Memory Book- paper bag album

Memory Book 

Hi from Iowa! 

Today I'm sharing a project that I started when my niece came to visit. She so enjoyed leafing through my daughters two albums, that I thought it important for her to have her own. & what better theme than her trip to visit us! 

I used recycled items for the base of the book - paper bags from liquor and wine we have purchased, and the spine/cover is an old cardboard box covered in basic card stock held together with white duct tape. I'm so shocked how well this worked& how cute the cover/spine turned out! 

Next time I'll be a bit more careful to keep the spine looking nice when I cover it in tape, though I still think it turned out well.  I had thought I would be covering it. then decided it looked fun& sort of rustic, like a lost library book that you discovered. 

I made each page larger, starting at a 5' inch page (5x5) and ending with one that is 6.5' inches (5x6.5) so that each page is a half inch larger than the last giving it a tiered look.

In the front I placed a piece of folded manilla cardstock & a library card so it would mimic a real library book. I wish I had one of the stamps that said, "this book belongs to:" ... it would have been a cute addition. 

Here you can see the ascending pages as well as the first page, which I decorated with a k&company tag& her name using Lawn Fawn's alphabet stamp& another smaller stamp set that was given to me ( i do not know who makes it). 

Another look at the first page& inside cover. 

Insert side 1

These are inserts that I have added into the pockets on the bags. I've made 2 so far& plan on adding the remaining 2 once I scrounge up some fun memento's from the trip. (zoo map etc). 

Insert side 2

Next I did a page about Lunch since I had this cute picture of Brea with a pb&j face. 

Insert side 1: On this I used plain cardstock with My Favorite Tape washi tape . 

Insert side 2: Cardstock: Basic Grey

This insert isn't finished, but will be a great place for more photos etc. 

The journaling pulls out from a vintage picture I took from a catholic school book that was given to me. I just adore the drawings they included in the lessons of the book. Great for that :library book feel: I wanted it to have. 

Here is a layout I did based on all the swimming they did. It is summer& quite hot so of course they were in the pool a lot. 

For her album, I tried to focus on making it interactive, too. Brea is only 2.5yrs old and really enjoys manipulating & finding surprises. MFT Washi Tape in teal stripes& orange stripes + black polka dotted tape from 

Other half of our swim page. My picstitch layouts help me create different sized photos rather than having all of them be 4x4. At times I like to cut them up, but you can also see where I've adhered the collage  4x4 to the page (for example- the page inserts).

This page is all about the silly things they  do. They like to take blankets and scarves to make into dresses etc. 

&a rare but wonderfully quiet moment between these two nuts. 

Final Page- Flip Book of our Zoo Trip.

Holds 9 Photos of animals/attractions at the zoo.  To make the pages I took 2 4x4 instagram photos and between them I sandwiched a tab of cardstock that I had added a bend to. 

The End.