A scrapbook for your pet is not just a way to preserve all her cherished memories and milestones, but can also make a great gift to family members, especially your children when they are leaving home.

Easy to make and fun to participate in, a scrapbooking project for your pet can involve all members of your family. In fact, you can plan it as a weekly crafts project at home, adding all the little keepsakes and mementos collected over the past week.

Make sure you begin adding things to the scrapbook right from the moment your new pet enters your home. Note down the date of her arrival, and take a picture of her first day in your house. Mention her name, whose choice it was and the reason for that particular name. Over the weeks and months that follow, your pet scrapbook will grow in size, so make sure you have a fairly large sized scrapbook to fit it all in.

Vaccination records, veterinary records, and her medical history should be included. Add pictures taken for all her milestones - her first birthday party, her feeder and bed, pictures with each member of the family, and shots of her training progress (you could devote an entire section to her training, and all the phases right from the basics).

If your dog has won a dog contest add those certificates too. Add small little things like a tuft of hair, or a tooth to make the scrapbooking pet project about more than just pictures.

Don’t forget special celebrations like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Add pictures of his first Christmas, a picture by the tree or all decked up in his red and white Christmas finery.

Don’t use a generic scrapbook – buy a special dog themed scrapbook that’s easily available at a specialty stationery store or online. These will have special pouches to display pet paw ornaments. These pet paw ornaments are another innovative way to preserve your pet’s memories. Make a paw impression using a pet paw kit when he’s just a pup and follow it up with paw impressions at different stages in his life. You’ll love to compare the difference in size and the evidence of his growth over the years.

A scrapbooking project is one the whole family can share in. It makes for terrific memories of your pet, and gives the family an opportunity to participate in their pet’s life.