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Y1 large sheet white poster
board
1 can spray adhesive (3M works
well)
Craft glue or glue gun
Scissors and/or rotary fabric
cutter
Fabric—1 piece long enough
to cover the outside of the album, and 2 pieces to cover each
of inside covers. Allow extra inch to fold over edges of album.
Silk flowers, appliques, beads,
ribbons, lace (optional)
You will need three pieces of
fabric. You want the piece on the outside of the album to be
one piece that folds around the outside of the album. Leave 1
inch of material around the edges.
Use spray adhesive (available
at most craft stores) to glue the fabric. Make sure to lay newspapers
all around you and spray carefully or you'll end up with a big
sticky mess. Also try not to let your fabric stick to the newspaper.
Spray the glue directly on the
outside of the album- -one side first, then the spine, then the
other side. Smooth the fabric as you go, gently smoothing out
any wrinkles quickly before it dries (you have a few minutes).
You should now have the outside totally covered with fabric with
1 inch extra all around the edges of the album.Glue the extra
inch of material on the sides down to the inside of the album.
Now fold the top and bottom edges down and glue in place. The
inside of the spine will still be visible after the inside covers
are in place, so fold the extra inch at the spine in half first,
then again and glue in place. The remaining exposed top and bottom
edges will be covered with the inside covers.
The next step is to make the
inside covers. Cut 2 pieces of poster board approximately 1/8-inch
smaller (on all sides) than the inside covers of the photo album.
Make sure to lay them in the photo album after you cut them to
make sure they're the right size. You want to make sure the album
can still open and close easily when they're in place. Cut 2
pieces of fabric to be 1/2-inch bigger (on all sides) than the
pieces of poster board.
Using spray adhesive, glue each
piece of poster board to a square of fabric. Fold over the remaining
1/2 inch of fabric on the top, bottom, and sides, and glue to
the back of the poster board. You should now have completed inside
covers with no exposed fabric edges. Using spray adhesive, glue
the inside covers into the inside front and inside back of the
photo album, again making sure the album can open and close easily.
You're done! Now you can add the pages for the photos.
Here are some more options:
If the album is big enough,
you can cover a photo mat with fabric and glue it in the center
of the front of the album. You can purchase the mat already cut,
or you can make your own out of extra poster board, making it
any size you want.
If you want to have lace around
the edges, glue the lace around the edges of the album after
covering the front of the album with fabric, and before gluing
in the inside covers. The inside covers will hide the bottom
edge of the trimming. Glue in place with craft glue or a glue
gun.
Embellish the cover with appliques,
beads, and silk flowers. Glue in place with craft glue or a glue
gun.
After you practice on one of
these albums, you'll see how easy it is and you'll be able to
see all the millions of possibilities. These albums can as fancy
or simple as you want, and can cost a lot or next to nothing.
I made one for my sister as a wedding present that cost about
$50 after I bought the nice fabric, appliques, lace, etc.
For Mother's Day, however, I
found some mini photo albums on sale 2 for $3. They hold up to
4 x 6 photos. I'm going to find a photo to cut down a bit to
fit on the front cover, one for my family, and one for my husband's.
If I get in a bind for time I will try to find some fabric on
sale (should only require approximately 1/2 yard each for the
small albums). If I have time I'll do a little yard sale shopping
and try to pick up some fabric that way. If you sew or do many
crafts, you may already have some fabric on hand. It's also a
good idea to stock up on different sized albums when they're
on sale. Keep on the lookout for extra trimmings on sale and
at yard sales. Don't forget the unconventional, like sequins
and buttons. These thoughtful albums make great gifts for all
occasions. |
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