My girlfriend went to a thrift store and when she bought her purchase, they put it into a bag made from a t-shirt and she thought it was such a great idea, she loaned me the bag so I could replicate it with all of you.
I used one of my husband’s old “life is good” t shirts for this and a pair of good scissors. You’ll start by cutting off both sleeves at the seam (but don’t cut out the seam) where it connects to the body of the shirt. I used Tonic scissors that I really like that are inexpensive on ebay…I don’t think you can find them in stores elsewhere, here’s a link to the ones I found. https://tinyurl.com/3vr5avah
I went to the neck and cut out the entire neck seam then made sure the front and back were even at the shoulders, then drew a line with a pencil where the back was higher than the front then cut out the pencil marks. You can cut this lower if you prefer a bigger opening for your bag.
The bottom is the last step, and I put straight pins about 3″ from the bottom and made sure I pinned the front and back together so they would stay together when I cut. I cut out the left side seam at 3″ and got rid of that piece then made marks on the shirt 1 1/2″ apart at the very bottom and cut up to the pins 3″ from the bottom. Cut at the 1 1/2″ mark up to the pin at 3″ and then make a cut with a craft knife or rotary trimmer at the top of the cut in the center of the 1 1/2″ of fabric a small slit then take both pieces of fabric at the bottom (from the front) and push them through the hole you made and pull tight. Repeat across the bottom of the t-shirt until you get to the other end, and cut out the seam up to the 3″ mark then, depending on the size of t-shirt you use, I used a size large mens, your last piece of fabric might be less than 1 1/2″ or it might be a little bit more, and no one will notice the size difference of your last knot.
This is a great bag for bulky things, but I wouldn’t use it for a bunch of cans…it would be great for clothes or potato chips or any lightweight purchases…I didn’t try to use it yet for anything that is heavy, but if you want to try it and let me know if it holds heavy things, I’d love to know….I’m too chicken to try doing it myself.
Every year for Christmas, I like to drop off a box of gifts to a local nursing home so people who don’t have family nearby, have a small gift during the holiday season. Here are some of the things I made this year.
I bought a light up snowflake during the post-holiday season sales last year that is white, and thought it was too bland, so used Tombow Mono Aqua Glue and rubbed it all over the surface of the snowflake, then used fine Martha Stewart red glitter and pressed it into the snowflake. I liked it a lot better once it was red. Make sure you shake it off over a garbage can several times before you deliver it, to ensure you aren’t giving a gift of loose glitter to the recipient.
We all have old picture frames around the house and those serve as the backdrop to most of my gifts. I find ornaments at garage sales or at Dollar Tree or Dollar General, and depending on the ornament’s size, hot glue it to the outside of the picture frame glass. When doing this, make sure you’ve cleaned the glass on both sides and that the hanger is facing the proper direction. For oval or round frames, it’s easiest if you trace the glass onto your Christmas paper and then cut the paper out. If your paper has a pattern with a direction, make sure that you’ve cut it so it is straight up and down in an oval frame. Most of the ornaments I bought didn’t fit inside the oval frame, but I’d bought a set of ornaments last year from Dollar Tree that were glittery red cardboard bells, so I hot glued one of those onto the paper inside the frame and put the frame back together and it looked great.
Some of the nicest frames I’ve decorated, used the simplest ornaments. I used a large gold 3 d metal ornament from Dollar Tree (they sell these every year) that I glued to the outside of the glass on a 5 x 5″ frame..it looked cute, even though the gold bead in the center of the ornament had glue left on it by the manufacturer.. Note, when shopping for these ornaments, really look at them to make sure you find the one that has the least amount of issues, as the might not bug you when you buy them, but those blemishes will drive you crazy when you put the frame together.
Most of the papers I used are from Die Cuts with a View, Jolly Whimsy Stack from, I think, Hobby Lobby from a few years ago. Probably the only place you could find it would be on ebay.
I used an 8 x 11″ diploma frame from the Dollar Tree link: https://tinyurl.com/88cdpyssfor the round Christmas wood ornament I bought last year at Dollar General. I added a piece of Christmas cardstock into the frame and then hot glued the ornament to the front of the frame, making sure to let the hot glue cool for a few seconds so it didn’t melt the plastic “glass” on the front of the frame. I decided the ornament needed more bling, so added small dots of Bearly Art Glue to the ornament and glued small white iridescent pearls leftover from a diamond painting to the ornament.
I had some snowflake doilies in my stash so added them to a piece of 5 x 5″ Christmas paper and then added hot glue on top of the doily and added a second doily to make it look more dimensional, then put the frame that was 5 x 5″ back together and called it done.
I had another 8 x 11″ frame (diploma frame) and glued inside a piece of Christmas patterned paper, then put the frame back together. I had a deer with antlers ornament from Dollar Tree and hot glued it to the outside of the frame near the center. I looked at the deer and it looked a little spartan around his neck where they add pine cones, so I added hot glued to his neck and added some red styrofoam balls to fill in that area. He also had a weird dollop of glue near his antler that you can’t see on camera, but is really obvious in person, so I hot glued a small poinsettia there. I was afraid taking him in and out of cold weather that he might unglue (as hot glue can do that), so I added some E6000 under him to ensure he stayed in place.
I showed a diamond painting of a cat that is 30 x 40 mm…a hard size to find a frame for. I took the diamond painting to our local Salvation Army thrift store and found a frame that fit. I think the frame was 11 x 14″, or close to it, and I folded the edges of the diamond painting back on themselves and added tear tape to hold them in place, then put more tear tape on the back of the diamond painting and cut a piece of poster board that matched the diamond painting, in this case it was purple, to the frame size, then centered the diamond painting and glued it into the frame with the tear tape and some hot glue for extra stability. Then reassembled the frame. I think it turned out great.
I hope you enjoyed my Christmas easy gift ideas. They’re inexpensive and perfect for people whose taste you don’t know, but want them to have a gift from you.
I made a Halloween album for our great nephew, Finn and wanted to make a Christmas, Easter and Birthday album for him, as well as a box to hold the albums…Here is the link to the Halloween album in case you want all of the measurements for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ZIDFdoAZY
The Christmas 3d stickers came from Joanns and I couldn’t find them in their online store, sorry. The papers I used in this album came from my stash and are all retired, bummer.
The Easter album’s papers and stickers came from the same set,https://tinyurl.com/3pzuna3b from Echo Park. If I had to do this over again, I’d probably try to find paper packs for all of the holidays as it made it so much simpler.
The birthday papers came from my stash, as did the brads. The donut paper on the outside of the album is a retired Stampin’ Up paper. The stickers are from K & Co and I found them at Joanns, here’s the link to them..https://tinyurl.com/ms5sd54v I don’t recommend these stickers as they had a lot of issues with the layered pieces sticking to the paper above the sticker and the stickers would fold in on themselves…not the best quality, in my opinion.
The paper I used for the outside of the box was from Joanns, in their loose paper area. I couldn’t find a link for it on their website, sorry.
I cut two pieces of chipboard to 6 1/8″ x 6 1/8″ and three pieces of 3 3/4″ x 6 1/8″ for the box. Then I cut a lot of strips of 11 x 1″ strips scored on the 1″ side at 1/2″ then covered the back with tear tape…don’t take off the backing paper until you’re ready to use it. I used the smaller chipboard pieces first, and laid the two pieces that are the bottom and top of the box, so their back end lays on top of the piece that makes the back of the box. Take your 11 x 1″ strips and cut them to 3 3/4″ long (cut the ends on an slight angle so they don’t overlap with each other)and the fold them in half on their score so the non-sticky side is folded onto itself, then lay the folded point into where the two chipboard pieces meet and adhere the strip there. If you have enough of these strips in the same color, use them on the outside and inside of the box. If you don’t have enough of the same color, on the inside of the box, use a color that matches the chipboard you’ve used. On the outside, use cardstock that matches the paper you’re covering your box with. After you’ve attached the bottom, back and top of the box together, take one of your 6 1/8″ x 6 1/8″ pieces of chipboard and cut strips of 11 x 1″ cardstock scored on the 1″ length at 1/2″ down to 6 1/8″ and make sure the back of the chipboard lays on the edge of the back piece of chipboard and also on the edges of the top and bottom of the chipboard, then lay your 1″ strips on the seams to hold them in place. Do the same to the inside and outside, adhering the 1″ strips along the seams.
Cover the open edges of your box with the 1″ strips so the entire box looks finished. After the box is made, take patterned paper cut two pieces of 5 7/8″ x 5 7/8″ for the sides, and three pieces of 5 7/8″x 3 1/2″ for the top, bottom and back of the box. I adhered the paper with tear tape to the box, then took Stampin’ Up satin pleated Pear Pizzazz ribbon and put tear tape on the back of it and wrapped it around the opening of the box to cover any errors I made… It looked good in the end.
I always make a covered calendar for my girlfriend for the new year. The last one I made her was a two-year one, so I haven’t made one since then.
You’ll need a calendar…this is the one I bought from Dollar Tree link: https://tinyurl.com/yumk4vv7so if you want to replicate what I did (for sizing), you’ll need this calendar. I used Graphic 45 Magic of Oz (Scatter Brained Scarecrow) paper now retired, but I did find a reasonable set of 12 sheets, including the one I used, on ebay link: https://tinyurl.com/3wkya92eas well as the chipboard pieces I used for the paper clips link: https://tinyurl.com/27nbksyp
Start by taking the plastic cover off of the calendar. Then cut the paper down to 7 1/2″ tall and leave the length the same. I cut my paper 7 1/2″ from the bottom to get all of the scarecrows I wanted on my calendar. Then to score it, I scored it 1/2″ on the 7 1/2″ length and at 11 1/2″, or flip it over to the back to score it at 1/2″ (that is actually 11 1/2″ but easier for me to score as I’m left handed.) On the 12″ length score at 3/4″ and 8 5/8″ I used Amazon tear tape that I like link: https://tinyurl.com/3kzsyx2k
I should have cut off the top and bottom score lines all the way across before attaching it to the calendar, but didn’t, so really made this project a lot harder than it should have been. So my advice is to cut off the 1/2″ top and bottom score lines, including the lines, and then add tear take to the back of the calendar especially on the seam at the center of the calendar. Add tear tape to the back up to the 3/4″ score line on the left side of the paper and wrap the around the front of the calendar and glue it in place, making sure the top and bottom are evenly spaced. NOTE: Your calendar might be a different size than mine, so make sure you measure yours to ensure the paper covers it from top to bottom.
My calendar was exactly 6 1/2″ tall, so by cutting off the two score lines, my paper was 6 1/2″ tall. The reason I scored mine, is I wasn’t sure if I was going to fold the paper and then wrap it around the book for more stability, but in the end, decided against that…. You can simply cut off the top and bottom 1/2″ of the 7 1/2″ to make sure you have the image centered properly.
Once you’ve attached the front cover, but before covering the rest of the book, take a 1″ circle punch and cut out half of the circle in the center of the end of the paper, so when you create the pocket, you have a finger hole to grasp it. I again, waited until after attaching the paper, and made it harder on myself, but don’t want you to have to struggle with this. Take the backing off the tear tape on the back of the calendar and carefully lay the paper over the calendar, making sure, again, that the paper covers the calendar from top to bottom, then wrap the paper around the back of the calendar, and add tear tape to the bottom and top of the paper you’ve wrapped around the back of the calendar, and take off the backing paper, then glue the paper in place to create a pocket. If you chose not to make the pocket, you can simply cut the paper 3/4″ from the back edge of the calendar from top to bottom and tear tape it in place, making sure to leave about 1/8″ additional paper at the end of the book, so you have room for it to grow once glued down.
To make a front flap for the calendar, I cut a piece of the same paper 3 1/8″ x 6 1/2″ tall and scored it on the 3 1/8″ length at 1 3/16 and 1 5/8″. You’ll glue from the 1 5/8″ score line (not including the line) to the back of the calendar…the score line will be the piece that folds at 90 degrees toward the front and the other score line folds flat onto the front of the calendar. I rounded the front two corners with my Kadomaru Pro corner rounder on large.
I attached this piece to the calendar and then decided the front flap wasn’t thick enough for the front flap so added another piece that was 1 3/16″ wide (check to make sure this is the measurement for the piece of paper that lies flat on the front of the calendar up to the score line) and 6 1/2″ tall and rounded the corners on the left side then added a lot of tear tape under it to make sure it would stay in place and then added wet glue to make sure if I put this paper down it wouldn’t pull back up. I added a Dollar Tree Velcro circle to the center of this flap and then closed the calendar so the Velcro is in the right place on the front cover.
I used Stampin Up olive green ribbon that was 13″ long and added a line of tear tape into the inside front cover of the calendar at the center, glued about half way down the calendar, so I could wrap the ribbon into the calendar and it would still stick out the bottom and be seen. I took some of the small chipboard pieces from the Oz collection and hot glued them to either side of larger gold paper clips and clipped them into the pocket on the back cover.
I made marks with a black Sharpie 1/2″ apart from the bottom of the tree to the top, and then turned the tree and made the same marks all the way around the tree so I had a way to make sure my fabric pieces were in straight rows. I took fabric and cut them into strips that ranged from 1/2″ wide to 3/4″ wide, then cut them into 2″ lengths. I folded the 2″ pieces in half and glued the open end shut with hot glue, making the strips 1″ long. I had four different fabrics, one small plaid, one larger plaid, one floral and a gold fabric. The gold fabric didn’t have much body, so I took gold diamond wrap from the Dollar Tree link: https://tinyurl.com/488cks8pand hot glued the diamond wrap to the gold material…Otherwise you’d be able to see through the diamond wrap to the tree beneath, and I didn’t like that idea.
I took a candle holder link: https://tinyurl.com/yj55sh74and cut a lollipop stick into three equal parts, then shoved those parts into the center of the foam tree so I could put the tree on the candle holder and hot glue it once I was finished with it and it would be stable. I hot glued fabric to the bottom and top of the tree. Then I started with the 1/2″ mark nearest to the bottom of the tree and hot glued (on low setting of my hot glue gun so I didn’t melt the tree) the fabric pieces in this order. Small plaid, gold fabric, large plaid, floral pattern, then small plaid, gold fabric, large plaid, and floral pattern, repeat until I made it all the way around the tree. I made sure that I always overlapped the pieces so there were no gaps in the fabric, and I made sure that the last piece glued down was the floral pattern, so I had complete patterns on every row. So if I was getting down to the end of a row, I planned out how to make sure I ended with the floral pattern, either by using thinner strips or thicker strips…then I went to the next line and started with the small plaid, but offset it on the small plaid below it by half, so half of the piece I was putting down was laying on the small plaid beneath it and half was laying on the gold piece. I worked my way up the tree and made sure I used thinner strips when I was nearing the top, so I could ensure all patterns were on every row.
For the tree topper, I took a wood star I bought a few months ago at my Dollar Tree (but couldn’t find now) and added Versamark ink to it then used Tim Holtz Gold Tinsel embossing powder and heat set it. I did the same to the back, then added a second layer to both sides, then once it was cool, I took gold glitter from Arteza and added it to the star after I added a layer of Bearly Art Glue and smeared it around so it was a fine consistent coating. I hot glued the bottom of the star and added it to the tree top. I had some small gold flatback pearls that I glued around the tree and added some small ornaments that originally were for wine glasses then hot glued the candle holder and attached the tree to it.
I was happy with the end result and hope you are too.
I took a white base that was 10″ x 7″ tall and scored it on the 10″ side at 5″ to make a 5 x 7″ card base. Then I cut the Santa’s Workshop Christmas tree pattern down to 4 3/4″ x 6 3/4″ and adhered it to the card base. The gnome in the truck was shorter than what I would normally put on a 5 x 7″ card, so I centered it on the Christmas tree paper when I was finished coloring it.
I used Viviva Colorsheets link: https://vivivacolors.com/products/original-single-set-16-colors and used their Viridian color and swatched out a bunch on my chicken egg dish then used a larger brush to color in the background of my gnome card. Then I dried the background well with a heat tool and used alcohol markers to color the rest of the image.
I thought it would be relaxing for you to watch me color….hopefully you’ll think so too. After I was finished coloring, I used foam for behind the gnome to give it some dimension and adhered it to the Christmas tree paper. Then I took some old Graphic 45 scraps I had and punched out some Christmas tree shapes, and bent them in the middle and glued them around the truck on the card base. I think it turned out cute…and hope you did too.
I wanted to try to make some simple Christmas ornaments with a couple different techniques.
I found these wood slice ornaments on Amazon for a pretty good price. https://tinyurl.com/yaebzbpr My wood slices varied from under 2″ to almost 2 1/2″.
I chose my first technique using Christmas napkins with a smaller pattern that would fit on the wood slice well. I used the black napkin I showed, as on the underside I found the cardinal that fit perfectly on the wood slices. First, take the backing off your napkin using washi tape on the underside of the napkin. Rub the tape with the napkin to make sure it’s well adhered, then pull from the underside to remove any layers of the napkin except the top layer. I used Art Minds Matte Decoupauge, but it appears Michaels doesn’t make it any more, so instead, you could use Matte Mod Podge, link: https://tinyurl.com/3bebwx7w
Using a paint brush, brush a liberal amount of Mod Podge onto the wood slice, then lay your napkin over the wood slice framing whatever design you choose. Add another layer of Mod Podge on top of the napkin and let it dry. Trim from behind with scissors, mine are fussy cutting scissors from Stampin’ Up.
Next, I took an archival ink, Brilliance Coffee Bean, and inked the edges of the ornament, as well as the sides so it looks a little distressed. It’s a subtle change, but the wood really looks good with the ink on it. After I’ve trimmed the ornament, I added small dots of Bearly Art Glue to the cardinal image, and added small white pearl diamonds left over from a diamond painting to look like snow. Added black twine to the opening on the ornament, and called it done.
The red berry napkins, I added some die cuts in three layers of pine boughs and with some white pearls for a center, and small red crystal diamonds on the boughs, I just glued them in place. Added twine to the top and it was done. I did the same with boughs that berries sat on, and glued three together then glued them onto the wood slice. I added some white pearls in different sizes and made sure to cut the bough so it would fit on the wood slice…it’s better if you do this to the individual boughs so your scissors don’t fight cutting through three layers.
For the fourth wood slice, I went through some steps you can skip. You don’t need to paint the wood slice, as I found the embossing powder worked great with the wood, and I wasn’t sure that it would. I took Ranger Silver Tinsel embossing powder after coating the wood slice with Versamark Ink and covered the slice with the embossing powder, then holding it in place with something (I used a paint brush), heat set the embossing powder. I added two layers of the silver tinsel to make sure the wood slice was well coated, then once it was ok to touch, I did the same to the back of the wood slice.
I bought the stars at Dollar Tree. Again, you don’t need to paint the wood star, just use the Versamark ink to cover it completely, then use Ranger Red embossing powder to coat. I added three coats of the red to make sure it was molten and beautiful. Used Bearly Art Glue to adhere the star to the wood slice. I added silver tinsel cord through the hole at the top and knotted it above to finish the ornament.
I thought it would be fun to add these to the purse gift bags I made. I really liked the cardinal wood slice on the cardinal purse. Here’s the link to the video to show you how to make the purses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voTxPXd_a68
First of all, let me apologize for such a long lag between videos. Rich caught a cold, then gave it to me, and his turned into tonsilitis…tomorrow we’ll be going to our doctor to see if mine is just a simple cold, or if it’s morphed into pneumonia…Started wheezing last night, even after taking every medicine we could think of to avoid it. Since covid pneumonia in 2020, I’ve had a really hard time fighting off lung infections.
With all of that being said, I hope you enjoy this video and have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
As always, I’ve typed the instructions and products used below.
This is such a simple, elegant, great Christmas gift bag, that takes virtually no time to make and only one piece of 12 x 12″ paper and a scrap that’s 7 x 3″, ribbon and some type of embellishment. I used Graphic 45 Winter Wonderland (retired paper) pattern name of this piece is Woodland Whimsy #4501604. Check ebay for single pages if you really like this paper. I REALLY RECOMMEND YOU USE A LIGHTER WEIGHT PAPER FOR THIS BAG, AS YOU’LL BE DOING SOME HAND FOLDING AND THICKER PAPER LIKE THIS, MIGHT BE REALLY FRUSTRATING FOR YOU TO WORK WITH. DON’T USE PAPERS THAT ARE LIKE A THIN CARDBOARD, AS THEY WILL CRACK ON THE EDGES.
Start by turning your 12 x 12″ paper (if it has a pattern) so the pattern’s top faces the top of your scoreboard. On this side, score at 2 1/2″ and 9 1/2″ then turn one turn and score at 5 and 7″.
You’ll need a plain colored (or pattern complementary) paper that is 7 x 3″ and score on the 3″ length at 1″. I rounded the two corners furthest away from the score line. I used my Kadomaru Pro from Amazon…love this tool. Fold and burnish all of your scores.
Where your two score lines meet at 5 and 7″, you’ll want to push in on that point (where the papers meet) and fold the papers down so the top paper and the bottom paper make a straight line, then press on the triangle of paper on the inside of the bag. Do the same to all four of these points, then glue from the angle you just folded, to the bottom of the paper, making sure you don’t glue past the score lines that are at 2 1/2 and 9 1/2″. Fold in the two sides of the bag and rub so the glue evenly adheres. Holding the bag in front of you with the front pattern facing the right direction, squeeze and press your fingers into the sides to get them to start to bend in the center. If you look at the top edge of your bag and you have a little of the back of the paper showing, trim that off so you have a nice edge for your lid.
This is the point where you should add embellishments to your “lid.” I, for some reason, chose to wait until it was attached to the bag, but it would have been a lot easier if I had done it at this point.
Take your 7 x 3″ piece of paper and punch a hole on the score line at 1 1/2″ and at 5 1/2″. I use a Crop a Dile Big Bite and really like this tool. I took a 14″ length of red ribbon and pushed it through the holes I cut, and laid the ends onto the 1″ section, making sure the ribbon lays flat and doesn’t have a curl in it when you hold up the bag. Add score tape or wet glue, or both, to the 1″ area to the score line, but not over it. Adhere the 1″ section to the back of the bag making sure the score line is slightly above the top of the bag and making sure it’s centered on both edges.
Add a Velcro piece to your underside of the lid about 1/2″ from the bottom of the cardstock, centered in the middle of the bag. I recommend using a lightweight Velcro (Dollar Tree circles work great for this) as I always have problems with the heavyweight Velcro, ripping my papers. Rub firmly to attach.. I had some matching cardboard embellishments from the same Graphic 45 collection, so took two matching brads and put them through the holes on either end, and cut off the lengths of brad legs that stick out past the edgeswith Tonic scissors, then put a large Glue Dot over it to ensure it doesn’t move. I added four more of the Glue Dots and attached it to the front center of the lid and our bag is done.
Dollar Tree googly eyes and felt witch hats and witch boots I couldn’t find in their stores this year
Making Memories brads and stick-ons also no longer available, sorry
I cut a strip of green cardstock and cut it to 3/4″ x 5 3/4″ then poked holes 3/4″ and 1 1/2″ from either end so the brads would be in the same spot on both ends. I added one of the big skeleton heads onto the green paper and put matching googly eyes on the skeleton with Tombow Mono Aqua glue. I added tear tape to the back of the green strip and added wet glue as well so I could wiggle the strip if I laid it in the wrong spot. I laid the strip on the front of the album to cover where I overlapped papers when I added magnets.. I added the word Boo near the top of the outside then went into the album.
I wanted to put in mats for photos and normally photos are 4 x 6″ but since my album is only 6″ wide, I had to make my mats 4 x 5 3/4″. On the 5 x 5″ pocket inserts, I put mats that were 4 3/4″ x 4 3/4″. I didn’t put any decorations on these because I wanted them to slide in and out of the pockets easily.
I used stickers from the K & Company set on the photo mats near the bottom so the stickers didn’t interfere with the photo spots. I could have added more decorations, but felt I added enough to make it cute.
I’ll be making a Christmas, Easter, and first birthday album, and then make a box to slide all of them into it…I’ll be making a video to show you all of this.
I want to make a set of small albums for Finn’s firsts…His first Halloween, Christmas, Easter and birthday. I thought it would be fun to make a box to hold them and will make a follow up video showing how to do that. I will be making a second video showing you how I decorated this album. I found this on MayMay’s site, here’s her video link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXBYIXhHKec
You’ll need three pieces of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. I buy mine on Amazon, and here’s the link. https://tinyurl.com/ypazx39fThe first piece will be the mechanism of your album. You’ll need to score it at 2 3/4″, 3″, 9″ and 9 1/4, then turn your paper one turn and score at 2 1/2″, 3″, 9″ and 9 1/2″. Once you’ve scored it, you’ll want to cut out all four corners at the second score marks, making sure you’ve also cut out the score lines. Your other two 12 x 12″ papers, I find it would have been easier for me if I had cut them in half at 6″ and then put it in your score board at 12″ and score at 6″. (When I have 12″ long paper in my score board, I have trouble keeping the paper in the scoreboard, so my lines aren’t always straight, and for this, your lines need to be straight.) Do this with three of the four pieces you’ve cut, then take the last 12 x 6″ piece and cut it into two 5 x 5″ squares to become inserts for the pockets I’ll make. Fold and burnish all of the scores. The 6 x 12″ pieces, you’ll fold in half and they need to match perfectly, and if they don’t, trim off the little bit that is offset.
Take the piece that has all of the corners cut out (that now looks like a plus sign) and lay it so the 1/4″ scores are on the left and right side as it faces you. Take one of the 6 x 12″ folded pieces and put it with the open side facing in and the folded side facing out. On the piece that looks like a plus sign, on the right side of the plus, put glue or tear tape on the edges and closest to the score line. Then lay the 6 x 12″ piece on the glue again with the open side almost on the score line, but not quite. Rub the glued areas so they set up. Now do the same to the left side of the plus sign but this time put the folded side closest to the score line and the open side facing to the outside left side. Put glue on the two sides and close to the score line to adhere it. For the bottom, put glue all over the plus sign up to the score line of the bottom section and with the folded part of the 12 x 6″ piece to the outside and the open part closest to the score line. When you glue these pieces together, if anything sticks out, even a small sliver, cut them off, as you’ll see them in the finished product.
I rounded the corner of the top part of the plus sign as it is our flap to close it. My corner rounder is a Kadomaru Pro from Amazon and I love it. Now is when you will put your magnets on. Put two of them about 3/4″ from the left and right side and about 1/2″ from the bottom of the flap, then lay the other half of the magnets onto the ones you’ve just attached and put glue dots on the back of these magnets and close the album to adhere the second half of the magnets to the bottom flap of the album. Make sure that you fold the album so the bottom and top are at 90 degrees before adhering these magnets, so the album will close properly.
Cut four 4 3/4 x 4 3/4″ patterned papers and adhere them to the 5 x 5″ pieces you cut, as these will fit into your pockets that you created when you glued the side flaps in.
Cut several (I think you’ll need 16-18 of these) 5 3/4″ x 5 3/4″ pieces of patterned papers to cover the outside and inside of the album. On the front cover, you’ll need to have two of the same pieces of designer paper, as one will cover the entire front and the other will only cover the top flap. Measure yours, but I think I cut mine to 2 3/8″ tall and 5 3/4″ wide. This piece should be identical to the piece under the flap. The easiest way to do this is to cut from the same spot on your designer paper, so if you used the top left hand part for the full 5 3/4 x 5 3/4″ piece, you’ll only need the top left hand 2 3/8″ x 5 3/4″ if yours measures the same as mine (and it should.) Round the bottom corners before gluing it in place. Glue it so the bottom is even with the bottom of the top flap. The pocket is 2 3/4″ tall, so cut your 5 3/4 x 5 3/4″ piece 2 3/4″ from the bottom and glue the top piece to the pocket page making sure the bottom of this piece is right up to the pocket, then glue the 2 3/4″ tall piece to the top of the pocket as it will give you a small border, as will the top piece you glued so the bottom is at the opening slot of the pocket.
In my next video we’ll decorate this album and then I’ll make the box in an upcoming video.
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