Hi there everyone! This is Kristina. :) Today it is my turn to post a little something fun for you! Please forgive me if this post looks a bit wonky - this is my first time ever posting on Typepad and I definitely am learning as I go. :) Today I am going to show you a really cute, quick, easy and most importantly inexpensive mini album that you can create with something you might not have ever thought about. You don’t need very many items to create this and the thing that I love is that the base of this mini album is something you can get FOR FREE – yep you read that right – for free!! Now granted, the folks at the home improvement stores might look at you a bit odd if you’re in there a lot or grabbing hundreds of these, but you’ve got to try and make this. :)
All you need to do is go to the kitchen remodeling section of your local home improvement store and grab some of these counter top laminate samples that are usually by the kitchen models or hanging on a wall close by. These are what they look like:
They have smaller ones as well, but the ones I’m using for this album are the bigger ones – they measure 3.5 x 5.
The other materials you’ll need to make this mini album are: cardstock scraps, letter stickers, double-sided tape (or a glue of another kind - glue stick, glue dots, etc), a hole punch, some sand paper and black ink (for the edges), a d-ring to hold the pages together(you can get these in office supply stores), some ribbon and of course some art, pictures, journaling or whatever you’d like your album to be filled with. :)
Here is what my album looks like:
I created this little mini album to hold some works of art my daughter has drawn for me lately. I loved the idea of capturing them in this little album. I just gave her small white sheets of paper to color some miniature masterpieces on and that’s what I used to fill up my album pages. My album only uses 4 laminate samples, but you could easily use many more - just get a bigger d-ring to hold them all at the top. This mini album would be perfect as a gift, a travel album, an album to jot down favorite quotes or even something like a first year album. Wouldn’t it be great to make one of these little albums every year for either your child (or children) or just about your favorite things? It would be so neat to see how things change from year to year. If you’re a pet lover, you could even create a mini album about your pet! Very cute!
Now to create this album, all I did was take some scrap pieces of cardstock big enough to cover the fronts and backs of the laminate samples. I adhered my double sided tape all over it, placed my cardstock down on top of it and then trimmed away the excess. I sanded the edges a bit to give it a more finished look and then added a bit of black ink to the edges, too. Once I got one side covered I made sure to use my hole punch and punch through the hole so I would be able to see where the hole was when I covered the other side. :) Just continue to do that process to cover as many pages as you’d like and then when you’re done – embellish each page, clip them all together with a d-ring, add a bit of ribbon and you’ve got yourself a cute little mini album! You’re husband/boyfriend/brother/whatever will be so happy that you actually WANTED to go to the home improvement store with him from now on so that you can pick yourself up some of these laminate samples to create with. :)
Don’t forget that they do make smaller ones as well, so you can follow these same steps to create a smaller mini album that could be used to attach to a gift or as a key chain even. The ideas are endless!
Here is a picture of the inside of the album and the back of the album:

I hope the next time you’re in a home improvement store and you see these samples that you’ll pick some up – not to decide which counter tops would be perfect for your kitchen, but to create a sweet little keepsake album that takes very little money or time. Now if you can get some new counter tops – that would be great, too – but work on the album first, ok? I guarantee you it's more fun. ;) If you don't have a home improvement store near you - maybe a friend of yours does and can pick you up some of these or this could challenge you to look at other free items around your house, etc. and see what you can create with it!
I hope you give this a try! Please post them in the AMLT gallery if you do make one of these mini albums!! I'd love to see what you create! Thanks so much! Have fun! :)
Oh, and be sure to check out Jill's blog from CHA below this one! She's got some great photos from the show and a chance for you to win one of 2 Fiskars prize packs! Good luck!
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