"Give Thanks" Mini Maze Album
With inner pages made from a single sheet of cardstock!
This mini maze album is incredibly versatile and you won’t believe how quick and easy it is to put it together! The beauty of the inner pages is that they are made out of a single sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock. The album can be embellished to work with any theme you dream up.
Today I will be using the Fancy Pants Design line “All Fall” to make a Give Thanks album with eight photos of things I am thankful for.
My supplies are:
Trimmer OR craft knife and mat
Ruler and pencil
A good eraser
Dry adhesive
Mod Podge or other wet adhesive
Two 3.25"x3.25" chipboard pieces
Eight photos depicting things you are thankful for, all 3" square or smaller
For the chipboard pieces I used a sheet of the chipboard stabilizer that ACOT includes in our orders. This is the perfect thickness but any relatively thin chipboard will do!
Covers
First, we are going to create the covers for our album. If you have not already cut your chipboard pieces down to 3.25” x 3.25” do so now. You will need two squares of chipboard.
Then also cut two 4” x 4” pieces of the green paper for your cover.
Next we need to glue the chipboard directly in the center of the wrong side of the paper square. I use a thin layer of Mod Podge on the chipboard and press it onto the paper, making sure there are no bubbles.
Then, fold all the edges up, using the chipboard as a guide. This just helps to adhere the sides easier.
You will then need to trim the four corners of each cover *almost* to the corner. Do not cut too much or your chipboard will show.
Finally, using a small amount of any adhesive (wet or dry), adhere the sides of the paper to the chipboard.
Inner Pages
Ok, now we are going to set these aside to dry fully and we will work on our inner pages! I am using an ivory piece of cardstock for the purpose of instruction but the inner pages for the Give Thanks album should be made from the brown sheet of Bazzill.
First, use a ruler and pencil to draw grid lines horizontally and vertically at 3” intervals like so:
Next, you will need to fold the paper accordion style:
And refold in the other direction in the same way. I don’t have a photo but at the end of these steps you should have a full grid with every pencil mark folded.
Next we are going to use a trimmer or craft knife to cut the top line in three squares from the left. Then go down one line and cut it three squares from the right. And then the last line is cut three squares from the left again. Your paper should look like this now:
At this point you may want to erase any dark pencil lines. My lines didn’t show too much on the dark brown paper.
Starting at the top left fold each square under the last one, turning at the corners and turning under until you get a single stack of pages:
Now you will see that the pages alternate between a page being “normal” and the next being a “connected” one (where we turned the corners). You are going to want to use a small amount of adhesive to close up the “connected” pages. There will be three of them and when you are done the pages should open like a perfect zig zag accordion, left to right.
Assembly
Now, we are going to assemble!
Cut about 24” of the orange ribbon. Lay the now covered chipboard squares in front of you with approximately ¾ of an inch in between them. Find the center of the ribbon and arrange the ribbon across the center of the album like so:
Use a tape runner or other dry adhesive to adhere the ribbon but make sure your adhesive does not go all the way to the edge.
Now find the end of your pages and adhere it (wet adhesive will be strongest) in the center of the front cover, on top of the ribbon.
Do the same to the back cover and your album is assembled! After you complete the inner pages you can tie the ribbon and trim the tails to size.
Embellishment
To decorate the cover:
- cut and adhere two pieces of brown ribbon to the top and bottom
- punch out the scalloped border strip from the die cut sheet and cut to fit
- adhere the border strips as shown
- cut out the journal box from the sheet in the paper pad and adhere
- punch the heart from the die cut sheet and adhere
- use the tiny alphas and Doodlebug stickers to spell out your title
A note about the inner pages: This album is about things we are thankful for and the eight things we pick will all be different. I made a list of what I wanted to include and used the papers and embellishments to support my themes. Some were easier to embellish (the heart on my Love page) than others (my Friendship page is more generic) but the beauty of using a lot of products from one line is that it ties everything together.
I also tried to unite the pages by using the same size 3” x 3” photos. I printed them all in sepia tone and arranged them all on the left side of my pages. I used the tiny alphas and Doodlebug alphas throughout and put a rub-on or two on each photo.
Here are my inner pages:
About the author ...
Jess began playing with scrap supplies decades ago but has only seriously scrapbooked since 2004. Besides playing with paper she also enjoys baking cupcakes, entertaining at home, traveling abroad, and making French beaded flowers. She has a degree in Theatre with a concentration on Costume Design and remains active in her local theatre scene. Jess lives in Framingham, MA with her husband, Ryan, and three naughty cats.
Submitted by ScrapGoo
Reader Comments ...katarria . Connecticut | 11/16/08 3:01 pm |
This was an awesome class Jess - working to finish the inner pages now!! |
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Kara . Maryland--land of the crab! | 11/17/08 7:12 pm |
Jess this is awesome!!!! I have often wondered how these albums are folded--thankns for showing me! |
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-Tracy- | 11/22/08 8:56 am |
Fantastic class Jess!!! |
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