I am here to share a quick project that I made with all of the cards that we recieved for baby showers and at Lucy's arrival. This project could be used for any type of card, including holiday cards, but I think it works best with baby cards. You get so many, and they are all very cute!
I apologize in advance for my lack of in-progress photos. I worked on this little by little during a few of Lucy's naps, and not always when there was enough light for pictures. The good thing, though, is that this is very, very easy.
Materials:
-Several cards AND envelopes. Having cards of various widths and sizes makes the book more interesting.
-Scrap cardboard for the front and back covers
-Pretty ribbon and pretty alphabet stickers
-Washi tape and strong glue
-Two 12x12 scrapbook papers (or any pretty paper)
Here's how:
-Organize cards by size. Work with the largest cards first. I used the envelopes as the base and started attaching the cards with the washi tape, one card to each side of the envelope and another to the envelope flap. Eventually you can use glue to permanently attach them, but it's nice to use something repositional until you get the book how you like
-Continue using envelopes and large cards until they are all used up and taped together. Some cards will open to the left (opening facing into the book "binding") and some will open to the right. I was totally okay with this. (If you want all the cards facing out, then you will be taping or gluing over the super cute front of the card. That's just not okay.)
-I started gluing medium sized cards to the blank side of the larger, open cards. (Make sense?)
-Then I used the smallest cards to fill in even more little gaps. Now when I open the book, there are usually several cards to open on each "page." I really like that several of the cards stick out a little, and open horizontally instead of vertically. This book is really awesome and I hope Lucy likes to look through it someday.
-Now it's time to make the cover. Cut two pieces of cardboard to fit the largest cards.
-To make the front cover, simply cover the cardboard with pretty paper. I cut the paper slightly larger than the cardboard and simply wrapped it like I would a Christmas present, folding and gluing it to the inside of the front cover. Then attach it to the front of the book that you have already made from your stack of cards.
-The back cover is a little more complicated, because the paper that covers it will wrap around the front to create the binding for the book. I kept the paper nice and long (12 inches) and after "wrapping" the cover on three sides, I glued the back cover to the back of the envelope that was the last page. Then I folded the scrapbook paper around to the front cover, and trimmed it to size.
-Glueing the binding onto the front cover will complete your book! Wrap it with a pretty pink bow to keep it nice and closed, and embellish with some pretty alphabet stickers.
This is a pretty quick project and I love the result! Now the mountains of pretty cards that may have been destined for the trash bin, have a lovely place to live. It's not a fancy or polished project, but it's really fun! I hope this may inspire a fellow mama who wants a way to save those cute baby cards. Thanks for looking!
