Paper Towel Roll Mini Album

Paper Towel Roll Mini Album

 

These are really fun to make and if you need more inspiration you can google for Toilet Paper roll albums and get lots of results. I used Paper Towel rolls as the library does not allow us to use toilet paper rolls for craft projects. 

I have found that I like using the paper towel rolls. I cut them in half to create my page, which gives me more area than a toilet paper roll, and I like having the larger space. 
  
For my program I have a lot of the elements pre-cut, I have tried to include as many measurements as possible but if I am unclear on my instructions please leave a note in the comments so that I can get the instructions up to speed. 

Page prep

We begin the album by prepping the pages. The rolls have already been cut in half giving us 5½ x 2¾” pages. We are using the cream paper to cover the rolls and give us a base to decorate. Use the glue stick to cover one side of the roll and place it on the paper so that it is about an inch in from one of the sides and press to secure. Glue the one inch flap up around the top of the roll. Now cover the top of the roll with glue and wrap the paper around and press to secure. Add glue to the rest of the paper and secure. Trim the paper that sticks out beyond the ends of the roll. Continue doing this till all 4 rolls are covered. From here on I will refer to the rolls as pages.

Front / Green layout

Use the long striped piece of paper and attach to the page about a half inch from the top. The 2½” piece of green card stock is the belly band for the album and the 2½ x 5” piece is for the tag. We will be stamping a swirl design on both pieces with versa mark ink.

The 3 x 3” piece of printed paper will be folded in half and attached with double stick tape on the end of the tag that does not have the rounded corners. Once the paper is attached it will stick out a bit beyond the sides of the tag, trim the excess off and then angle the corners with the angle template. Now fold the green tab in half and us a glue stick to cover the inside with glue. Carefully place one of the rounded sides on the printed paper so that the tab part sticks beyond the tag. Fold the tab so that the other side matches up on the other side of the printed paper and press to secure.

The larger piece is the belly band; it has been scored at the fold points. Once the band is stamped use double stick tape to secure the flaps together. The easiest way to do this is to wrap it around the 4 rolls so that the flaps meet in the front as shown by the striped paper. You want the seam to be at the point where the striped paper is. We will then cover the seam with the short piece of striped paper so that it lines up with the paper on the roll.

The next part of the belly band is the dictionary page flower. Use a push pin and poke a hole through the scallop circles, place the corduroy brad through the hole. Hold onto the prongs with one hand and scrunch the circles up with the other. I like to do them one at a time. Take the first scallop circle and scrunch it up over the brad, continue doing this with all the scalloped circles until you have a three dimensional flower. Now you can open the prongs of the brad and secure everything in place. Use a glue dot and attach the flower to the belly band on the striped paper. Your belly band is now done and can be set aside while you work on the rest of the pages.

1st page / blue layout

This layout includes two pieces of card stock, one 4½ x 2” and one 5 x 2 ½” and printed paper cut to 3 x 3”, 1 x 3” and 4½ by 2”. We will use versa mark to stamp butterflies on both pieces of the blue card stock. The smaller piece we will also stamp the word live on the bottom right with black ink.
Put double stick tape on the back of the 1 x 3” piece of printed paper. The front side is the one with the blue and green pattern as shown on the sample. Wrap this paper around the left of the card stock. Put double stick tape on the back of this and attach to the back of the front page. Place it towards the left so that the same amount of space is on the left top and bottom. The Right side will be wider as this is where your holes for your rings will go.

Attach the matching smaller 4½ by 2” piece of printed paper to another page. Make sure that it is the opposite of the blue page. You want the wider space on the left and the top, right and bottom to have the same space.

Finish the blue tag like you did for the green, fold the 3 x 3” printed paper in half and attach with double stick tape on the end of the tag that does not have the rounded corners. Once the paper is attached it will stick out a bit beyond the sides of the tag, trim the excess off and then angle the corners with the angle template. Now fold the blue tab in half and us a glue stick to cover the inside with glue. Carefully place one of the rounded sides on the printed paper so that the tab part sticks beyond the tag. Fold the tab so that the other side matches up on the other side of the printed paper and press to secure.

2nd page / orange layout

This layout includes two pieces of card stock, 4½ x 2” and 5 x 2½” and printed paper cut to 3 x 3” and 4½ x 2”. We will use versa mark to stamp swirls on both pieces of the orange card stock. Stamp the word laugh on the bottom left of the small orange piece with black ink.

Attach the 4½ x 2” piece of printed paper to the back of the blue page. Place it towards the left so that the same amount of space is on the left, top and bottom. The Right side will be wider as this is where your holes for your rings will go.
Attach the stamped orange 4½ by 2” piece to another page. Make sure that it is the opposite of the printed page. You want the wider space on the left and the top, right and bottom to have the same space.

Finish the orange tag like you did for the others, fold the 3 x 3” printed paper in half and attach with double stick tape on the end of the tag that does not have the rounded corners. Once the paper is attached it will stick out a bit beyond the sides of the tag, trim the excess off and then angle the corners with the angle template. Now fold the orange tab in half and us a glue stick to cover the inside with glue. Carefully place one of the rounded sides on the printed paper so that the tab part sticks beyond the tag. Fold the tab so that the other side matches up on the other side of the printed paper and press to secure.

3nd page / red layout

This layout includes two pieces of card stock, one 4½ x 2” and one 5 x 2 ½” and dictionary page cut to 3 x 3”, 1 x 3” and one printed paper cut to 4½ x 2”. We will use versa mark to stamp birds and swirls on both pieces of the red card stock. Stamp the word love on the bottom right of the smaller piece with black ink.

Put double stick tape on the back of the 1 x 3” piece of dictionary page and wrap this paper around the left of the 4½ x 2 red card stock. Put double stick tape on the back of this and attach to the back of the orange page. Place it towards the left so that the same amount of space is on the left top and bottom. The Right side will be wider as this is where your holes for your rings will go. Decorate the dictionary page strip by cutting a glue dot in half and using it to attach two hearts to the strip.

Attach the 4½ x 2” piece of printed paper to another page. Make sure that it is the opposite of the red page. You want the wider space on the left and the top, right and bottom to have the same space.

Finish the red tag like you did for the others, fold the 3 x 3” dictionary page paper in half and attach with double stick tape on the end of the tag that does not have the rounded corners. Once the paper is attached it will stick out a bit beyond the sides of the tag, trim the excess off and then angle the corners with the angle template. Now fold the red tab in half and us a glue stick to cover the inside with glue. Carefully place one of the rounded sides on the printed paper so that the tab part sticks beyond the tag. Fold the tab so that the other side matches up on the other side of the printed paper and press to secure.

Finishing touches

To decorate the orange page we will create a bow from a dictionary page. The pieces have been precut for you. Take the longer piece and make a loop add glue to one end and overlap the two ends and secure. Scrunch this in the middle.
Take the smallest piece and add glue to one side and wrap around the scrunched area of the loop.

Fold the third piece in half at an angle to make the tails. Attach this to the back of the bow using half of a glue dot then use the other half of the glue dot to attach the bow to the top right of the orange page.

To finish the album punch two holes in the front cover about a half inch from either side, making sure that it is the end where we left room for the holes. Use this as a guide to mark where the holes on the other pages should be punched. Feed the rings through the holes of your pages and secure. 

Decorate the rings with ribbons. Slip the belly band on and the album is finished. Add photos and journaling at your convenience.