Saturday, January 12, 2013

Turning an Old Nancy Drew Book into a Photo Album


We have been known to get a wee bit crafty at Mystery Playground and recently I turned a damaged Nancy Drew hardback book into a photo album cover and gave it away on the site (congratulations to our winner, Kathleen, thank you to everyone who entered). Several people asked how I made it, and so here's how...

Materials:
- Serious glue, I prefer Gorilla Glue
- One C.R. Gibson Photo Clutch, dimensions 7x5 (If you can find another one the same size, go for it, but I haven't been able to. I also have not been able to find this one in stores, you need to search online.)
- One Nancy Drew hardback - I used damaged Nancy Drews. I found some water damaged Nancy Drews at a Goodwill store about a year ago and use these in my crafts.

- An exacto knife 
This is what your final product should look like (your cover will most likely be a different title)



Step One:
Open your hardback. Take the Exacto knife and carefully cut away the pages as one group making a slice on each side. Remove pages and reserve for next craft (see below, I turn the pages into note cards.)

Step Two:
Apply Gorilla Glue to one side of the inside of the hardcover. Quickly slide the photo album clutch into the hardback with the hardware facing up. Hold the book closed like you want it to look when your done. Like the photo below until the glue sets - this should take 30 seconds to a minute.


Step Three: 
Apply glue to the other interior side and repeat holding the book until dry. 



And you are done. Ridiculously easy once I found the exact size photo album. 
In true waste not, want not fashion, I use the left over pages from the Nancy Drew book to make note cards. I will post how to do this tomorrow. 

Feel free to ask questions in the comment section below. I'd also love to hear about your bookish crafts. 









2 comments:

  1. that's really cool! where did you get your photo album from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got it from Amazon. Make sure it's the right size before you order it.

    ReplyDelete