Living half a century is quite an accomplishment, and a birthday collage will give the birthday recipient some well-deserved recognition. Creativity, photographs and sentimental memorabilia is all you need to create a memorable 50th birthday collage. Make it a group effort by gathering friends and family members to help prepare the collage.

Go to a local craft or hobby store and purchase a large poster board or find a cardboard box around the house. Pick a background color for the poster board that will compliment the photographs and memorabilia. Locate the scrap-booking section of a craft store to find stickers, captions and other paper décor specific to a 50th birthday.

Gather supplies such as scissors, a photo-cutter, photo-protective glue and double-sided tape. Prepare the collage on a large table to allow enough room to work on the project. Spread out photos of the birthday boy or girl on a table and choose the photographs that show special events, important accomplishments and funny or endearing moments that capture the life of a 50-year-old.

Use relevant memorabilia to put on the 50th birthday collage, such as newspaper clippings, photos of decade-specific cars, fashion and popular music. Add photos of the birthday celebrant with captions that include, “I was here!” or “Don’t I look great?” or “Eat your heart out!”

Organize the photos and memorabilia on a poster board to separate certain events and experiences. Consider using more than one poster board for specific periods of the person’s life. Place similar photos together such as childhood, places the birthday recipient has lived and traveled to and memorable moments that include births, weddings, holidays and accomplishments.

Create an individual background to frame each photo using colorful construction or stock paper. Type descriptive captions on card-stock paper and leave enough space between each caption to cut out and paste near the poster board photos. Include dates, names, places and brief stories in the caption to describe the photos.

Find large, metallic or brightly colored pre-cut paper letters that say “Happy 50th Birthday” or “50 Years” and paste on top or in the middle of the poster board. Place photos and other decorative items around the lettering.

Leave room on the poster board for friends and family to write special notes or memories about the birthday recipient. Paste small white note cards between photos on the poster board. Provide pens for guests to write a special note to the 50th birthday party guest of honor.