How to Make a Mini Brag Book
Kim made this 4.5-inch square mini brag book as a gift for her mother – a small photo album designed to sit on a coffee table for showing off photos of kids and grandkids. She kept the journaling minimal on purpose, leaving space for her mom to tell the stories herself when visitors flip through.
My Mom loves to brag about her kids & grandkids. Visitors pop around for tea & out come the albums & mini books. Knowing this gives me a legit excuse to make mini brag books regularly, particularly because they are quick & so rewarding to make. I make sure, when I design them I don’t add too much journaling, knowing how much my Mom & her sweet friends love to chat, it leaves conversation space for my Mom to fill in the details.
Mini Brag Book by Kim Watson
Looking for card making supplies? Browse our monthly kits - each one includes coordinated papers, stamps, and embellishments perfect for handmade cards.
This is how you can make one for yourself.
Instructions:
- Using the gorgeous February kit, grab yourself a selection of pretty patterned papers, the American Crafts foam alpha sheet, enamel dots, ephemera die-cuts & gold rub-ons from My Mind’s Eye.
- Cut pages for your mini book 4.5″x4.5″.
- Using Heidi Swapp washi tape, join the pages together
- Once you have the desired amount of pages, attach x2 white cardstock covers to the outer pages for strength.
- Bind the whole book together with a couple of layers of washi tape. The beauty of Heidi Swapp washi tape, is that it has a variety of patterns in one roll which makes for super interesting detail on the book spine.
- Finally bind bakers twine around the middle pages of the book, tying on the outside.
- Let’s fill those pages!!
Pages 1 & 2:
Pages 3 & 4:
Pages 5 & 6:
Pages 7 & 8:
Pages 9 & 10:
Pages 11 & 12:
Pages 13 & 14:
Cover:
Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have found this mini book inspiring!!
If you haven’t had a chance to purchase your February, March, & April kits yet, then don’t miss out! They are packed full of a beautiful, well co-ordinated selection of products, you will LOVE!
Visit the Hip Kit Club website, to secure yours today!
Kim's Step-by-Step Construction
- Cut all pages to 4.5 by 4.5 inches, then join them together with Heidi Swapp washi tape. The variety of patterns in a single washi tape roll creates an interesting spine when you stack several strips.
- White cardstock covers on the front and back add structure. Without them, the patterned paper pages are too flimsy to hold up as a standalone book.
- Baker's twine tied around the middle pages and knotted on the outside gives the book a finished spine. It also keeps the pages from fanning open.
- Decorate each spread as its own mini layout. Kim treated her 12 pages as 6 separate two-page spreads, each with its own color scheme pulled from the February 2015 kit.
- Foam alpha stickers and enamel dots add dimension without making pages too thick to close. Flat embellishments like rub-ons and die-cut ephemera work better than chunky add-ons in a mini book.
Grab This Month's Kit
Every month we put together a box of coordinated papers, embellishments, and supplies that all work together. Open the box, start creating. It's that simple.