I love mini books.
They are fast, fun, great way to document an event with lots of photos, and a great way to share photos. I’ve admitted that I take a lot of photos of my two cuties, but even I can only scrapbook so many photos! So I started three years ago making minis as a way to celebrate seasons and to give to the grandparents.
My two basic types are Tag and Accordion. And these two can be interpreted in many different ways.
I love tag books, either made with pre-made tags or ones I’ve made my own tags or shapes. These were tags I made to the size I wanted, bound with a binder ring, accented with ribbon, ink, paper, and stamps. I also use ribbon or twine for binding. Usually I will add a brief bit of journalling.
Inside:
Another variation of tags is using die cut shapes like the Top Note from Stampin Up!.
This was a gift for my husband showing the things I love about him as a daddy and husband in photos. Each little envelope is a mini love note to him. Kind of sappy but so true.
The second type of mini, the accordion is not a new idea, I’ve seen this done all over magazines and online in a million of ways. But my variation, I call the “wallet mini” I came up on my own when my dad complained that he needed pictures of the babies to pack around to show around. So I wanted to make a mini book of photos to carry that wouldn’t be too “foofy” and would fit in a shirt pocket like the notebooks that he carries daily. Then the hubby piped up that he wanted something that wouldn’t take up too much room in cubical’ville.
I used the size of a business card as the starting point, growing into a slightly larger size to accommodate a 2×3 wallet sized photo. The embellishing and binding is kept simple. My husband likes to stand these on his desk at work. M
I like them to stay closed when folded so I’ll twist a piece of twine around a button or make a “garter” out of ribbon or elastic cording that can be slipped on and off easily!
Using wallet sized photos:
Using smaller photos:
My dad has a spot where he keeps his important daily things along with all of the minis I’ve made for him in the last three years. All of these minis are a little faded and worn. They look like they’ve been carried in a shirt pocket and taken out many times and unfolded. I love seeing this! Love seeing that something that I made is carried with such love!
And to me this is the whole point of minis: your photos are meant to be looked at, carried around, shared, and touched.
