How to make a Paper Bag Scrapbook
This project is so much fun! Though it is seen as a craft, your finished product will no doubt be a piece of art! You can make these with as many pages as you like but I would suggest you start with a small, 4-bag book just to get the concept. Once you get the hang of it, you can make them as large as you like!
Step 1
You will need at least 4 standard size brown or white paper lunch bags. the more bags you use, the thicker your book will be, and the more materials you will need to complete your book. You must use an even number of bags to complete a book. Lay your bags in front of you as pictured here - with the bottom flap facing toward you.
Step 2 - Making a "Section"
Your book is made up in "Sections" that are glued to each other - in order to make the smallest book, you need two sections. Each section takes 2 bags.
This step is crucial to execute correctly! With your first bag, face down, flip JUST THE BOTTOM FLAP over to the other side, toward the top (toward you as in picture). See the step-by-step folding instructions below. Crease the edge really well - a good fold will make the book lay flatter. Repeat this step for a second bag. You need two bags folded at a time to go to the next step.
This step is crucial to execute correctly! With your first bag, face down, flip JUST THE BOTTOM FLAP over to the other side, toward the top (toward you as in picture). See the step-by-step folding instructions below. Crease the edge really well - a good fold will make the book lay flatter. Repeat this step for a second bag. You need two bags folded at a time to go to the next step.
Step 3
Now lay the two bags back to back( with the flaps together) - it will look like this (the bottoms of the bags will be face-to-face). You need to glue the two small flaps together from this position. Using a good amount of glue, make sure you get the edges AND the inner part of the flap. The edges are the most important throughout this project, but you also need to make sure that some glue is placed in the center - it will hold together much better over time.
Step 4
This is how much glue I recommend - I don't want to go through all this work and have it come apart down the road! Now press it against the flap of the other bag.
Step 5
Here is a picture of the two flaps glued together. Notice how the rest of the bag lays flat on the table. If yours doesn't lay flat, you folded the flaps incorrectly. Go back to Step 2 and make sure to fold them as directed. Now, fold your book up by bringing the two longer sections together up towards the small, glued together flaps, which will then be on the inside.
You MUST make 2 sections like this (repeat steps 1-5), BEFORE going on to step 6!
You MUST make 2 sections like this (repeat steps 1-5), BEFORE going on to step 6!
Step 6
With two sections in front of you, and your sections folded, apply a good amount of glue to the outside of one of the sections like in the photo - again paying attention to the edges. Place your other section on top of this one - long sides together.
Step 7
When you are done gluing the long sides together, your book will look like this from the side.
NOTE: I can't believe I didn't publish a picture of one of the coolest features of this book - THE BAG STORAGE COMPARTMENTS!!!! The "long" sides you see in this picture actually will now open up into a bag and you can store all your little trinkets from your events, trips, etc (tickets, shells, receipts, love letters....mmmmmm - the list is endless!).
NOTE: I can't believe I didn't publish a picture of one of the coolest features of this book - THE BAG STORAGE COMPARTMENTS!!!! The "long" sides you see in this picture actually will now open up into a bag and you can store all your little trinkets from your events, trips, etc (tickets, shells, receipts, love letters....mmmmmm - the list is endless!).
Step 8
Your sideways view of the book will look like this (as in Step 7) Where you see the arrows, is where you will now need to glue - this will pull your book in. The black area in the center is where the two sections were glued together previously.
Again, lots of glue - and don't forget to pay attention to the edges.
Step 9
After gluing, apply lots pressure to get a good, tight seam - see next picture......
Step 10
This is what your book whould look like at this point. You have two sections glued together, and 8 sides which equals 4 pages. To make your book thicker (more pages), repeat steps 1-5 again and glue the sections together as in steps 6 and 7. Mine (those on the home page) are made with 16 bags, so they're pretty thick.
Fold up your book and take a look at it. Notice the paperbag openings in the middle? That's where you can place all kinds of trinkets and photos! How clever is that?
Fold up your book and take a look at it. Notice the paperbag openings in the middle? That's where you can place all kinds of trinkets and photos! How clever is that?
Step 10
Afer you have made your book a thickness that you're satisfied with, you'll need to trim it to size. To do this, lay your book, folded up (as pictured) in front of you. With a tape measure or ruler, measure 6" FROM THE GLUED EDGE and make a mark - do this at the top and the bottom.
Step 11
Draw a line to connect your two marks - like in the picture. If you have made a thin book (with 4 - 8 bags), then use scissors to cut along this line. Go through ALL the bags. If you made a thicker book (more than 8 bags) use a crafting knife to cut down through all the bags.
Step 12
Your book should now measure 6" across by 5 1/4" tall (or close to it). Crease the glued edge with your hand to make it as flat as you can. You'll be adding lots of things to this and the book will grow thicker as you go along.
Step 13
To make these books sturdy, we'll need to make a front and back cover. I make these from very heavy cardboard. The best kind, I have found, is the cardboard behind note pads or legal pads (or even the back of your scrapbook paper pad!) - It's perfect for this project. If you don't have any like this, just a strong cardboard will do. You can also glue several pieces of cardstock together. Cut your cardboard to measure 6" x 5 1/4" - the same size as your book.
Step 14
Using scrapbook paper or an image that you like, cut it to measure 6 1/2" x 5 3/4" (you can cut it larger if you like - but this is the minimum size). This will be 1/4" larger on each side than your cardboard.
Step 15
Place your board on the image or pieceof paper and make sure you have at least 1/4" border cut - this is important!
Step 16
Turn your paper over and lay your piece of cardboard on the backside of it so that the cardboard lays centered evenly on your paper.
Step 17
Now lay a bead of glue all around the edge of the cardboard. Make sure the glue is not too far from the edge or the paper won't be able to stick to it.
Step 18
While your glue is setting, cut the four corners of your paper as shown in the photo (with this slight angle is best).
Step 18
After cutting your corners, fold the paper over the cardboard, overlapping in the corners if necessary. You may have to use a burnisher to get the paper to lay flat. Take a few minutes to make sure the paper is sticking securely to the cardboard. You may have to do a lot of rubbing to get it to stick properly. This is going to be your book cover so you want it to look perfect and have crisp edges! Take your time with this step.
Step 19
Turn your board over to reveal your new book cover. Now you need to repeat steps 13-18 to make the BACK cover. It doesn't need to be the same paper, or image, but you want it to be the same theme. If you are working from a scrapbook paper PAD, you shouldn't have any trouble making the front and back cover compatible. If you are using an image with many colors, like the one shown, you might want to pick a color from the image and match the back cover to that color. There are no hard and fast rules, only what YOU like.
Step 20
When you are done making the front and back covers, glue them to the outside surface of the paperbag - again using LOTS of glue and paying attention to the edges. Make sure to line your covered boards up properly - these are not square pieces so it DOES matter which way you lay your cover on the book.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to add TIES to your book so that you can tie it closed, you MUST put them on the book BEFORE you glue the cover on. To do this, cut a 10"-12" length of ribbon, or raffia (or other material) and glue it to the center edge of the paperbag - THEN you can place your cover over it, wedging the tie between the book and the cover. Be sure to do this for the back also!
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to add TIES to your book so that you can tie it closed, you MUST put them on the book BEFORE you glue the cover on. To do this, cut a 10"-12" length of ribbon, or raffia (or other material) and glue it to the center edge of the paperbag - THEN you can place your cover over it, wedging the tie between the book and the cover. Be sure to do this for the back also!
Step 21
With the back and front cover in place, we now need to make a binding for the glued edge of the book. Cut a coordinating piece of paper to measure 5 1/4" x 3" (I chose white just so you could see it better - but you can choose any color/pattern paper you desire!). If you return to thepictures of my finished books, you can see the patterned paper that I chose for these books are very coordinated to the other papers.
Step 22
Apply glue on the cover (the side where the glued edge is) as pictured - about 1/2"-1" away from the edge, and down the entire length of the book. This is where you are going to adhere your binding. You can also apply the glue to your binding piece instead of the book cover - whatever works easier for you.
Step 23
Place your cut binding piece on the glue (see picture in step 21) and rub it down with your fingers for a good seal. Then wrap the binding around to the back of your book. Apply glue to the back as you did on the front and press your binding paper into place. Please note: There is going to be a "gap" of binding paper between the front and back - this is necessary because as you add paper to the inside of your book, it will expand - so you need this extra room for your book to grow.
Step 24
Your book and binding should now resemble this.
Step 24
The binding piece will look unfinished unless we add some trim. For this book I chose a piece of ribbon. A coordinating strip of paper (cut thin) also looks wonderful. Cut your trim to 5 1/4" and lay a bead of glue down the edge of your trim.
Step 25
Lay your trim over the bead of glue, wipe off any excess glue, and trim the edges if the trim is too long for the book.
Step 26
This is what your book should look like up to this point - pretty neat, huh? There are two short pages (with 4 sides) one inner page (2 sides) and the front and back cover pages (though they're glued to the board, you still decorate these). AND.... don't forget the paper bag openings (2 of them) in the middle! This is the smallest book you can make with this system. If you want a larger book, just add more sections.
Once you are this point, there's nothing left to do but decorate the inside of your book. To do that, choose the papers you will use. Cut paper for the larger pages to 6" x 5 1/4" and glue them to the pages (paper pag) you want them on. For the smaller "Flap" pages cut your paper to 3 1/2" x 5 1/4". Glue these papers to the flap pages.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO GLUING EDGES!
NOTE: These books are not perfectly aligned measurements as you will notice as you build your book. Some trimming will be needed of some papers along the way - this is perfectly normal and adds immense charm to these books - so don't try to make them too perfect!
Once you are this point, there's nothing left to do but decorate the inside of your book. To do that, choose the papers you will use. Cut paper for the larger pages to 6" x 5 1/4" and glue them to the pages (paper pag) you want them on. For the smaller "Flap" pages cut your paper to 3 1/2" x 5 1/4". Glue these papers to the flap pages.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO GLUING EDGES!
NOTE: These books are not perfectly aligned measurements as you will notice as you build your book. Some trimming will be needed of some papers along the way - this is perfectly normal and adds immense charm to these books - so don't try to make them too perfect!
Decorating Ideas
Here is what the inside of one of my books looks like - just to give you some ideas of what you can do on the pages. I created lots of pockets from cut paper and trimmed them with laces, paper, buttons, etc. I made envelopes, tags and notecards in coordinating papers for notes. Paper flowers add an incredible charm to these books (as you can see on the cover - scroll back to the top of this page). Decorative craft scissors (the ones with the fancy edges) make great edges for your pages! Use your imagination and go wild! Use layers, like collages, to create some spectacular effects. And the bonus? The paper bag storage compartments! You can place more photos and notecards, postcards, seashells, ticketstubs and whatever other memorabilia you have inside these great little compartments!
You can get more decorating ideas from scrapbooking books. When you are done decorating your book (and this generally takes some time), add your favorite photos in the pockets, add some notes to your cards and you have a personalized book like no other!
You can get more decorating ideas from scrapbooking books. When you are done decorating your book (and this generally takes some time), add your favorite photos in the pockets, add some notes to your cards and you have a personalized book like no other!