Creative Design Ideas

Featured Design Idea

Materials:

One sheet of 12x12 textured cardstock
Patterned paper
Chipboard
Glue stick or white glue
Inkpads
Scoring tool
3/8-inch wide ribbon of your choice*
Photos or copies
Alphabet stamps of your choice
Other items of choice: die cuts, shaped Post-it notes, punches, stickers, glitter glues and embellishments
Scraps of different colored cardstock
Two small split rings, brad and charm, or sliver hook clasps, and brads (These are optional choices to be used instead of a tied bow to keep the journal closed.)
Scissors

*Note:
Ribbon lengths can vary, depending on the thickness of the accordion pages. For the samples, the following lengths were used:

• Ribbon for the clasp—11 inches
• Split rings—14 inches
• Tied bow: 24 inches (Not shown in the picture.)

(Remember to use products that are safe and kid friendly.)

Instructions:

Covers
Cut two 4-inch square pieces of chipboard and two 5-inch square pieces of patterned paper.

For the front cover, place one piece of the patterned paper face down on the table (backside facing up). Place glue on one side of a 5-inch piece of chipboard. Center and glue the chipboard to the backside of the patterned paper. Miter the corners by cutting the paper diagonally across all four corners, just above the chipboard piece. Place glue on the remaining paper, fold over and glue to the backside of the chipboard.

Repeat process for the back cover. Set these two pieces aside.

Accordion Pages
Cut two pieces 3 3/4x12 inches from the cardstock. Score one piece every 3 3/4 inches, creating three sections and leaving the extra as a tab. Repeat with the second piece.

Joining the Pieces
Take one of the scored cardstock pieces and place glue on the right side of the tab, close to the scored line, but not on it. Place the straight edge of the second cardstock piece on the glued tab and press. Now both pieces are joined togther.

One end still will have a tab. Fold this tab to the back and glue in place. This end is now the beginning of the accordion pages. From this end, start to fold (left to right) starting with a valley fold, then mountain fold, repeating until the end, forming the accordion pages.

Decorate all the accordion pages and add pictures before attaching the covers. When attaching the covers, remember there are six pages on the front side and four on the back.

Attaching the Covers
For the clasp or tied bow, fold the accordion and place glue on the back of the first page of the accordion. Adhere it to the inside front cover and press down. Apply glue to the last page of the folded accordion and adhere it to the inside back cover. Before the glue sets, adjust so both covers are even.

Attaching clasp: Place one end of the ribbon through one part of the clasp and fold down 1 inch. Place a hole through both layers of ribbon and add the brad through the holes and secure. Repeat on the other end with the second part of the clasp. Wrap around the book and clip. Adjust so clasp is in the center and glue the back ribbon to the back cover only.

Attaching the ribbon for the tied bow: Place a thin line of glue on the front cover of the book. Find the center of the ribbon and hold it on the left side of the book. Adhere the backside of the front piece of ribbon to the glue line, pressing as you go, and letting the extra ribbon hang. Repeat with the back ribbon. Take the loose ends from the back and front ribbon and tie a bow on the right side.

For the split rings: Place a line of glue in the middle of the inside of the back cover. You will be using a 14-inch piece of ribbon with the right side facing down. Start by leaving a 4-inch piece of ribbon hanging off the left side. Place 4 inches of the ribbon into the glue and press down. Leave a 6-inch piece of ribbon hang over the right side of the back cover. These side ribbons will form the split-ring closure.

Assembling
Front Cover: Fold the accordion and place glue on the back of the front page of the folded accordion. Adhere it to the inside front cover.

Back Cover: Apply glue to the last page of the folded accordion and adhere it to the inside back cover, which also will cover the glued ribbon in the middle.

Place a charm on one of the split rings. Place the two split rings on the 4-inch end of the hanging ribbon, and fold over about 1 1/2 inches. Punch a hole through both pieces of the ribbon, add a brad and secure.

To close the book, bring the ribbon with the split rings and the hanging 6-inch ribbon piece to the front cover. Put the end of the 6-inch ribbon piece through both split rings and pass the ribbon again through a single split ring and pull.

Stamp the word “friends” to the hanging end of the ribbon.

Decorate the left side of the front cover with your choice of embellishments.