MINI ALBUM MANIA! I so love the mini album. Maybe it is because I know I can complete them! There are so many great ones out there from many different companies like 7 gypsies, Rusty Pickle, Maya Road, Page Frames, Making Memories, D. Reeves Acrylic Albums, Bo Bunny, Creative Imaginations, and the list goes on and on. I have some sitting on my shelves waiting to be fill.
However, I also LOVE to make them from unusual stuff. To me it is like my own little personal challenge.....what can I find to turn into a mini. I browse through all parts of a department store, especially the clearance section. The cool thing is I think the most I paid for any one item below was $3.00. The placemats I found on clearance at Target for $.48. Awesome. So I am going to show you how I went from these Household items....
to these mini albums.....
First is the tools you may need. You will need sharp scissors or a craft knife. You could also use a strong trimmer. A hole punch. I have the Crop-a-Dile which cuts through almost anything with such ease. I highly recommend it! Binder Rings are optional.
The great thing with homemade albums is you can make them any shape or size you want. The possibilities are endless. Here I took my vinyl place mat and turned it into a 5x5 mini album. I rounded the corners using my scissors. Two holes for my binder rings and it was done. The red placemat is a 6x8 album. I added a cute polka-dot envelop to the front with a crochet flower I picked up at a craft store. So I went from this:
to this:
These plastic canvases are commonly made into other crafts using yarn. I saw them and immediately thought about weaving ribbon through them. They come in a variety of colors too. I paid $.39 for the colored ones. The clear one was even cheaper. So I went from these:
To these:
I stumbled across these Foam CD Cases in the kid art section. They were so bright and so much fun. They were begging to be altered. The interior is the shape of a CD so I can't wait to add circle photographs inside. This will be for my daughter, filled with pictures of her & her friends.
These notebooks were found in the school section at Target. I immediately fell in love with them! So I took the white one and cut it at the pocket. I stitched up the three sides and added just one hole in the right corner. I then cut my pattern paper to fit inside the pocket with matching holes in the corner. I added the binderclips and all those fun ribbons. That Skull I found in the automotive section at Target.
This one is my favorite. I took Artist Canvas board (not the wood frame canvas...too hard to punch holed through that). It was a 3 pack of 6x8 canvas board. I painted with a nice beige acrylic paint. I went a little crazy with the rub-ons. Add some embellishments and called it complete.
I have also made some mini albums out of:
- cardboard boxes (the kind they send your scrap supplies in)
- notebook dividers
- acrylic from the Home Improvement store
I hope this inspires you to see the FULL potential of NON scrapping items and see the mini album waiting to be created. Here are some other things you can consider: Cereal boxes, Photo Mats, gift boxes, index cards, Pop (Soda) boxes, etc. I would love to see your creations!
Remember your FULL projects are due Friday, Nov. 23rd at midnight Mountain time (-7 GMT). Link them to the post below.
these are fantastic ideas!
Posted by: Ali | November 20, 2007 at 10:00 PM
These are such wonderful ideas! I can't wait to cut into some household items and get crazy. Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by: Rachel Ricks | November 20, 2007 at 10:50 PM
Ronda what KILLER ideas! Thanks soo much for sharing!
Posted by: Amy | November 20, 2007 at 11:25 PM
I love mini albums! These are so darn cute! Great inspiration! I ordered a Bind It all yesterday.. can't wait!
Posted by: Andi Sexton (RrlScrapGal) | November 21, 2007 at 07:19 AM
The things you showed us are totally awesome...I love how you turn regular things into original scrapbooks...Your still a great inspiration to me, so keep up the good work. xxx Wendy.
Posted by: Wendy | November 21, 2007 at 08:02 AM
How great is that, you make me want to run to the store and buy some placemats and make a mini album from them. Thanks for all the great inspiration and ideas on making things a little more interesting!
Posted by: Cathy D | November 21, 2007 at 09:06 AM
Love these Ronda!
Posted by: Lynn | November 21, 2007 at 09:16 AM
LOVE all these ideas! Thanks for inspiring me!! :)
Posted by: Melissa | November 21, 2007 at 12:21 PM
Fantastic ideas! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Maricarmen Maza | November 21, 2007 at 01:43 PM
Awesome albums Ronda!!!...Thanks a bunch for sharing your amazing ideas :)
Posted by: Rhonda :) | November 21, 2007 at 06:02 PM
these are fabulous!
i love cutting up those foam table mats too!
my hubby did a layout a while back using an orange table mat for a masculine basketball page.
thanks for the inspiration!
lusi x
Posted by: Lusi Austin | November 21, 2007 at 08:05 PM
These so rock! I'm on vacation and away from my scrappy supplies (and non scrappy supplies!) so I won't be able to do these now, but I will try some later. I especially LOVE the woven placemats! Brillant!
Posted by: MichelleStrach | November 21, 2007 at 09:12 PM
OMG you arre totally a mini album Queen. I just got into these myself, using basic chipboard albums,,,,, but WOW these are awesome.
Posted by: carla | November 22, 2007 at 08:50 AM
awesome!!!!!!!! wonderful ideaS!!!!!
Posted by: katey | November 22, 2007 at 07:11 PM
OK, totally LOVING the artist canvas board album.... now, to think of someone I can make that for!! :) I think I may even have some of that canvas board in my stash! Oh, thank you, thank you for the inspiration :)
Posted by: Poconos Scrapnut | November 23, 2007 at 09:40 AM
It really looks delicious!!
Tessa
Posted by: Tessa Tegendraads | November 23, 2007 at 11:31 AM
I love these ideas!
Posted by: Tiffany | November 23, 2007 at 06:18 PM
oh la la all of those are great!!!
Posted by: sharron | November 24, 2007 at 06:10 PM
WOW WOW WOW! How cool is this! So much inspiration, no FULL of inspiration ;) I love it, I have to scraplift these cute ideas!! I am also constantly on the lookout for supplies I can turn into scrappbookgoodies. Love this!
Posted by: Judith | November 25, 2007 at 06:37 AM
What awesome ideas! Very inspiring. I can't wait to get of that plastic and play.
Posted by: Becca | November 25, 2007 at 12:10 PM
hi! I just love what u did with the plastic canvas....i wanna do that too :-) but i cant find plastic canvas here in sweden
Posted by: Lone from sweden | November 26, 2007 at 05:42 AM
Love these ideas--did you get the foam CD cases at Target? If not where?
Posted by: KJ | November 26, 2007 at 02:26 PM
Hello!
I just found your AMAZING web site and these super cool ideas for mini albums out of non-traditional supplies- I LOVE LOVE LOVE 'em!
Thanks so much for sharing these- I'm too late for the "challenge" but I'll be using some of these terrific supplies for holiday gifts!
Thank you thank you!
So happy to have found the site!
love from Vegas!
Posted by: gabbe | November 27, 2007 at 09:52 AM
These are unbelievably WOW!!!!
Posted by: Patricia | November 28, 2007 at 04:58 PM
Great ideas...I am new to scrapbooking and am a bit turned off by "needing to buy" ALL this stuff. Your ideas are great and "green"...thanks for thinking outside the box!
Posted by: jmbmommy | December 02, 2007 at 10:00 PM