By Jen Walker

I am going to show you how to make a quick mini album in an envelope. You can make it very simple or embellish it.

To get started, you will need:

• 1 sheets of 12×12 cardstock for the envelope
• 1 or more sheets of cardstock for the mini album
• (1)a stapler or (2)hole punch and ribbon or (3) needle and embroidery floss
• a small sticker or embellishment (about 2×2 or smaller)

Choose which cardstock will be for the envelope.

Here is a template that gives you an idea of the cuts and folds we will be making to create the envelope.

The cardstock to be used for the envelope needs to be creased every 4 inches in both directions with the folds going towards the inside (wrong side) of the envelope. The red will be the outside of the envelope.

Once you have all the folds done, you need to remove the corner pieces.

Next you will need to make the page into an envelope. To do this, there are a few cuts you need to make.

Before you start to make these cuts, be sure to lightly label one flap as A so that you are sure you are making the cuts in the correct places.

The first cut is to flap D. You need to remove 1/2 inch off the edge so that when you fold it inside the envelope it still closes flat.

The next cut is to flap E to make the closure for the envelope. Cut 2 inches off the flap and then mark the centre point of the remaining rectangle. Draw a line to the corner of that flap to create a triangle.

On flap A, you will now need to create a slit for the triangle on flap E to tuck into. Flip the cardstock over and fold A down and E up.

About 1 inch up from the bottom edge of flap A, you will want to mark a point on either side of flap E to show where you will need to cut a slit. The slit should be about 1/4 inch wider than the flap E at both sides. Draw a line and then cut the slit.

This is where the flap E will tuck into for closing the envelope

You will now need to cut a piece of cardstock to 3.5x.3.5 inches. This piece will be adhered to flap A to hide the slit and flap E when it is closed.

When you attach this piece, be sure not to put the adhesive all the way around or you will not be able to tuck in flap E for closure.

Once you have adhered this piece, decorate it. This will be the cover of your envelope.

This is a good time to decorate the other side of the envelope as well (flap C) if you are going to use brads or eyelets or anything else that goes through the cardstock.

Here is the other side of the envelope. The picture turned out terrible. Sorry.

You are now ready to create the mini album. The pages of the mini album at 3.5×7 inches. You can use up to about 6 pages for your mini album, but if you put more than that, the envelope will be a struggle to keep closed.

I chose to secure the album using staples. You can also use a hole punch on the edge with a ribbon tie, or you can hand stitch the pages together to make the album.

The mini album will now be attached to the inside of flap C.

Your envelope is now completed. You can close it by folding flap D, then B, then A and tucking E under the hiding cardstock.

You will need:

• 1 piece of felt (more if you would like to use some to embellish your album)
• A double sleeve photo album
• Sewing machine
• Embroidery floss
• Pattern paper, embellishments, buttons etc.
• Photos

Step One:

You will need to cut a few pages out of your photo album. It won’t ruin your album if you just cut them out with your exacto knife. I used three and I find that it worked really well. You can add more if you wish. It’s really important that the pages of your photo album look like this with one photo sleeve on top and one on the bottom, because you will fold it over to make your album. These photo sleeves will become the page protectors for your album.

Further explanation: You need to take a few pages from a photo album (The ones where you slip the photos into the plastic sleeves) to use as the page protectors for your album. I think you can pick these little photo albums up at the dollar store if you don’t want to cut one out of one of your albums. I just had one on hand so I took a few pages out of it. Just using your exacto knife you just cut the pages out the same way you would if you were taking a page out of a magazine, just an example.

Step Two:

Lay your page protectors over a piece of felt. Leaving about 1cm of an edge around your entire page protector sheet. Trace and cut.

Step Three:

Secure the felt and page protectors together with paper clips. This will keep your album from moving around while you sew it.

Step Four:

Using a sewing machine, sew a straight line down the spine of your book. I went over mine a couple of times for extra support.

Step Five:

Trim off any stray threads. Now your book is ready to embellish any way you wish. This is the fun part!!

I chose to stitch around the edge of my book by hand, just to give the edge a more finished look.

Then I cut a circle from felt using a different color. I attached it with a little bit of adhesive (to hold it still) Then I hand stitched around the circle.

The rhinestone monogram I used is an iron on.

Now you can fill your book! Either with just photos, or by making 4×6 size layouts.

By Melissa

*Originally posted January 2007