With this project you can make your own personal portrait book or scrapbook.

Supplies:

• Cheap notebook – one of the back-to-school 5¢ deals
• Scrapbook paper or Material – for accents
• Photos – for memories
• Scissors – for cutting notebook back
• Double-Sided Tape or Glue – for attaching paper and pictures
• Ribbon (optional) – to keep book closed with a bow
• Stapler (optional) – for stapling ribbon onto book

Directions:

1. Cut out the backside of the notebook (it looks like thin cardboard) off the notebook. This is a type of chipboard, and will be used as the binding of the little book.
2. Cut a piece 10″ x 2″ from the chipboard notebook back.
3. Fold it back and forth 2″ at each fold, that way there are ten 2″ square pages (front and back).
4. Scrapbook on each little page. If you wish, you can leave one of the outer-facing ends for the book’s title.

Optional:

5. Cut a piece of ribbon that is long enough to wrap once around the book, and then tied in a pretty bow.
6. Staple ribbon down, on to one of the middle outer-folds. This will keep the ribbon in it’s place, but is still adjustable.

For this little portrait book, I left off the ribbon, and only finished one side. My reason for this is that it will sit open on my dresser.

These are my parents when they were young. My daddy is sitting on a bookshelf, legs crossed, smiling for the camera. The picture on the right is Momma, posing sweetly for her kindergarten school photo.

In the next fold of my book are two photos. On the left is of my daddy’s mother, and the other is of my momma’s mother, my granny.

I plan on making another one that will reside next to this one on my dresser. It will have both of my parents when they were young (with different photos), but the second fold will be of their fathers.

Categories: Family | Handmade | The Home | Vintage