Our Favorite Photo-Safe Adhesives for Memory Books
The last time I picked up an old photo album at my parent's house, the photos all fell out the bottom and each page crunched as the yellow adhesive cracked with every page turn. The book itself became pretty much useless and I ended up just thumbing through the pictures on their own; that’s some way to display and preserve memories…
Luckily, we’ve come a long way in memory keeping and scrapbooking since the days of the sticky album page with a flimsy plastic cover! Nowadays there are so many products that will help you keep your photos safe and intact for years to come.
With so many options, it can be hard to choose which is the best, so we are breaking it down for you here. These products are how I (Amy) attached photos in my own pregnancy books, all of which are still perfectly intact. They are easy to use, relatively inexpensive, and safe for photos.
Best Adhesives for Baby Books and Memory Books
Tape Runners
These are one of my favorite ways to attach pictures, postcards and one-sided mementos to memory books. They are easy, fast, safe and permanent (just make sure you check the packaging, because some are temporary).
Ad Tech makes my favorite glue/tape runner. The adhesive comes out in a thin strip, so you can use it on even tiny edges or objects and the hold is fantastic. They are also really affordable at about $6 for a 4-pack. They can be refilled as well, and you can buy additional inserts at a lower price. If you decide to go this route, I would also highly recommend getting the Glue Runner Eraser to clean up any oopses. I can’t tell you how many times I overshot with the glue runner and ruined a page until I found this handy little tool!
I’m also a fan of the Scrapbook Adhesives E-Z Runner. These run little white adhesive rectangles onto your photo, which are easy to see so you’ll always know what you’ve already added glue to. The hold on this is fantastic as well. These are more expensive than the Ad Tech runners, but the quality is worth it. They have the added bonus of being able to be used as a decorative element by adding glitter, foil or heat embossing. These ones unfortunately are not refillable, so it’s one and done.
Photo Corners
If you want your photos to stay put in your book, but still like the idea of them being removable, I would suggest adhesive photo corners. In my teenage years, I got VERY into scrapbooking and cut all my pictures into weird shapes and arranged them all - let's just say, creatively - in my book. A few years later, when I needed those photos for projects or to share online, I realized they were effectively ruined… don’t make this mistake, friends. The scrapbooking trend in the early 2000s did nothing to help us preserve our photos! We must do better!
Photo corners are a great way to help you maintain the integrity of your photos for years to come. And when applied properly, they will keep your photos in place. They are also perfect to use for items that you want to remove to see the inside or backside, such as postcards or thank you cards!
Some other options:
- Old school Scotch Tape (double-sided, acid free)
- Scotch Tape Runner (heavy duty, acid free, refillable)
One of these adhesive options is sure to help you fill in that baby book or pregnancy journal without ruining your photos; and it will make sure you preserve those memories for years to come!
Want to keep this list handy and get our other favorite supplies to have on hand for filling in your memory book? Grab our free download! We go over things like our favorite pens, photo printers and trimmers - and everything is linked on our PDF so you can start gathering your supplies right away.
