How to Turn an Old Record Album Book into a Faux Metal Photo Album

Once upon a time I taught classes for Scrapbook News & Review Magazine.

I was the Handmade Flowers teacher.  I showed my students how to make all kinds of cool flowers for their scrapbooks or cards.

It was a lot of fun and I miss it.

Today, I’m sharing with you a class idea that never made it off the table.  It’s a quick how-to photo album, but you should be able to get the gist of it.

It’s a really cool way to share your photos and mementos with your friends and family.  This book would make a really awesome book to display on a coffee table.

Since it’s handmade you can make it as rustic, fancy or cutesy.  The possibilities are endless.

 

You will need:

1 record album book (thrift store goody)

1 metal tape (hardware store)

die-cut machine or punches (or you can free hand if you like)

alcohol inks and pads

cardstock

various paints

twine or yarn

glue & scissors

 

Pick up an old record album book from your local fleamarket or thrift store.

The pockets make wonderful way to display or simply hold those mementos.

First, cover the insides pages with cardstock of your choice.  You can cover the pockets or leave them open.  For this book, I covered the pockets in cardstock.

Metal tape is super sticky and super thin so handle with care!

To decorate the outside, I glued twine on the outside cover and then covered the entire outside of the book in the metal tape.

I then distressed the outer edge with black acrylic paints.

For the letters, I covered cardstock in metal tape and cut the letters out using my Cricut.  A paper punch works too.  If you don’t have a die-cut machine or paper punches you could always drawl and cut them out by hand.

I used alcohol inks to add color to the flowers, leaves and letters.  You can simply use paint if you don’t have alcohol inks.

To finish, I attached the flowers, leaves and letters using craft glue.

That’s it, really easy.

If you love old, rusty metal or shabby kind of decor, this book would fit right in.  It’s easy to put together and had tons of potential to hold all kinds of things.

I really enjoyed creating this album and I can’t wait to fill it with photos.

Feel free to drop me a comment if you have any questions or if you just want to say hi.

Thanks for stopping by.

I’m sharing this project with a few amazing linky parties.