Recently I’ve been scouring the web, looking for ideas for mini albums as inspiration for a gift albums I’m making for a friend. In doing so, I’ve found many great ideas that I would like to use on future projects, and thought I’d share them here. So today we are going to talk about Paper Bag Albums.
These are currently all the rage, and have been so for about a year now. They are fun and easy to do, and unlike traditional albums there are very inexpensive, as they are made with paper lunch bags which can be found at many supermarkets. Paper bag albums are perfect for brag books, theme albums or for a quick and fun gift.
Most paper bags are not acid-free, so make sure that you use copies of photos and memorabilia as the acid in the bags will cause them to become brittle over time. Using de-acidification spray, such as archival mist, on the paper bags before assembly can help increase the longevity of your album. Also, you may wish to check out your local craft or party supply shop for coloured paper bags. Most paper bag albums are made with the standard lunch-size bags, resulting in an album approximately 5×5-inches, however larger and smaller sizes are available.
There are a lot of instructions available on the web, however here two of my favourite:
- Rita’s Instructions – full instructions with lots of photos
- Julie McCauley’s Instructions – basic instructions with a great photo of the finished product
I do suggest that you pre-make your pages before adhering them to the paper bag album, just be sure to measure your pages carefully first. By doing it this way, you won’t have brads and other embellishments sticking through into the pockets where they will catch and damage your tags, photos and memorabilia.
If you need more inspirations, check out Two Peas in a Bucket’s Search Feature using the term Paper Bag in the title field (leave everything else blank).
Happy Scrapping! :)