"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before." President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Friday, April 3, 2009

Cheap chipboard albums

The other day I over heard this great idea to buy used board books and turn them into mini albums or scrapbooks. So I took a trip to our local DI and found these children's board books in great condition (no chewed up edges) for $0.25 a book. WOW! Why had I not done this before?! SO much cheaper then the expensive stuff at the scrapbook store. And look at the finished project...you wouldn't even know that there are dinosaurs under there!!

You will want to take the binding off with a very sharp knife. This is a great way to use up a lot of those scraps of paper that were to cute to throw away but to small for a larger page.

I like to use craft bond rather then mod podge for these just for the less wrinkling and you don't have to wait for them to dry.

I then take my Crop-A-Dile and add jumbo eyelets, thread ribbon through all the holes to hold the album together and look.....



a very cute and inexpensive way to reuse something old or just create something new.


Now I just have to get pictures developed, add them to these and make it a real album!




13 comments:

Busy Minnesota Mama said...

What a great blog with so many wonderful ideas. Unfortunately, when my 2 little ones nap, I do too ;) That's what happens when you have more kids in your mid 40s. I need to tell you that you have been "surfed" Drop by my blog to see what that means. To see my kiddos, go to my family blog www.nevertoomany.blogspot.com
~verna

Clemencia said...

these albums are awesome, thanks for sharing

amy & lisa said...

This is such a good idea! I do alot of scrapbooking...well, I like to THINK I do. :)
I do love mini books.
Love your blog....so fun, neat ideas. I'll be back.
Lisa

Rowberry Family said...

What a great Idea, Who would have even thought to do that! Great Job Becca!

Amanda said...

I love them!!! So great! I don't have all those special tools though....

Lana said...

What a terrfic idea!!!!!!!

Rachel said...

Oh, I love this! My kids are outgrowing their many board books - looks like I've found their second life! Thanks :)

Anonymous said...

This was such a great idea! I made one first thing this morning for my daughter's teacher and it was super easy and turned out really cute! Thanks for the idea!

Amy Jo said...

I've never seen this idea before, but I'll give it a try soon. I've got tons of board books like this at home; I'm sure I could take a few without my kids noticing. I've never used the crodile thing or eyelets before....will take a look for them.

Susan said...

These are adorable. Did you cut them apart at the spine so that they eyelets were holding them together...or are the eyelets purely decorative. If you did cut them apart...how did you do that?

Tasha said...

I've been looking for something to make for family for Christmas that our poor budget could afford. This is PERFECT! I can customize it in so many ways! Thanks for sharing such a good idea!

Anonymous said...

these are WAY TOO CUTE!!! I have tons of scrapbook papers that I prob will never use and this is a great way to use it up.
thanks for the tutorial!!!

Kristy said...

I found your post when I was looking for ideas for a journal I was making for a high school friend's graduation gift - it worked wonderfully. Thanks for the inspiration!

I posted about the journal I created (and linked back to your post) here:
http://slidingdownthestairs.blogspot.com/2010/06/kristins-journal.html