Hi! Stephanie back with you today to share this month's mini album.
Since it's the season for Thanksgiving, and to go along with this month's challenge at My Mind's Eye, I decided to create a "gratitude" mini book to record all of the things my family is thankful for. There really is so much to be thankful for!!
Supplies needed:
Chalk Studio collection
White cardstock
Paper trimmer
Bone folder
Adhesive
Hole punch
Ribbon/twine
Date stamp & ink
1. Start by gathering your supplies. I am using the Chalk Studio collection for my album.
2. Build your album cover by trimming down a piece of patterned paper to 6.5x12 inches and a piece of white card stock to 7x12 inches. That extra half of inch on the white card stock will create a frame around your patterned paper and will also add to the sturdiness of your book.
3. Trim regular printer paper to 6.5x11 inches. I used about 13 pieces of printer paper and 2 pieces of patterned paper for my base pages. I wanted to make sure I had one piece of paper for each day during the month of November, but you can add as many or as few pages as you would like. I typically would use card stock for my base pages, but since I was including so many I felt like printer paper would not be as bulky.
4. Score your trimmed patterned paper and printer paper down the middle and fold.
5. Using your crop-a-dile or hole punch, punch a half circle from the fold of your cover papers. I recommend placing a scrap piece of paper over your folded cover before you punch your hole. Be sure to line up the edge of your scrap paper with one end of your cover (or you could trim your scrap paper to the length of your cover).
The punched mark on your scrap paper will now act as a guide for the next hole you punch. This will guarantee that your holes are evenly spaced.
6. Flip your scrap paper over, lining up the edge with the edge of your folded cover. Punch your second hole.
7. Repeat the above steps for the base pages of your book.
8. Grab your ribbon or twine and thread each end of your ribbon/twine through the holes on the inside of your book.
9. Pull the ribbon/twine all the way through the holes and tie in a bow on the outer edge of your cover.
10. Decorate the cover of your album. I chose to keep my cover very simple and used the "The Story of Us" layered sticker from the Cut & Paste collection.
11. Using a date stamp, add a stamp for each day of the month.
And now your book is al lready to be filled with memories!
Here is a look at some of the completed pages of my album. This book is still going strong at our house and it will surely be a family tradition.
The whole family has been involved and hearing what my children are thankful for just warms my heart. I'm pretty sure I am going to have to make my daughter her own book next year. She begged me everyday to fill in our book.
Thanks so much for joining me today!! I hope this tutorial has inspired you to make a thankful journal for your family. Please let me know if you have any questions!!
