Yes this is easier than you think!!  All you need is three sheets of 8.5″ by 11″ cardstock and some of your favorite papers and embellishments and a couple of metal rings or ribbon.  I made this mini book for my MIL for Mother’s Day this year.

I get my standard white cardstock from SAM’s Club of all places.  It’s not fancy or even name branded, but it’s a nice quality weight and under $7.00 for a ream!  I can’t beat it for a plain smooth white cardstock.

Mini Book Directions:

~ Trim the cardstock sheets in half to measure 4.25 by 11 inches

~ Fold those in half to create what looks like a card base, measuring 4.25 by 5.50 inches.  Give it a good crease!

~ Then stack those card bases with the fold in the middle to create your mini book base.  I don’t punch any holes for the metal rings until I’m done adding papers, pictures and embellies.  Just keep in mind where you put your embellishments close to the center fold.

~ There is no secret recipe for making these cute little books. I used the Memory Works May Express Kit because I’m on Kit Duty this month!!  Whoot whoot!!   I LOVE Dear Lizzy and Amy Tangerine.  The colors and patterns mix so well.  I also added some My Minds Eye My Girl Enamel Dots, shipping tags from My Etsy Shop, glassine bags and Studio Calico Wood Veneers!

Here are some tips to go with my mini book photos.

~ Glassine bag tip: I used my Fiskars cloud punch and punched clouds out of the glassine bags!  Close enough to vellum for me!

~ Be a bag lady or a pocket picker, whichever you prefer!  The May Express Kit came with 4 seemingly unconventional little plastic, sealable bags.  They are commonly used to package small embellishment such as buttons in larger kits.  But, there was challenge in this Express Kit ~ find a way to use them!  So, here’s what I came up with.  Check out the close up of the pocket. You’ll see my pocket confetti is made up from the little tiny hearts I punched from the teal cardstock along the bottom of the left page.  The clouds are from the negatives, also on the left page.  This also the perfect way to be a little more green while papercrafting!

 ~ Please be negative?  Wait, what?!  I mean… use the negatives from your punched shapes as more embellishments!  They look so fun, don’t they!?

 ~ Layer, layer, layer and off-set!!  Use different patterns, embellishments, tags, bags and negative shapes.  Not everything needs to be centered either.  It’s very pleasing to the eye when you place embellishments or other elements off to one side or other. It’s doesn’t look lop-sided or uneven.  Just right!  You can also dress up a plain cardstock punched shape by embossing it.  I recently used a bunch of my Cricut points to get some new embossing folders! Don’t forget to use those babies!!

~ And finally, bring up the rear!  Yes, dress up the cabose or the back cover of your mini book.  I added a cute pocket and stamped on the tag inside.  I layered a few elements over the bag and done!

This mini book only took me a few hours to create, spread out over a couple days of course.  They make fantastic little gifts that will be treasured by any recipient!

We have a busy week this week.  School is coming to an end, girls Dance Recital 3 days this weekend, making teacher’s gifts and the Oklahoma Card Drive being sponsored by Bo Bunny, Simple Stories and We Are Memory Keepers.  If you are able to create a few cards this week, please participate!!

Thanks for spending your time with me here and don’t forget to add you email in my right sidebar!  You can have SpiegelMom Scraps! delievered to your inbox every time I blog, and you can be added to my Scrap Gals email list where you’ll get even more info on products, events and other crafting finds I share!

Happy Scrappin’!