Have I mentioned how much I love paper?
In case you didn’t get the memo, I LOVE paper!
It’s so versatile, easy to work with and cheap.
I’ve got a great way to make mini albums using scrapbook paper and paper bags.
Ok, seriously, aren’t these fun?
I’ve made a few different ones to give you an idea of what you can do with these little beauties.
This is one I made and filled with some of my favorite quotes.
Using paper bags, gives it little sleeves.
It’s fun to use the little flaps too.
This is a great way to use leftover paper, stickers and embellishments.
My love of paper probably originated when I started scrapbooking over 15 years ago. That was my first crafty endeavor. But that was back when all I had was a stack of neon paper, one pair of wavy scissors and a camera that, if I was lucky, had a 24 film roll in it. And about five of those were usually pictures you didn’t want once they were developed; the close-up of your lap, a shot of the floor, nothing but your friend’s eyeball, the picture with a huge light blur in it and that one that would have been absolutely perfect if you hadn’t cut off their heads. Boy, we certainly have come a long way. It would be impossible for me to put every picture I take into an actual, physical album now. But I do think it’s fun to put a vacation or an event into a mini photo album. Here’s one I made from a trip we took to Seattle.
As you can see, this one is a fatty fat one because of all the pictures I put in it.
Here’s the sleeve I made to keep it all together.
Because of the awesome technology we have today, it’s easy to pick and choose favorite pictures.
Sticking a picture under the flap is like a little surprise.
I put pictures and wrote about the fun things we did on the pull-out inserts.
Embellishing the pages can be as easy as a handful of circles.
This is one that I made for Halloween. I’ve got the book made, but haven’t put pictures in it yet. The plan is to fill it with pictures from our Halloween funtivities over the years.
I used a lot of Jack Skellington embellishments since I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. I also used black paper bags for this one.
This is going to be great if I ever get it finished. It’s on the list….with about four hundred and eleventy million other things.
I also made one of these albums for my bff Alison titled “Remember When”. It was full of pictures from our adventures and funny memories.
Ok, so, want to learn how to make one for yourself?
Here we go.
Start by gathering up some scrapbook paper.
You’ll also need some paper bags. With all the sizes and colors the possibilities are endless. For this book, I went with the run-of-the-mill, lunch sack, brown bags.
Cut your paper roughly the same size as your paper bags. You’ll want to cut one piece a little bigger to use as the cover. How much bigger is up to you.
For this book, I used six pieces of paper and six paper bags which makes a fairly fat book. For my thoughts book I used three of each.
Next, you need to fold each piece of paper and each paper bag in half.
Now you need to punch some holes. A hole punch would work perfectly well I’m sure, but mine is crappy and doesn’t work too well so I use this.
Unfold the paper and the bags and punch two holes along the crease. Use the first piece of paper you punch as a template for the others so the holes are in the same spots on all the bags and the paper.
Once the holes are all punched, get them all lined up.
Now thread string or ribbon or yarn or whatever you want to use through the holes to bind it all together.
I like to use a whole mess of ribbon and string. It makes it a little more tricky to thread it all through, but it just looks so fantastic.
Then I tie it all in a knot.
Once you get it all bound, you’ll notice that your book doesn’t really want to stay closed. Especially if it’s a fatty one.
You can either make a sleeve for it or a button fastener. Here’s how to make a sleeve.
Cut a strip of paper as wide as you’d like. The length of this one is twelve inches.
Fold the strip around your book. If you’re planning on putting a lot of pictures in it make sure it has some extra room for the album to bulge. As you can see, the paper isn’t quite long enough. No problem. Just cut another piece of paper and attach to the strip.
Now you have your sleeve and little place to put the title of your book/album.
If you wanted to go with the button fastener, that’s easy too.
Essentially, you’ll just be stitching on a button to the front of your book. Make sure you don’t do it tight against the paper, you need a little room to wrap the string around the button.
I put a little piece of paper on the front and back of the cover for added stability.
On the back cover, tie your string around a brad then put it through the paper.
Next, cut out some paper to fit into the paper bag sleeves.
There’s something about tabs that puts a smile on my face.
It’s great to get the paper sets that have matching embellishments. It sure makes it easy to cute-up the pages.
And now your book is ready to do whatever you want to do with it.
I’m still deciding what to do with this one.
Any suggestions?
Until next time…
-Meg
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