Mini Album Monday #21- Facts About The Year You Were Born

My older sister had a birthday recently, and I made her an album with facts that happened the year she was born. The album was very easy to make because I used pre-printed stickers for the journaling and page protectors for the album itself.

 

I'll walk you through the steps if you'd like to make one.

 

I used a couple of recent photos and several from when she was growing up.

 

To make it, you'll need:

6 photos (with different ages of the person being featured)

three 4"x 6" page protectors

pattern paper- I used a few pieces from a double sided 6"x6" paper pack by My Mind's Eye

Timeless Moments stickers in your desired year (you can find them here)

white or Kraft cardstock measuring 7 1/2"x 4 1/4"

bone folder or scoring blade

adhesive

paper trimmer

optional: small paper flowers for embellishments

 

Start by choosing which papers you'll use. I like the 6"x6" double sided paper pads for this project. The designs are smaller and ideal for a smaller book like this.

 

Trim three pieces to 4"x 6"

They should slide right into the page protectors.

If  your paper only is printed on one side, you'll have to cut six 4"x6" pages and place them back to back in the page protectors.

 

Optional: Feel free to use some of the coordinating paper in the packs to add little strips to the pages. On this page, I added two different width strips.

 

Now we're going to create the binding.

Take your strip of white or Kraft colored cardstock that measures 7 1/2" x 4 1/4" and

score it every 1 1/4". 

Place adhesive along the first two folds (I used double sided tape. A strong glue stick, like Tombow, would work too).

Then carefully sandwich the outer edge of your first page protector in the fold.

Repeat with the other two page protectors.

 

When you finish, it will look like this.

 

 Now we need to cut a piece of pattern paper to cover these flaps.

Cut a piece of pattern paper to 4 1/4" x 2 5/8" (this is enough to cover the front and back edges that are 1 1/4" and the narrow edge connecting the two).

Score this piece 1 1/4" from both the left and the right sides. This will leave you 1/8" in the center. 

 

Adhere this over the cardstock to bind the pages.

It should look like this.

 

To do these next steps, you'll have to remove the pages from the page protectors.

Place a current photo on the cover page.

From the sticker set, cut out the large year at the bottom of the sheet and the words, "It happened in...".  Apply these next to your photo.

 

If you don't want to use these stickers, you could look up facts and print them out.

 

Using the back of the first page, Adhere a photo along the top of the page.

 I used three because my photos were small.

Choose some facts from the sticker sheet and adhere them under the photo(s).

 

Optional: place a strip of pattern paper below the photo and put a flower on the left edge of that strip (the flower should be adhered to the outside of the page protector after placing the page inside it).

 

For the right page, adhere a photo on the left side of the page and place some sticker facts next to the photo.

 

Optional: place a strip of pattern paper below the sticker facts and put a flower on the right edge of that strip.

 

 

Follow the same steps on the next two pages.

Some of the sticker facts I placed directly on the background paper. Some I placed onto small pieces of cardstock so they could be more easily read.

 

 

For the last page, place a photo along the right edge of the paper.

Then make a tag, either with your handwriting or your computer, that says, "But the best thing that happened in (your year) was you!"

 

When all the pages are complete, place them back into the page protectors.

Only the flowers, if you chose to use them, should be on the outside of the page protectors.

 

That's it! My sister really liked her book. It only took a little time on my part to give her a personal handmade gift. If you make one of these, drop me a line and let me know how it goes!

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

 

Every day I will bless You,

and I will praise Your name forever and ever.

Psalm 145:2

 

This post is linked to Today's Creative Blog, Between Naps on the Porch, Tip Junkie, and Craft-O-Maniac.