Accordian Cards & Paperbag Summer Scrapbooks

I completely forgot about these two simple summer projects! You might enjoy one or both. Both are items that scrapbookers have been doing forever so you might have already seen them. In case you haven't....the first came about several years ago when #1 Grandson had to make a little scrapbook about himself for school...old Grandmother loves these challenges...so it was off to the scrapbook paper stash and photo boxes!

Assignment: Make a book all about yourself!

Finished project...starting with 1st birthday. There are some other pics on the back of the accordian.

Above is our Last page...a remembrance that even though we may suffer here on earth..there are surely better days ahead.

Sides are closed by red eyelets that I pounded in and tied with ribbons & beads.
The next accordian project was a Father's Day card for the Hubster.

It features old photos of his father who was lost in the Korean Conflict.

This card was shorter, but as meaningful.

Below is the Condensed (mercifully for you and me)..Tutorial for Accordian Cards

For the school assignment: I measured scrapbook paper and cut the "pages" into 8 1/2 inch long strips by 5 1/2 inch high strips. I cut 8 different colors of cardstock to make the pages. (I used white here for demo purposes.)

I folded the strips in half...so each page was about 4 1/4"x 5 1/2". "Martha" introduced me to the bone folder. I used it to make the creases very crisp. (Crisp creases are "a good thing".) You could use something else but they don't cost much and are great to fold cardstock.

Next, I glued the right front side of page one to the inside of page two. See above.

Page three was glued in two places, as pictured above. Does this make sense? I think the pics are easier to understand than my directions...BTW: I am directionally challenged. So it is with great effort that I do tutorials.

Make your accordian as long as you like but end as pictured above. I cut eight strips which gave me 18 pages...you may need more or less. Just begin and end correctly no matter what the length. The shorter Father's Day card had 3 strips of 6"x 12 1/2" strips. I ended up with 8 pages.

A reminder of what we were doing here!

Tutorials are NOT my thing!! Moving onward and upward....Brown Bag Scrapbooks are next...I used smaller bags than lunch bags and got the colored ones at Michaels or Hob Lob.

I have made several of these for new mothers for their hospital stay. I went ahead and added all the information so that all they had to do was "fill in the blanks"...for instance, I made a caption on one page that read, "This is the hospital where I was born". All they had to do was snap a pic and glue it in the appropriate place. I made a page for people that visited or were at the hospital for the birth to sign. All kinds of little bag books can be made for a special occasion...this isn't taking the place of a larger scrapbook...it's just a fun memento for something like prom, summer camp...drivers license, first date, etc.
After stapling the number of bags needed together on the left end, I covered the spine of the "book" with a piece of cardstock and scrapbook paper. I glued it heavily, clamped it and let it dry overnight. You may want to do this step at the very end...if so draw yourself a little pencil line on the left end of each bag to remind yourself to not cross over the line so you will have room to staple and glue.

This little book is our 2005 Summer book of memories. You may wish to turn some of the bags so that the bag opens to the right. I added pictures, tickets, other reminders of our days together in the bags for safe keeping. You will tie all the bags together at the end, so there's not much danger of losing anything special.

Pictures were taken all summer and then we took one afternoon to compose the book. I was once a Creative Memories Scrapbook rep...so I have a motherlode of stickers.

First trip down the hill by herself!

Summer baseball and MS Braves tickets from games with Gu.

I made holes in each of the end bags and attached eyelets. I threaded twine through the two bags and added beads to both ends of the twine. I made the twine very long. When the bow is untied, you can pull the book's pages apart without having to unthread the twine.

I could kick myself for not doing this every summer....life gets hectic....things happen...and all of a sudden you blink and everybody's grown and you think..."What was I thinking not to savor the moments? Why didn't I write down that funny quote that someone said?" When it's quiet and dare I say, lonely...it's those moments that you'd have the time to look back and remember that summer that grandson got his driver's permit or the time granddaughter asked me for all the world to hear in Big Lots if I had on my underwear?

I don't know what's holding you back...but carve out a little niche of time...to savor and preserve. Someday somebody will thank you...you might even thank yourself!

Preserve those memories,
Angela