DIY Network

Make a Paper Memory Book From "DIY Crafts" episode DIC-158

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This beautiful keepsake memory book has pocket pages for storing treasures. Figure A Figure B Figure C Figure D Figure E Figure F Figure G Figure H

Debbie Stapley, host of Crafts & Company, shows how to make a keepsake memory book from handmade paper and paper bags.

Materials:

Handmade paper--two sheets cut 10 1/2" x 8"
Cardstock--two sheets cut slightly smaller than the handmade paper
1 1/4"-diameter closet dowel or half-round molding
Raffia
30 brown-paper lunch bags
Two 3" nails with heads
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Power drill
Safety glasses
Saw
Hammer
Single-hole paper punch
Masking tape

1. Cut two sheets of handmade paper for the front and back covers, each measuring 10 1/2" by 8". The edges may be cut straight with scissors or hand-torn for a softer look (figure A).

2. Cut two sheets of cardstock slightly smaller than the front and back covers. These will be placed next to the handmade-paper covers to add stability.

3. Measure a piece of 1 1/4" wood closet dowel 7" long. Saw the dowel in half lengthwise. Or cut two 7" pieces of half-round molding (figure B).

4. On one piece of wood, measure 1" from each end and mark with a pencil. Mark the center of the wood. Measure 1" from each side of the center, and mark with a pencil (figure C).

5. Place the closet dowel or half-round pieces together lengthwise, with flat sides touching. Wearing safety glasses, drill holes through both pieces at each of the markings. These wood pieces will become the binding for the book on the top and bottom. Hold the pieces together with a rubber band or masking tape so the corresponding holes will match perfectly when they're drilled (figure D).

6. To prepare brown-paper lunch bag pages to hold keepsakes in the memory book, measure 10" from the open end of a bag. Draw a line across the bag. Cut off the bottom of the bag. Repeat with 30 bags--or any number corresponding to the number of pages you want for the book (figure E).

7. Punch holes in the paper-bag pages, front and back handmade-paper covers and cardstock covers, lining up the holes with the drilled holes in the wood dowel binders. Use the dowel as a template to position the holes on the paper.

8. Assemble the book by placing a 3" nail through each of the outer drilled holes in one dowel binder. The nailhead should be on the rounded side of the wood--the front of the book. Stack the parts of the book in this order, threading the punched holes onto the two nails: the front cover of handmade paper, one piece of cardstock, then the paper-bag pages, the second piece of cardstock and the handmade-paper back cover. Place the back wooden-dowel binder onto the nails with the flat side facing the back cover (figure F).

9. Put on safety glasses, and hammer the ends of the nails toward the center of the dowel on the back, bending the nail tips over to hold the book together. Hammer the nail tips into the wood so they're smooth or slightly indented into the wood (figure G).

10. Tape the ends of three strands of raffia together with masking tape. Thread the raffia through the two center holes, and tie it in a bow (figure H).