The Scrapped Book

I visited Hello Lovely (btw - such a great blog!) the other day and read Michele's post, Its Complicated [Fall Inspiration] and fell in love with the stacked books that you will find scattered throughout the house - très chic! Which had me thinking about an idea I saw a good friend do a few years ago, and that was finding a book with a cool title, then ripping pages, adding scrapbook paper, and inserting photos...

I am not a scrapbook-er, REPEAT, I cannot scrapbook to save my life and have given up years ago after many, many failed attempts. However, I like to have easy access to photos and I love the idea of picture albums and scrapbooks. I love journals, memorabilia, recipes, inspiration notebooks AND I love the look of a real book. There is definitely an organic feel that a bound book can offer, you know? It would be neat to have books around my house with spunky titles and easy enjoyment for the eyes.

So here's a quick ans simple tutorial for these "scrapped books"...

Materials:

• cheap book
• decorative/scrapbook paper
• scissors
• glue stick, acid free

1. Go to the Dollar store, find a book with a fun title, and neat cover/binding details. Sometimes you have to remove the paper cover/sleeve and check out what's underneath.

May I add, stay away from classic titles or vintage books, it would be like swearing at church. Classics should be read and cherished and vintage books are rare and one of a kind! Put the razor down and find a new book.

2. Rip out pages! I use an Exacto knife and open the open and cut along the inside crease. I take out about 4-6 pages, leave 2 pages, remove 4-6 pages, leave 2 pages, and repeat, repeat, repeat through the rest of the book. Save that paper. There are a lot of crafts you can find online to use the papers you are taking out - waste not! The book will start to look really empty but that's okay, remember that you are filling it back up with goodies!

3. The 2 pages you left, glue them together. This will help stabilize the pages.

4. Measure and cut your scrapbook paper to almost match the surface you will be gluing to... so, if the page is 5" (width) by 7" (height), I would measure 4 3/5" (width) by 7" (height). If you don't, the pages kind of fight with each other in the cracks. This was the annoying part... lot's and lot's of cutting.

5. Glue. Apply adhesive all over the book page and the back of your decorative paper and attach together. Do that to each side of the pages you made in your book.

 6. Put stuff in your book! Originally for photos, this could also make a great journal, book to hold recipes, your favorite thoughts, a source to keep inspiration in one place,

[ I just glue photos inside, no stickers, no tags or other scrapbook stuff, JUST photos.
But if you are the very talented veteran scrapbook-er then PLEASE have fun with it! :) ]

or a great way to store all those announcements and Christmas letters and photos.

It won't look perfect and there will be some mess ups and learning experiences along the way but that's what makes it so real, unique, and lived. Out of all the years I have been creating stuff, most people - MOST people- won't notice the flaws until you point them out. So have fun with it and be kind to yourself!