Inexpensive Scrapbooking With Plastic Bags

Though elegant and top quality scrapbooks are a nice thing to have, sometimes all you want is a swift and affordable way to create a fun scrapbook. These little plastic bag scrapbooks are fantastic to make as a children's activity. These books can even make a wonderful present for other relatives who want to see some photos of your family. It is also a great method for educating young children about saving photos. If you already have photos displayed around your home in picture frames, you may even borrow some of these for one of these books. Begin the photograph fun by creating some of these adorable albums today.

Equipment You Will Need

To make a plastic bag scrapbook, you will need to have a box of gallon-sized clear plastic zip lock bags. Some bag brands put a lot of writing on their bags, so make sure to locate one that keeps their bags plain. In addition, measure and cut out two square pieces of light in weight cardboard, 12 inches by 12 inches. Gather a supply of scrapbooking paper, or simply substitute cheap construction paper, especially if children will be doing this craft. A couple more things you will need are glue sticks, some scissors, a ruler, a hole punch, a needle meant for yarn, some markers, as well as a hammer and nice big nail. Plus, obviously you will want a nice array of photos. Use printed off digital photos for kids, instead of using original prints of film photos. If your album is meant for a relative, it might be best to select pictures that are nice enough quality to exhibit in scrapbook picture frames. Kids, however, are usually happy with any sort of photos.

Making The Book

If you are producing the scrapbook for a children's project, you will probably want to construct it yourself. Establish the number of pages you will want in the book, and then get that amount of plastic bags. Put them together by stapling together 5 bags, placing the staples along the left side and the zipping edge on the top edge. If you wish to have more than 5 pages, simply create more page sections. Take one of the cardboard pieces and position it on a cushioned surface where you will be working, then place a pile of the plastic bags on top of it. Using the nail and hammer, pound holes in the cover and plastic bags, each an inch apart. Do the same thing with the rest of the stacks of plastic bags, and the other cover. Place the bag sections between the covers, line them up nicely, and stitch them together using a needle and some yarn, knotting the ends when done. Score along the bound edges of the front and back covers of the book using the ruler to guide you, and then you will be able to fold them back. When you accomplish this the album will open with little effort.

Inserting The Pictures

After you have assembled the book, then comes the really fun part. Give your child a stack of photos and craft or scrapbook paper sized to fit in the bags. They can then use round-tipped scissors, a glue stick or adhesive squares and coloring implements to make interesting pages. When the pages are all done, place them in the bag pages, and zip them shut. If you are making the book for a gift, you may want to take some more time making the pages. As an extra advantage, these pages are so very easy to open and close that you can swap pictures between your book and picture frames easily.

These books are a great way to show off your favorite pictures, and they make a great project for your kids or gift for friends and relatives


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Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames. Display your favorite photos in one of our interesting bamboo picture frames or other styles of frames. Visit our website to browse through our wide assortment of wood picture frames today or give us a call at 800-780-0699.