Craftapalooza! Part II

Bonus craft! I turned some photo albums which were gifted to me over the holidays from this:

to this!

Do you have a journal or photo album you like but don't really love? Is the outside not worthy of what will be inside? It's time for a change, love!

QUICK STATS:

Cost=FREE

Time=4 days, about 30 minutes each day for crafting, then 23.5 hours of drying time...

Difficulty Level=So easy!!! Cut, glue, watch glue dry...

Materials:

-Paper or fabric to cover book/album outside

-Paper of fabric to line inside book/album

-Glue (appropriate for covering medium you are using)

-Water

-Paint brush

-Glue gun

-Scissors

-Pencil

-Clear coat (optional; used for my project to prevent the newsprint from bleeding onto hands)

HOW TO AND OPTIONS:

I used a seed catalogue I had saved from a bye-gone growing season; once I removed the staples in the booklet, each page was long enough to cover the outside of the albums. The albums I happened to have been gifted have some plastic pages to house photos which are fused to one single long strip of plastic along the binding and could easily be removed. If yours can't be removed, they can be left in place. Certainly, do not pull them out if you can't think of a way you can reattach them! This project can be done with them in place.

1. I tore out the inside section along the binding that housed the photo pages and set aside to glue back in later.

2. I spread thinned craft glue (water + glue) with a paintbrush all over the entire outside (front, outer binding and back, almost making it lie flat). I then centered it over the section of the paper I wanted to "showcase" on the front. I used my fingers to smooth out some wrinkles (some remained on mine due to the thin newsprint used).

3. I trimmed the paper about 1/2 inch beyond the album around all sides.

4. I folded the overhang to the inside and glued it down, mitering the corners.

5. Set aside to let dry for a day.

6. Sprayed clear coat on outside of album (I used 3 coats, 10 minutes apart as directed on the can, then let dry 24 hours as directed on can).

7. Sprayed clear coat on inside of album just around edges of paper covering (only 2 coats here, let dry 24 hours again).

8. Cut paper for inside of album to line (I just used plain white card stock but I'm sure you could be much more creative). I used a glue gun to cover the back side of the card stock, then pressed it down. I used one piece for the inner front and one for the back, leaving the binding section bare so as not to impede the folding action of the album.

9. Using glue gun, spread glue over the section you ripped out that housed the photo pages, then press in place.

10. Fill with pictures (or words, or drawings or whatever your book is for), make a label for the outer spine and show off on you mantel (or hide it from prying little siblings if you are 15 and it's your diary).

This could go so many ways! Again, the idea was what do I have lying around that I can repurpose and make these not-so-me albums more ME? Now they fit in with our living room a bit more than they previously did and reflect our Craftsman style. Hmm, I might need to make a little gardening journal from scracth with the leftover seed catalogue pages for the outside cover and maybe some inner details....oh no, here we go again...