Back to school with a school themed album from Live Love Scrap

I am so excited to be welcoming a few guest posts this week as part of my guest blogger series.
If you are a small blogger
{less than 500 readers}
and are interested in posting on my blog, please contact me at rachelteodoro@yahoo.com
and we can talk details.

Today, I am excited to welcome Laura from Live.Love.Scrap.
I adore paper crafting, I'm just not good at it!
People who are, blow me away.
So with that, I'm turning it over to Laura.



    My name is Laura, and I love all things crafty. I'm a junker at heart and love to turn trash into treasure. I am married to my best friend and have two darling sons. I work one day a week as a nurse and spend the rest of the week homeschooling my boys.
I love spending time with my family and serving the Lord.

My blog is a good representation of my interests. On Mondays, I either show a project I've made or feature a mini scrapbook album. Tuesdays I share a recipe -usually one that's quick and easy!
On Wednesdays, I do a step-by-step tutorial on making a scrapbook layout. Thursdays I feature my thrifted finds, and on Fridays, I show another crafty project- usually with a tutorial.
You can find me here at Pinterest or here at Facebook.

I am tickled pink to be here today guest posting at Holy Craft!

I'm sharing a step-by-step tutorial on making a school themed album.

Here's the album we'll be making.

The cover is a file folder.

The framework of this album is:

one file folder

two pieces of 8 1/2"x 11" cardstock

one piece of 12"x12" double sided school themed pattern paper

one 8"x 10" Manila envelope

two office rings

You'll want to start by cutting the file folder in half- you can cut right on its fold line.

Then trim the pattern paper to 8"x11".

Next cut off the bottom of the envelope- that way it will have two open sides and give us two pockets in our book.

Fold all six pieces in half "taco style" (is everybody familiar with this term? You basically want to fold them so they look like a book.)

Once all the pages are folded, you need to punch holes for binding. You'll want to mark 2" down from the top and 2" up from the bottom, then mark 1/2" from the edge. Use a hole punch to make the holes where your marks line up-- in the file folder first. You can then use that to mark holes on the rest of the pages.

Once you've got all the holes punched, you can put them in order: file folder, pattern paper, cardstock, envelope, cardstock.

Bind with two office rings.

Now we're going to go page by page and I'll show you how I embellished my book. You can make yours just like this or you can pick and choose what you'd like to add.

I used different office supplies in this album in hopes that you'd just be able to use products that you have on hand: things like small pieces of map, page from an old book, graph paper, handwriting paper, and ledger paper, page tabs, binder clips, etc.

You will need two pieces of 8"x8" pattern paper- double sided is best as it gives you two

more options- and one set of school themed stickers.

It will also be handy if you have a set of small alphabet stamps as we will use them a few times throughout.

The first page is pattern paper, so we don't need to add much.

I placed an office tab in the lower right corner and stamped "learn" on the insert for the tab.

Then I placed a "Hello, my name is" sticker in the lower right corner.

If you can get your hands on one of these, it will add a lot to the book as you can have the student write his or her own name on it documenting how their handwriting is at this point in time. I have seen them at dollar stores. If not, just use a regular label sticker which can be found in the office supply section.

As you flip the first page, you now will see the backside of the pattern paper on the left and cardstock on the right.

Trim a strip of pattern paper measuring 1"x 5 1/2" and adhere it at the top of the left side. Add a sticker at the bottom left edge of the pattern paper strip.

On the right side, you'll need a piece of handwriting paper or a piece of notebook paper. Trim it to

7 1/2"x 4 1/2" and adhere it in the center of the cardstock. Place a sticker in the upper left corner slightly overlapping the right edge of the paper. It should hang off the edge of the cardstock- it will be backed by another sticker when we turn the page.

Using my alphabet stamps, I added a few words above the handwriting strips on the paper: grade, school, teacher, favorite subject, least favorite subject, and best friend.

I thought these would be important things to remember about the school year.

On the left page, you need to trim another strip of pattern paper, this time measuring 1 1/2"x 8". Adhere it to the left side of the paper. Place a sticker in the upper left side of the page placing it back to back with the sticker from the other side. Because they hang off the edge of the page, they act as a tab to turn the page.

On the right side, trim a piece of pattern paper measuring 5"x4"- for this block, use some of the leftover paper from your large piece of pattern paper.

I added a 5"x1" strip of handwriting paper right below the pattern paper.

At the top of the page, you may place a binder clip to hold mementos.

To customize a binder clip, simply trim a small piece of paper and adhere it to the plastic part of the clamp.

In the upper right corner I placed a label sticker (cut in half). You can find these at the dollar store as well.

I tried to make sure that there was room for jounaling on each layout.

This layout is my favorite one in the book.

I used a paint chip on the left side. You can pick these up for free at home improvement stores- I got mine at Walmart. I placed it so it was peeking out from behind the envelope flap.

At the bottom of the flap, I adhered a circle punched from a page out of an old book. I then added two star stickers- these are the old fashioned school star stickers found in the office supply aisle. I am old enough that I remember getting these on my papers:)

On the right side, I placed a piece of graph paper measuring 4 3/4"x 4 1/2". I tore the top edge off before adhering it.

At the top right edge of the cardstock, I placed a circle punch stamped out from a map. It's overlapping the edge to act as a tab to turn the page.

For the journaling on this page, I used a tiny brown paper sack, folded down the top and stamped the words, "My favorite school lunch." Then I added a sticker to the lower right corner of the bag.

You can get these tiny bags at gas stations. More than once, I've asked the attendant if I could have a tiny sack.

All my embellishments are optional and customizable. If you don't want a paint chip in your book, replace it with a piece of Washi tape or pattern paper. Don't feel you have to make yours exactly like mine. Because you'll be choosing your own pattern paper and stickers, your book should be one of a kind!

The page with the paint chip is the envelope which gives you room to tuck special things.

I also placed a large index card in mine for either more photos or journaling.

When you flip the next page, you'll be at the center of the book.

Trim a piece of map paper to 4 3/4" x 3 1/2" and adhere it on the bottom left side. Partially overlap that with another label sticker cut in half. I placed a star sticker in the upper right corner of the label sticker.

Back the map circle from the other side with another circle.

Mine is punched from a piece of ledger paper.

Place a strip of paper measuring 1"x8" on the far right edge. My piece is leftover from my large piece of pattern paper. I try to use every scrap!

On the next layout, add another piece of graph paper in the upper left corner. It should measure

4 3/4" x 4". Tear the edge and adhere.

Place an office tab in the upper left corner- I stamped "study" on the insert.

Trim a piece of pattern paper measuring 2"x8" and adhere it on the right edge. Overlap the bottom corner of it with a sticker.

Because this page is the open edge of the envelope, I placed a binder clip on the side to help keep it closed. I enclosed a large index card in here, too.

On the backside of the envelope, trim a page from an old book to 4 1/4" x 6 1/2". Tear off the top edge, then adhere at the bottom of the page.

Place half a label in the upper left corner.

On the right side, we're going to use the last scrap form the large piece of pattern paper. It should measure 4 3/4" x 4". Adhere it in the upper right corner. Place an office tab on the right corner. I stamped "know" on the insert.

On our last two page layout, you need a piece of map paper measuring 4 3/4" x 3 3/4". Adhere it on the bottom left side.

On the upper right corner, place a circle overlapping the edge. This will act as a tab. We'll place another one on the back.

Trim a note card to 2" x 4 1/2". I stamped "favorite things to do at recess" on mine. Adhere it in the bottom right corner.

The last page is pattern paper, so we don't need much here. I placed a circle tab punched from notebook paper. I backed it up to the circle on the other side. Then I added two star stickers on it.

My last step was to place a piece of handwriting paper measuring 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" on the back cover. I labeled it with "favorite memories" and placed a sticker in the bottom right corner.

I adhered a piece of pattern paper measuring 5"x 8" to the back cover.

The front cover took several steps which is why I saved it til the end.

Adhere a piece of pattern paper measuring 4 3/4" x 8".

Place an index card measuring 4 3/4" x3 1/2" over the top of the pattern paper.

Place another strip of pattern paper measuring 1" x 8" along the right edge.

Adhere a small strip measuring 1/4" x 3 1/2" along the left edge of the note card.

Now place your title along the edge of the long strip of paper on the right while overlapping both pieces of paper in the center. You can use a sticker if you have one.

I used half a label sticker and placed it on a piece of book page. Then I used a label maker and stamped out the words "My School Days."

Finally, I added two red strips of fabric on the office rings.

Once again, feel free to make this book your own, Leave out some of the embellishments if you like. Once you put photos in this, it will look full.

It will be a fantastic memoir of the school year!

If you like this, but have more than one child, simply choose different papers for each one.

This would also make a great teacher gift.

I am honored to be here today. Thanks so much, Rachel!

Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,

and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

Psalm 97:12

Isn't that the most adorable keepsake album you have ever seen?!Thanks Laura for joining us today!Now head over to her blog and follow her.You won't be disappointed!