An idea for using extra journaling cards

Mother's Day is coming fast around the corner, and this year I am using Maggie Holmes new Styleboard collection to make mini albums for gifts. You can never go wrong making something homemade for mom, and paired with sweet, feminine papers, these little books are sure to be a hit.

I have two album ideas to share with you, both of them made with journaling cards. A tiny brag book for a grandmother that she can slip right into her purse and pull out to show off her grandkids, and another sweet pink mini album to display the newest member of the family.

I started out by gathering all of my 3x4" cards together for the brag book. The colors and designs blend so well together that half of the work was already done for me.

I joined the cards together acordian style using washi tape on the side of the cards I didn't want to show. Once all of the cards were connected I gathered the ends together to form a little book.

To make the cover I cut a piece of patterned paper down to 4 x 6.25". I scored a .25" section in the center to form a spine for my book so when it was put together it would lay relatively flat.

All that was left to do was to place the inside pages into the jacket, and adhere the end papers to the cover with double stick tape. One of the great things about using journaling cards for this is they are nice and sturdy and hold their shape.


I finished it off by adding in photos of the grandkids and some pictures from around the house. The next best thing other than visiting in person is having some photos to carry with you.

Then I moved on to the baby album. This time I used 4x6" journaling cards and made things even simpler by just using a ring through the upper corner to hold everything together. I added in the 4x6" overlays from the Styleboard collection so once again everything already worked beautifully together.


No mini album would be complete without tags, pockets and pull-outs to add some fun!

And there you have it...two full mini albums made from one set of journaling cards. I hope you are inspired to make a homemade gift for mom this year!