{me}anderings . . .: christmas mini: the directions

available on ETSY

Cover: Cut all three sheets of 12x12 cardstock and all three sheets of 12x12 patterned paper to 4x6 inches. You will get six pieces from each sheet. Lightly sand uneven edges from the two 4x6 chipboard pieces. Cover the one side of each piece of chipboard with the red dotted cardstock. Cover the other sides of the chipboard with a patterned paper of your choice. Punch several 3/4 inch circles from the three different mini paper patterns. Adhere these randomly to the dots on the front cover as shown. Also adhere the small chipboard Santa button as shown. Attach the long label sticker to the bottom right side of the front cover. Cut off the excess and adhere it underneath as shown. Use the alpha stickers to make your title on the label stickers. Glue the rhinestone to the center of the lacey black button then attach the button with glue dots. The covers are now done.

Lightly sand the green cardstock pieces so the embossed letters show more clearly. For this tabbed page you will need the journaling card with the school children on it. Trace the label section on the interior of this journaling card onto vellum. Cut the shape from vellum to use as a pattern. Trace this pattern onto the green mini paper and cut it out. Adhere it to the journaling card as shown, then staple on a large chipboard poinsettia button and add your title. Ths page is now finished.

Randomly place more of the punched circles to another piece of the red dotted cardstock. Wrap a piece of the baker's twine twice around the coin envelope. Punch a tiny hole in a Dear Santa ticket, then string the ticket to one side of the twine and the small chipboard poinsettia button to the other and tie the twine in a bow. Adhere the coin envelope to the page as shown. Fold a Santa ticket in half and staple it to the edge of the paper like a tab. This page is now done. You can keep letters to Santa in the coin envelope. To make more pages for your mini-album simply adhere 4x6 photos to the backs of the patterned paper, then embellish the fronts with journaling cards, label stickers, alpha stickers, tickets, and buttons.

Add more of the patterned paper circles to another piece of the red dotted cardstock. Cover the front of the manilla tag with green patterned paper. Staple the large chipboard Santa button to the center of the diecut star and adhere to the tag. Add a small label sticker and red button to the tag. Staple the string in a circle at the top of the tag and attach it to the page. Add a large chipboard poinsettia button to the side for a tab. This page is now complete.

Cut the slide mount in half. Cover the fronts of both with patterned paper. Adhere one to the diecut house as shown. You can save the other to use on another page. Tie a bow in the small birdies chipboard button and attach it to the slide mount with glue dots. Randomly adhere more small circles to another piece of the red dotted cardstock. Fold a Dear Santa ticket in half and staple to the side as a tab. This page is now complete.

Trim a half inch off the bottom of the white envelope. You can lightly mist it if you'd like. Cover the flap with patterned paper. Adhere the envelope to a piece of red dotted cardstock. Fold the book binding tape over the bottom edge to reseal that side of the envelope. Add a 1/8 inch strip of patterned paper over top of the book binding tape. Tie a bow out of baker's twine in the large Christmas Greetings button and glue dot it to the envelope as shown. Fold a green ticket in half and staple it to the edge as a tab. Add an alpha title. This page is now complete.

I used the envelope to house my Christmas letters. I also cut down my Christmas cards and photos to 4x6 and adhered them to the backs of the patterned papers. I covered the fronts of the patterned papers with my leftover embellishments and smaller photos.

You can also lightly swipe red and green ink pads over the pieces cream embossed cardstock to allow the design to shine through.

When all your pages are finished, use a hole punch (or a Cropodile is better) to punch through the front cover. Make two equally spaced holes. Be careful not to punch them too close to the edge. Use the cover holes as a template to punch all the other pages so they will all be aligned.

Tie bows on the two book rings. Sew a black button to the center of each bow with the baker's twine. Tie the twine behind the button and then cut it short so the knot does not show.

String all your pages on the book rings, add photos journaling and embellishments to your pages and you're finished!

Comments

Doris - this is so delightful. I have been brainstorming today trying to think of a way to make some things to sell on Etsy. Glad to see you are successful at something you are so talented at!

Posted by: Tracie Claiborne | November 05, 2010 at 11:00 PM