Wednesday, October 19, 2011

...School Picture Keepsake Album...

The girls have been back to school less than two months and already they've had their school pictures taken.  Our school system has some sort of deal worked out with the photographer because they return in the spring for another session of school pictures...obviously to take advantage of those parents with way more disposable income than the average Joe Schmo (like me).  With that said, we get two opportunities to amass a collection of wallet size photos, and I don't know about you, but no matter what package you purchase you're always left with more 'wallets' than you can get rid of.  Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of the school picture.  It's nice to look back on them (and wonder what you were thinking), but let's be honest, they're usually scattered about here, there and everywhere.

So, I decided to create a little keepsake album for each of my girls where all their wallet size school pictures can live...orderly and in one place, and I used something you can find in your local office supply store...coin envelopes and shipping tags.

Unfortunately, the coin envelopes I happened to have on hand were too small, so I created a template by opening one up and tracing it just a bit bigger onto regular card stock.

It adds a little extra work having to make your own envelopes, but you can also create them using your favorite papers. 
Once you've traced and cut, you can glue them together...leaving the top open.

The first thing you want to do when preparing to assemble is to fold the top flap back (as shown in the top two envelopes. 
Then you're going to apply glue to the top flap of one and place it on the open side of another so that you're in essence sealing it closed (the following photos show the process).
The last envelope will be your cover so keep that in mind during assembly.
Now it's time to add the slits that will become the pockets for your shipping tags.  The tags are for any journaling you want to add for each photo such as date, grade, or teacher name.
I chose to place them on the sides of each page...towards the bottom.
In my original album (photo below), I cut the slits at the bottom of each page, and although I thought it was cute, it wasn't easy to stand up.  Where you want to place your tags is completely up to you.
I used standard shipping tags for my album, but it really doesn't matter what size you use as long as you cut a slit large enough to hold your chosen tag.

Now the fun begins...embellishing!
I embellished just along the edges of each page so that I had room for the photos.
I stamped each tag and added a bit of ribbon on the ends, but you could add any sort of embellishment you want.
The entire album measures approximately 3.25"x3.75" and holds a wallet size school photo perfectly.

A cute little keepsake album that organizes all those wallet size school pictures...and it utilizes standard office supplies.  What's not to love?

I'd love to see your take on this project.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I've inspired you to create!

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