipes that are especially meaningful to the subject of your Christmas scrapbooking idea. Follow the course of history for the particular family member as connected to that recipe or recipes (photos eating, making, transporting, enjoying, etc). Considering the levity of the occasion, focus on desserts for your Christmas scrapbooking ideas, if you can.

• Christmas scrapbooking ideas for young children

ABC scrapbooks are the perfect Christmas scrapbooking ideas for kids and they are very easy to make. Devote each page of your Christmas scrapbook idea to one letter of the alphabet. Use photos and other ephemera to illustrate each letter in a personal way. For example, A is for Aunt Betty, etc.

• Teachers appreciate homemade gifts from students. For your Christmas scrapbooking idea, consider helping your child make an album for a special teacher on your gift list. If you really are organized and start early enough in developing your Christmas scrapbook idea, you might even be able to coordinate a “group gift" by sending each child in the class a page to make for your Christmas scrapbooking idea.

•Teenagers and pre-teens are a more difficult group per se, as their ideas are constantly changing with the different fads and trends. Two weeks from now an adored rock star may well be a thing of the past, and thus, developing Christmas scrapbooking ideas for this age group can be a challenging venture. Consider a “friends" scrapbook for your Christmas scrapbooking idea with pre-made pages for photos, addresses, phone numbers, email (and MySpace) addresses for each special friend.

• One simple Christmas scrapbooking idea for grandparents should involve photos. Try to get everyone in the family involved. For different grandparents, you can duplicate pages to make multiple scrapbooks.

• Special, unexpected touches to your Christmas scrapbooking ideas can include the kind of trappings you use to decorate your unique Christmas scrapbooks. Save pieces of wrapping paper to use for the picture backgrounds of your Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Use the ribbons from your Christmas gifts for decoration by tying bits and pieces along the spine of your Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Have the children write letters to Santa and save, scan or reduce them for use as embellishments for your holiday pages.

• If you are really strapped for time like so many of us are but are determined to execute your homemade Christmas scrapbooking idea nonetheless, consider purchasing some of the many bound hard cover digital photo books that are available on photo Websites. You can still be the captain of the desired design with your own digital photos, albeit online. This Christmas scrapbooking idea can be very cost-effective and you can order multiple copies for several people on your Christmas scrapbooking idea list.

• Finishing touches for your Christmas scrapbooking idea can include a last section that includes your thoughts, feelings, plans and hopes for the years to come.

Start working on your Christmas scrapbooking ideas now while there’s still a bit of time. A rush job always shows and if you organize yourself, you can get these Christmas scrapbooking ideas completed in plenty of time for Christmas. Celebrate your memories and give them a way to live again and again. They are the gifts that last.