Mini Scrapbook Albums to brag about

Have you ever thought of creating mini scrapbook albums?

Maybe a full sized album is a bit intimidating, especially if you are a beginner? Mini scrapbooks are quick to make, don't need as many photographs. They give you an opportunity to make use of your smaller scraps of paper, that are too precious to throw away but not big enough for a full sized page.

What's more, mini scrapbook albums are portable! They are easy to carry in your handbag or purse and take out and show your friends when you are out and about. If like me, you are a grandparent, don't you just want to brag about your grandchildren whenever you get the opportunity?

If your own children are still small, and you work outside the home, the photos on the pages of your mini scrapbooks will bring a smile to your face every time you look at them, and remind you of the reason you are working!

Mini albums make wonderful gifts. They don't always have to feature babies and young children, of course. You could make one for a special someone in your life, maybe telling the story of your relationship from when you first met, up to the present day.

Want to learn how to make mini scrapbook albums? Check out an example I created from a child's board book, as a gift for my brother and his wife.

Mini Scrapbook albums - sizes

Whereas a full sized scrapbook tends to be 12 x 12 inches square, a mini scrapbook can be 8 x 8, 6 x 6 or even smaller. They also tend to have fewer pages than a traditional album. Often they are created around a theme, or event, and tell the story within their pages.

You can buy a pre-made album or create your own from scratch. There are so many different ways of putting pages together to form these tiny books - some options include accordion books, flag books, tag books, pouches or envelopes, paper bag scrapbooks and many more.

For really small pages one photo is enough. You can crop, or cut down, a larger photo to fit, but it is also possible to scan the photo into your computer and then print it at the required size.

Mini scrapbook supplies

Covers and bindings

You can really go to town when creating the covers for your albums. They can be made from card stock, chipboard, acrylic sheets, even fun foam!

The covers can be made slightly larger than the internal pages, so as to give them a little extra protection.

You can bind the pages together in a number of ways. Perhaps the simplest is to punch holes and thread something through such as ribbon, D rings, wire or fibre. The holes can be protected from wear by using eyelets.

The pages inside can be removable, so they can be rearranged, or stuck permanently to the covers depending on the type of mini scrapbook albums you are making.

Papers

Ensure that any patterned papers you use in your mini albums are not overpowering. You are looking for narrow stripes, tiny dots, mini flowers or motifs, along with small scale plaids and ginghams.

If you don't have papers like these, then consider making your own.

You could use inks or paints to stamp patterns onto your papers. For baby pages I love this tiny hand print rubber stamp and this set of clear acrylic stamps is exceptionally good value and includes some tiny borders which would be perfect for mini pages.

In a similar way you could use an embossing brass stencil (such as this pretty floral) and a stiff brush dipped in paint or ink to add decoration to your papers.

For a free-style effect you could also use sponge dipped in paint or ink of different colours to design your own abstract patterns.

If you have tiny paper punches, such as this Teeny Tiny Cassette Punch set you could punch a variety of shapes and then adhere them to your backing paper, in either a random or uniform way, to create texture, in addition to a pattern.

Talking of texture, you can of course emboss your papers either by hand or with an embossing machine. Again choose a pattern of a suitable size for this.

Don't forget you can layer your papers, using plain and patterned or embossed, perhaps with a torn edge. If some of your papers are too bright or garish, consider toning them down by using a velum over the top.

You could also use perforated paper, as long as the holes are not too big. The kind designed for cross stitch is ideal and comes in a variety of colours.

Embellishments

To keep things in proportion it is best to also use small scale embellishments. If your book is really small a good pair of precision tip tweezers will come in handy here to pick up the embellishments easily!

You can make your own embellishments from many types of material. For example there is a special Ink Jet Shrink Film onto which you can print pictures which are then baked in the oven, at which point they shrink to 20% of their original size.

Narrow ribbons and fibres can also be used in your mini scrapbook albums to add a touch of texture, as can fabric (again with a small print), fine wire, rhinestones and small buttons.