These mini albums are made from lunch sacks – paper bags. I have made more than I can count and given many as gifts over the years. They are time-consuming to make by hand, but so rewarding when you finish. Mostly they are used as mini photo albumns.
More recently I’ve been using the paper bag mini albums to create wisdom books for friends and family. There are several good tutorials on YouTube, just search for mini albums or paper bag album. I really enjoy Kathy Orta King’s tutorials, so I’ll add a link here.
I love the organic, tactile quality of working with paper. There’s a connection with nature and the nature lover in me wants to honor the sacred sacrifice of the tree by creating something beautiful. I’m fascinated by what you can create with paper. Here are a few of my paper creations.
The Exploding Box
The exploding box is a work of art and makes a great gift when filled with notes or treats…
Exploding box made entirely of craft paper…remove the lid and voilà!
Inside of the exploding boxWhen the lid is taken off, the four sides of the box fall away and reveal its contents. In this case, the box was filled with handmade paper flowers and each side had a pocket that held a pull-out note card. I made this box for my mom on Mother’s Day a few years ago. There are so many possibilities with the exploding box, check them out here.
The Wisdom Book
I wanted to create a handmade wisdom book that contained some of my favorite quotes. It is one of my treasures.
Paper Crafted Wisdom BookIt was rather complex to put together, but worth the effort.
Inside the wisdom book The wisdom book contains many layersHmmm, maybe I should make an exploding box of ancient wisdom! You may be laughing right now…but seriously, the idea just came to me as I write this post. What pearl of wisdom would you include in an exploding box? I’m curious to hear your thoughts. So please share your favorite quote in comments if you’re so inclined.
