about shop patterns projects printables extras sponsorship wild olive twitter flickr pinterest subscribe

project: eco photo book

Eco Photo Book


Yesterday I shared a photo book that I found, and like when I just had to make my own needle book, I find myself doing the same with this. Instead of trying to cut sheets of wood and deal with leather (and most likely hurt myself...I've been a klutz lately), I went with a simpler version that pulls supplies from the recycling bin!

Eco Photo Book

Here's what you need:

Cereal boxes
Felt
String/twine/yarn/ribbon
Scissors
Craft glue
Hole punch
Pen/marker/pencil

Eco Photo Book

Cut the cereal boxes to the size you want your book to be. Mine are about half a cereal box, so I got four pages per box, but you could easily alter the size for a jumbo scrapbook or something on the miniature side.

I cut mine on a paper cutter for super straight edges.

Eco Photo Book

Punch two holes in one edge of each page. Be sure to mark them so that all of the holes line up. It's also a good idea to decide if you want the printed side to be right side up (even if it's on the back of a page), so that you punch them all going the same way.

Eco Photo Book

Stack all of your pages and tie string through to bind them together. To make it easier to open and look through your photo book, tie the string loosely as shown.

Eco Photo Book

Decorate the cover of your book however you like. I glued a small felt heart in the corner and wrote "Scraps!" in a style similar to my inspiration book. Your basic book is done, but now it's time to add photos or other fun things!

Eco Photo Book

Grab a photo and place it on the page where you want it, marking the corners. Mine is a little close to the edge...be sure to give yours enough space.

Eco Photo Book
Eco Photo Book

Cut four strips of felt, each about 3/8 x 1-1/4 inches. It's okay to eyeball it.

Glue the ends of each felt strip, then place them on the page over the corners that you marked. It's important that the glue is only at the ends of the strips so that you can insert the corners of your photo under these strips.

Alternately, if you don't want to ever remove your photos, you can glue the strips and photos in place all at the same time.


Eco Photo Book
Eco Photo Book

After the glue has completely dried, slip your photos into these corners, and they'll be held securely in place. On the sides of the pages with printing, it can be visually overwhelming to have a photo. Instead, use these areas to insert an index card so you can add some captions or journaling!

What's fun about a book like this is that you can have these felt photo corners hold cards and photos of any size. You could even take inspiration from Project Life and attach their cards onto these pages instead of using plastic sleeves. For a big project it would take longer, but it's a nice way to put together a little photo memory book as a gift!

PS: I'm sure that I was much happier in that photo than my face lets on. I LOVED playing with animals with my Papa!

5 comments:

  1. What a fun project and a great way to recycle.

    Vintagehoneybee.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fun idea! Love that photo of you when you're little!

    -Becca
    Ladyface Blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this idea! I especially love the photo corners and how you alternated between the print side of the cereal box and the plain side :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous1:29 AM

    The kids would love to this with me! Maybe we can do a photo album out of toy's boxes. We have kept a few around to build forts and such. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a great idea! Love that you recycle cereal boxes to make this!

    ReplyDelete

I often reply to comments in the comments...check back if you have a question!