| Gift Wrap Book (Web Exclusive) |
From "Scrapbooking"
episode SCB-216 |
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Don't toss that fabulous gift wrap from your last birthday party. Use it to cover a birthday album that will commemorate the event. Embellish the cover with a birthday hat made of bright paper and leftover ribbon and raffia, then fill the album with your happiest photos. You could even try making a pop-up photo. With our instructions and templates, it's easier than it looks! The best pictures for scrapbooking are, of course, your very own favorites. I used three special birthday photos of my daughters, now beautiful and challenging teenagers, on the following birthday pages. I couldn't resist creating a pop-up from a photo that was a sweet reminder of what cute little big-eyed cake eaters they used to be. Gift-Wrapped Scrapbook Cover Save good-sized pieces of unwrinkled gift wrap from large presents for your gift wrapped scrapbook cover. If the wrapping paper is a bit wrinkled, you might want to try pressing the wrinkles out. Set the iron on medium, and use a piece of white tissue paper or fine cotton fabric for a pressing cloth. A post bound album or similar type of scrapbook that disassembles easily is a good choice for this type of project. Cover only the front with decorative paper, or both the front and back. Click here for a printable template for the featured Gift-wrapped Cover Design. Materials: Post bound photo album or scrapbook
Birthday gift wrap
Birthday hat template
Colorful cardstock or complementary birthday wrap for hat cutout
Leftover ribbon or raffia for hat pompom
Cord for hat chinstrap, about 9" long
A piece of 8-1/2 " x 11" cardstock for the inside of each cover
Scissors
Glue stick or mounting adhesive sheets
Adhesive tape
Darning needle or small hole punch
Foam dots - Disassemble the post-bound album following the directions included with the album. Set aside the posts that hold the album together.
- Cut a piece of gift wrap for each cover, about two inches larger than the cover all the way around.
- Place the gift wrap face down on your work surface. Apply glue stick or mounting adhesive to the front of the cover. Center the sticky side of the cover on the gift wrap, turn the cover face up, and carefully smooth the gift wrap in place, starting from the center and moving to the outside edges. Turn the cover over and fold and glue the excess paper to the inside of the cover, taking care to make smooth corners. For a less permanent bond, simply wrap the cover as you would a gift, and use adhesive tape to hold in place.
- Follow the same process for the back cover. Attach a piece of cardstock to the inside of each cover for a finished look.
- Use the birthday hat template to trace the pattern on cardstock or complementary gift wrap, then cut out.
- Make a simple pompom for the hat with a handful of ribbon and raffia scraps. Gather the ends and hold together with a piece of tape. Trim the pompom to a length of about three inches, and then tape to the top of the hat, on the inside.
- Use a darning needle to poke a small hole in the hat for the chinstrap, as shown on the hat template.
- Knot one end of the chinstrap cord, and loop it through the chinstrap hole from the inside. The knot should keep the cord from coming through the hole. Attach the other end of the strap to the underside of the hat on the opposite side.
- Use foam dots to attach the hat to the scrapbook cover.
- Reassemble the album.
Colorful Birthday Page with Pop-Up Photo A big bright pop-up photo placed right in the middle of the album is an eye-catcher. Practice making pop-ups with scrap paper before trying the real thing. It looks complicated but is surprisingly easy. And remember, pop-ups don't work with photo sleeves, so you'll need to work with paper scrapbook pages. Click here for detailed illustrations for the featured Birthday Pop-up Page. Materials: Birthday photos
Scanner and heavy weight photo paper to enlarge photos (optional)
Two 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of brightly colored cardstock
Scraps of cardstock for cutouts and accents
Balloon template (tk click to template)
Glue stick or photo mounting adhesive
Straightedge
Pencil
Scissors or craft knife and self-healing cutting mat - Any size photo can be used for a pop-up. To make a large pop-up like the one shown in our project, enlarge your photo on a scanner and print on heavy weight photo paper. I enlarged my photo to 5" by 9", which gave me a finished pop-up 4" high by 8" wide. A pop-up folds closed as the album is closed, so its vertical fold must be aligned with the center of the album. When planning your pop-up remember that its height determines its placement on the page (figure A). My pop-up was 4" high, so it had to be placed at least 4" down from the top of the page.
- Following the diagram for the pop-up base (figure B), lightly draw folding guidelines on the back of the photo.
- For a pop-up that will lean back a bit, redraw the bottom fold lines at an angle (figure C), then use a pencil to score the fold lines.
- Cut around the figures to create a silhouette. Snip the vertical fold line of the bottom flap to create two flaps, and trim the flap ends at an angle (figure D).
- Carefully fold the photo along the scored lines. Fold the main body of the photo toward you, in a valley fold, and fold the flaps to the back.
- Set the pop-up in place on the center line of the album. Hold it in place temporarily with a bit of tape, and carefully close the album pages to determine if the pop-up folds closed properly. When you're satisfied with its placement, glue in place.
- Cut borders and frames from colorful cardstock and glue in place, overlapping to give depth. Add balloons, using the template provided. Use a marker to draw in the balloon strings, and remember to leave room for a title! (We almost couldn't squeeze ours in.)
Note: None of my scrapbooking reference books showed a pop-up like the one I created, with a valley fold in the middle. I like the way this makes the sides of the picture come forward, but you may prefer the traditional method, which uses a mountain fold so the photo folds away from you. For a mountain fold pop-up, angle the bottom fold lines shown in figure C the opposite direction, away from the bottom of the photo. Holly Christian was a frequent contributor to HGTV Ideas magazine and has written for other national publications. Click here for DIY's Scrapbooking Glossary.
RESOURCES :
Holly Christian
Craft artist and writer
Holly Christian
Website: www.hollychristian.com
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