Tuesday Tutorial with France Wisniewski: Page Protector Mini Book

One of my favorite things about making mini albums is coming up with fun new ways to bind them and use my product all at once. For this book I wanted to find a way to use the millions of 3" x 4" page protectors I have lying around as well as some of my favorite bits and pieces from the Citrus Twist July “Driftwood” Scrapbook Kit. 

I began by cutting down some 6" x 8" page protectors so they measured approximately 3" x 6." I trimmed off the edge and then trimmed it in half so that I would end up with pockets measuring 3" x 3" side-by-side.

Here are the rest of the items I used to construct my book. A strong adhesive and a bone folder were the most useful. I trimmed my covers so that they measured 3.125" x 6.75." I then backed my patterned paper covers with plain white cardstock to make them more sturdy. Using the same white cardstock, I cut a piece measuring 3.125" x 8" and proceeded to score it all the way across at .05" intervals. This created the accordion you see below. As you can see, I placed my adhesive on the right side of each dip in the accordion fold. Since I was only using 4 page protectors I only added as much adhesive as I would need. How much you use depends on the amount of pages you wish to include.

Once you have created the accordion strip that will become your binding, begin to adhere your pages (in this case, your page protectors) in each dip in the fold on the right side. Don’t worry about the fact that at this point it doesn’t really seem like pages. 

Once you have added your pages to the front, flip over to the back and add adhesive directly behind each one of your pages taking care to leave the first flap and the last two folds blank. You will then pinch the back folds adhering them together. This forms your pages. You will probably have a few folds at the end which you will soon trim off leaving one extra fold at the end for adhering your back cover.

Now that your folds are adhered together and you have created actual pages. You can add your patterned paper to the front and back flaps.

If you have any trouble with these instructions, there are several good videos on YouTube demonstrating accordion fold binding techniques.

My album is now complete and ready to be filled with things that make me smile. Here’s a look at the inside:

I certainly hope you give this little album a try, especially if you have some extra page protectors lying around and want a fun way to use them up.

France