Spring seems to fly by over here. Maybe it's because we have a big yard to tend to as soon as the weather warms up? Maybe it's because my kids all seem to get cabin fever as soon as April hits. Whatever the case I find that it's in my best interest to plan ahead and get cards and gifts planned before I forget about them.
So, today I have a quick and simple little tutorial for you on how to make a quick, little accordian album brag book. This one's going to my mom. :)
Start by determining what size you want to work with. I knew I wanted to use one of the October Afternoon journaling cards so I determined my length and width from that. Take your desired width and cut a few pieces of cardstock to size. Score a line representing the height of each piece and fold.
Now, unless you only want two to three pages you'll have to glue those cardstock strips together... so do that now. Trim off any extra pieces if you have any. Now you'll have one long accordian fold card.
Select your patterned papers and trim so that they're slightly smaller than your pages. I thought that the spring-y vibe from the Sidewalks line would be perfect for this project.
Close your accordian book so that you can decide which flaps going to be the cover and the back. Adhere a patterned paper to the back flap.
Open your accordian book and adhere papers to ALL the pages on the opposite side.
Now, back to the cover. Take a piece of ribbon and position it so that when the book is closed you can tie it evenly along the opening. Adhere your cover papers over the ribbon. Sew in place if desired.
That side should now look like this.
The other side has patterned paper on every section.
NOTE: Keep in mind, that if you're sewing you may want to do that before the papers on the other side are adhered. Unless you like messy sewing (like I do).
Decorate your cover and add your photos on the inside.
I'm hoping that my mom either carries it with her or hangs it up in her house from the ribbon at the top.
See... super simple... easy peesy. But perfect for Mother's Day.
What projects are you tackling for Mother's Day? If you're making something we'd love to see it! Share your creations in our Flickr gallery and you may find yourself featured on our blog!
- Marcy
gonna go with this idea for the 3 grandmas we have in my family! they will love it!
Posted by: Jessica G. | April 19, 2012 at 02:15 PM
Love this idea!!
Posted by: Jean Marmo | April 18, 2012 at 02:54 PM
This is fabulous!!
Posted by: Megan Smith | April 17, 2012 at 04:43 PM
Genial !!! so simple and so cute !!!
Thanks for inspiration...
Bizz
Posted by: shannon91 | April 17, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Wow, would be also great for Father's Day!
Posted by: Cindy | April 17, 2012 at 10:52 AM
This is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing this- I've gotta figure out how to fit the 7 grand kids on there for my mom. :)
Posted by: Cynthia B. | April 17, 2012 at 09:43 AM
I love this idea for mothers day. I can't wait to try it. My favorite is that all the pics are black and white. Thanks for sharing!!
Posted by: Janicke | April 17, 2012 at 08:49 AM
Wow, that's so pretty! I love the papers and how easy it is!
Posted by: Kathleen | April 17, 2012 at 07:52 AM
Hi All, For my Mothers Day, I made a Kusadama flower ball with ribbon through the centre and a tag hanging down with my words - she loved it and it made a change from getting a card. They are quite easy to do too. Happy crafting to you all. x
Posted by: Val | April 17, 2012 at 07:19 AM