I enjoy making family albums rather than making albums
according to vacation or Christmas themes, etc. I thought it would be neat to do albums from each place we live, since we are
a military family and move so much. Some are large, if we lived
here awhile, some are smaller, if we lived there only 6 months (which is the case for many of the moves). Then I thought it
would be neat to cover the albums with material that had a
design which coordinated with the particular state I created it for.
For example: Florida - manatees; Alabama - watermelon, Alaska -
cabins, trees, bears, fish; South Carolina- beach, sailboats, seagulls; Georgia - Georgia Bulldog material (if I can find some
when football season starts). The college is here in Athens and when we lived here the first time, my daughter was only two. She called the Georgia Bulldogs the "Doo Doo Dogs". Since we
live in Athens Georgia again, I will try to find some material with peaches on it this time.
When I find he right material to cover an album, I buy a
1/2 yard at a time. This way I have a little extra to work with, and it doesn't cost that much. I also buy 2 yards of
5/8ths inch wide ribbon to match. I take the front cover and back cover off. Then, I take the material and lay it down,
wrong side up, and lay the cover, right side down, on top of the
material. You might have to play with the positioning, depending on the design. If the material has a print like bears
sitting on the beach, you want to make sure the design is
centered. Next, pull the material over the edges of the album cover. I trim the material down to about 1 1/4 inches over the
edge, and then glue the material down. I use "Aileene's Tacky Glue" to adhere the material to the album cover because it's
thick and will hold the edges down without leaving any lumps.
At the corners I trim a little away so when they're folded,
it won't be lumpy. I use a pair of scissors to put a hole where
the posts go to put the album back together. I finish it off by
gluing the ribbon on the inside of the album (on 3 sides) to cover the edges of the material and give it a finished look. Let the album dry thoroughly and put it back together. I put a
Mrs. Grossmans United States sticker on the inside front cover and have an animal (good because they're smaller than the kid
stickers) point to the state, which identifies where the album is about. In one album I used a starfish sticker to point at
Charleston because of the long arms. Another I used a chipmunk
holding a stick (from the camping stickers) and the stick was pointing to where we were stationed. You might also want to do
a title page. On my wedding album, I used lavender material and
put white netting over top (just make sure to pull it very tight) and used white ribbon on the inside.
I have a lot of fun decorating my albums, and hope you will
too! -Vicki Morris |
