Hi guys, it's Erica again! :) I've got a tutorial of one of my most favorite projects to share with you today, the one sheet mini book!
First off, you want to gather your materials. You need one sheet of 12x12 cardstock, some scrap patterned paper, embellishments and about 20" of coordinating ribbon. You'll also need a paper trimmer, something to score with, a craft knife, your favorite adhesive, some super strong tape adhesive and a great ruler.
You want to score your cardstock every 3" going both horizontally and vertically.
This is what your cardstock should look like when you are done trimming.
Now on the vertical score line on the far right, you want to cut from the bottom, 3/4 of the way up, stopping at the last horizontal score line.
Repeat this step on the other outside vertical score line, but not on the middle one.
On the middle score line you want to cut from the top, 3/4 of the way down, stopping at the last horizontal score line.
This is what your sheet of cardstock should look like.
Now we are going to start folding. Fold the first square back onto itself. (Right side to right side if your cardstock has texture on only one side.)
Now fold it back the other way.
Keep going, folding back and forth on the straight aways and around the corners.
This is what it should look like when you have folded it completely.
Now, unfold it so that the last three squares are visible. You want to glue the back sides of the pages together, starting after these three sheets. Leave them unglued, it's very important! (Says the gal who has glued hers together more times than she cares to admit!) Also, leave the last three squares unglued. Again, very important! :)
Once you've glued it together correctly, this is what you'll have.
Now we are going to add our ribbon closure. First, you need to measure your ribbon. Since I chose a rickrack, I decided to use the measurement from one peak to the next so that it would have plenty of room. It's about 1/4".
We need to know the width of our ribbon because we are going to cut a slit in the middle of the crease between the second and third squares. I used my awesome centering ruler to find the middle of the crease and cut 1/8" on either side.
Repeat this on the other side and then thread your ribbon through both slits. Make sure that your ribbon lies flat and doesn't twist.
Now, you want to glue square number two on top of square number three and the ribbon.
Now, do the same on the other side. When your done, it should look like this.
Now we are on the final step of building our book. Take one of the flaps and fold it over the spine. Using a pencil, trace along the edge of the spine.
Now cut along that line. This flap is going to be the outside of your spine. Now you want to take the other flap and run a piece of tape along the crease. Cut this flap right next to the tape. This is going to be the inside flap of your spine.
Peel off that red covering and adhere the inner flap to the spine.
Now run two strips of that tape along the inside of the outer flap, remove the red covering and adhere it over the inner flap.
Now, if you're like me and didn't cut your outer flap perfectly, just take your craft knife and trim off the edge and you are done!
This is what your completed book should look like.
If you stuck with me through all of this, congrats!!! Now it's time for the fun part, decorating your new mini book!
I cut two flowers out of some We R Memory Keepers Explore paper with the Slice and stacked them with a snap from the same line on top.
Then, on the inner pages, I cut 2 3/4" squares out of the same paper and centered them on each page. Once I figure out what I'm going to use this cutie for, I'll probably put pictures on one side and a little journaling spot on the other.
Thanks for reading this insanely long tutorial and if you have any questions you can pm me over on the forumor shoot me an e-mail, melegs (at) hotmail (dot) com and I'll do my best to help.
Enjoy!
