What you'll need:
-Really thick cardboard
-fabric
-pretty paper
-Mod Podge
-Awl
-box cutter
-foam brush
-heavy books
-Liquitex Matte Medium
-Paper doily
-wax paper
-Letter cut outs/stickers
1. I had to figure out the dimensions I wanted. I measured my paper that I cut out for the inside and it was 12" by 9"...so I cut out two pieces that size out of some think cardboard I had in my junk bin.
(At first I tried to use scissors....fail. Luckily I had a box cutter!)
2. I measured out where to place the holes so that it rings can be slipped into it. I did this by placing one of my papers over the cardboard and marking the holes.
3. I picked out some pretty fabric for the cover (I love the polka dots!) and left about 2" around the each cardboard piece.
4. I used Mod Podge and a foam brush to glue the fabric down. Make sure to press hard to get out all the air bubbles!
5. I flipped it over to glue the edge to what will be the inside cover. I trimmed some fabric off the edges so that they wouldn't get bulky by cutting a diagonal piece off.
(If you have wet spots come through, don't worry it will dry clear!)
6. I let the covers dry for a couple of hours under some really heavy books, so that they will remain flat.
7. After they were dry, I got started on the inside of the cover, by picking out some pretty scrapbook paper. Then I measured it to be a little smaller than the cover, so that a little of the purple polka dot fabric would show. This came out to be 11" by 8".
8. Once I cut them out, then I used Mod Podge to glue them down. I let them dry again for another couple of hours under heavy books.
9. Once they dried, I used the awl to poke the holes into the fabric that I made in step 2. Then I slipped the metal rings through, viola!
10. Now I wanted to have the front cover decorated a little bit on the outside, so I glued down a paper doily for a little girly touch. I didn't really want the glossy finish of the Mod Podge so I used Liquitex Matte Medium to glue it on. I let it dry again for a couple of hours, but I put wax paper on top of it before placing books on it so it wouldn't glue to them.
11. The next day, my friend came over with her Cricut machine and we cut out my daughter's name to go on the front... unfortunately, I don't have pictures of us in action....but here is the cover, I plan on putting her birthday on when I find out....hopefully it is sometime this week! :)
Stay tuned for next MMM....I'll show you the embleshing I did on the inside.
If you've done any smash booking, please post links in the comments so I can see your work too!
-Megan :)
