*special delivery*- mini album PART 2

A number of you have emailed me or left comments on my last post requesting instructions for the toilet paper tube mini album. I found the tutorial on the demonstrator side of the Stampin' Up website, which explains why many of you are not able to find it. I'm not sure if I have the right to post a link to the tutorial directly here. Julie Griffith wrote the tutorial, and if you go to her blog, you can see a few of the toilet paper tube mini albums she created and a video of different ways she binds them together. It really is super easy to make, and I'm confident that you can do it without the instructions. In fact, I jumped right in and didn't really even read the instructions step by step myself. I'll outline a few things that are good to know, and you'll have no trouble creating one of these on your own.

Start off by flattening 3 or 4 toilet paper tubes. I just smashed them down with my hand and then ran a bone folder across the edges. You can either completely cover the flattened tubes with patterned paper or you can paint them with craft paints and then partially cover them, which is what I did. I opted to use papers from a spiral journaling album by Making Memories, and they weren't big enough to cover the tubes completely. Here's a suggestion if you're planning on stamping most of the pages: Stamp the pages BEFORE you adhere your paper to the tube. That way if you make a mistake, at least your paper won't already be glued down to the tube. I used my crop-a-dile to punch two holes in the left side of the tubes to bind the little album together. That leaves the right side open to insert little tags inside of the tubes. I don't know the exact size of the inserts because I just held up a piece of cream colored cardstock to one of the tubes and marked it a little bit smaller than the tube. Here's another suggestion: Punch the holes and insert the eyelets into the tubes BEFORE making the inserts. Otherwise your inserts (tags) will be too long. I bound my mini album together with binder rings. I originally used small ones and discovered they were so small I could barely turn the pages. The next size I had seemed way too big, so I tied matching ribbons around them. It's times like this when a nice ribbon stash comes in handy!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thanks so much for your interest in my little project and all your sweet words. They really made my day!