Boxed Accordion Mini Album

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Tuesdays we dive into traditional scrap projects that don't cost a fortune and can be made rather simply and quickly.  We've got this small, boxed accordion album on tap for today.  It goes together really easily and fast, too.  Find out how to make one like this by following our simple tutorial.  Put your own stamp on it and make it your own.

We used Jilli Bean Soup's line, Spicy Social for this project.

 I gathered a bunch of coordinating goodies to help inspire me. Collections are THE best way to ensure a great project.

First, find a box that you want to use.  I chose a box I saved from a free sample of chocolate.  Hehehe...

I measured the inside of the box to get an idea how wide my insert had to be.  This one was right around 2.5 inches, squared.  I chose some very rigid card stock, made the creases to fit in the box and adhered the two strips together.  You can see it clearly in this photo.

Keep in mind, two squares won't need photos or embellishments.  One will stick to the inside of the box and the other the lid.  I marked mine with an "x" just to be sure.

See how many photos you need to gather.  I needed 12 for my accordion.  I designed a digital template, popped in my favourite photos and printed it out on photo friendly paper.

Tip:  When photo quality is of the essence, use photo paper.

Cut out your photos.  I left one photo with the white edges just to see how it would look and did not fit.  If you want to keep the white edging, your photos need to be smaller.

I used papers from Spicy Social for the outside of the box.  The colours of the box went pretty well with this collection.  I cut out this strip to go around the entire box, but still show a bit from the top and bottom of the box.

I did the same around the box top, but with a different, yet coordinating paper.  I found that when I prefolded the strips before adhering them, it went really, really well.

I crafted up my accordion and then attached it to the box.  I adhered my photos with both double sided tape and glue.

Tip:  Using two different adhesives give your project a better chance of not falling apart.  If you use these two combined, you'll have a little bit of give to gently slide around your piece until you get it right where you want.  If you only use double sided tape and don't get it just right, too bad.

You may have a little coming off the page.  No worries, carefully trim it off being careful not to cut into your card stock.

Voila!  A few short minutes and the basic accordion is ready.

You can decide how fancy or intricate you want to go.  I left mine very basic.  It is for my son who recently had to change schools and was missing his friends.

I used these little strips from the Spicy Social collection to cover up imperfections and add some cohesion to the overall look of the accordion.

Tip:  I advise not covering over your creases, unless you use washi.  Through my years of experience, I found covering over creases gives the album, often times, too much rigidity, makes the projects bulkier and unless you use really good adhesive like a glue gun, whatever you use, will more than likely come off after a little use.

It's a little difficult to see, but the photo of Liam and I is far from perfect.  I didn't line it up well.

No worries!  This strip fixes it all.

 Now, it looks great.

Adhere the off portion first, if your going to decorate your box like I did.  Choose glue or double sided tape.

Adhere your paper strip around the box and lid.  If your paper just isn't large enough, make sure to put your extra strip on first and adhere over it with your longer piece.

Now that my box was decorated, top and bottom, I glued in my insert.  First the portion that went into he box. Better a little extra room than not enough.

Then the lid.

There you have it!  Just a few pieces of scrap paper, a recycled box and your photos.

I saved the best for last, the cover.  I chose this cut out embellishment from the collection and adhered it to the top of the box with the thinner double sided, foam tape to give it a kick of dimension.

The element was a touch lost against my choice of paper with all of that cream colour so I inked, ever so slightly around the edges for a bit more contrast.

I used this 40 gauge, gold, metal wire for a touch more pizzazz.  I also used the red bling from Memory Makers and cut out some more fun images from the Spicy Social collection and adhered them with the thicker foam tape.

To get this coil look, simply rap your wire around a pen, pencil, paint brush...depending on the size you want.  Go really thin for a condensed look and use the fat end of big paint brush for a look like mine.

Liam enjoyed his mini album and you will, too!

Thank you for stopping by The Cherry.  Our blog is full of paper scrap, digital scrap and a lot of free stuff.  Take a look around.  I'm sure you'll find something you will love.

Here is our last traditional scrap:

Freebie Friday was full of all kinds of digital freebies, including this cluster.

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Happy crafting!