Mini Picture Book Tutorial

When I saw Emily's darling post last week on making Your Own Kid Book, I knew just the thing to show everyone... Some place to put your finished doll pictures. This book is also great to put pictures of your family, or a group party, or event that you don't want to forget. What Grandma wouldn't just love to have a book like this filled with their grandkids to carry in their purse as their own Grandma Brag Book?

Items you need:

• 4 12X12 Sheets of Colorful Paper
• 1 Sheet of 8.5X11 Cardstock
• Chipboard- You can get chipboard a couple different ways. Your local scrapbooking store has lots of this and most give out for free. It comes in all their paper packs when they are shipped. Or you can use a cereal box and it works just as well. It is a little thinner but still does the job.
• Paper Cutter- If you don't have a paper cutter you can measure everything out with a ruler, draw lines and then cut with scissors. This works just as well but takes a little more time.

Make your Inside Pages

Cut out:

4- 7 ½ X 9 ½ Inch colored paper

4- 5 ¾ X7 ¾ Inch colored paper

4- 6X8 Chipboard

Take 1- 7 ½ X9 ½ colored piece of paper and lay it colored side facing down. Glue 1 side of your chipboard and lay the glued side to the middle of the back of your piece of paper.

Cut corners (see picture).

Flip your piece over and glue and fold down the colorful piece of paper onto the chipboard.

Take your 5 ¾ X 7 ¾ Inch colored piece and place it on top of the showing chipboard.

Now your chipboard should be completely covered and you have your first page.

Repeat the same steps to cover your remaining 3 pieces of chipboard.

Make your Front Cover and Back Cover
Cut out:

2- 8 ½ X 9 ½ Inch from the colored paper.

2- 7 ¾ X 8 ¾ Inch from colored paper.

2- 7 X 9 Inch chipboard

Cover your front and back cover the same way you covered your inside pages.

Assemble the Book
Cut out:

1- 7X6 Inch from colored paper. Outside Spine.

1- 11 X 6 Inch from cardstock. Inner Spine.

Take your 11 X 6 Inch piece of cardstock, and make 1 inch marks going down the 11 Inch long side.

Fold along your inch marks making a fan. Fold one way and the then the other (see picture.)

Take your front and back covers, and glue one to the top of your fan and the other to the back of your fan.

Insert your pages on each fan fold.

Take your 7 X 6 Inch binding strip and tear along the both 6 inch sides.

Turn your piece facing down and put glue on both 6 inch sides.

Taking your book, close it up and wrap your outer binding across the accordion inner binding. This will connect and hold your book together. You might want to play with how tight you want it to be.

Great job! You have now finished your darling Mini Book and it will be super easy to duplicate the next time you want to make one.

My little girl and I made a Doll Book and she hasn't put it down!