wedding card keepsake book {for my middle sis}

 

I can check a couple of things off that end-of-summer to-do list I mentioned:  Macauley and I cleaned out his closet and his room in preparation for redecorating, which we plan to do next week after a trip to IKEA in Dallas for a new bed frame, mattress and some accessories.  And, I managed to make a book out of Lindsay's wedding cards (she had a lot!) using her favorite color purple, some of the ribbons from her gifts, and a hint of the lovebird theme from the reception decor.   All items I used (other than the 3" binder rings I got at Office Depot) were purchased from Michael's.  I started with a wooden album cover by Heidi Swapp, to which I attached scrapbook paper on the outside and a complementary pattern on the inside.  I added a felt bird that I found in a set from the dollar bin a long time ago, some linen look flowers by Recollections, a wooden J (for her new last name) that I spray painted black then sanded a bit, a purple ribbon from one of her gifts layered with some cream velvet ribbon and some pom-pom ribbon that I also bought from the dollar aisle around Valentine's Day. On the back cover, I glued a wooden medallion that I painted and sanded and some little pearl adhesive edging.  I used Elmer's X-treme glue for the paper and Aleene's Super Gel Adhesive for the embellishments and ribbon.  Both worked great.  Lindsay had organized the cards by each event (three showers and her reception) and I used the holes on the wooden book cover as a template to punch the cards one at a time using a plain-old metal three-hole punch.  This took a while and my right hand was sore and bruised the next day!  Perhaps there is a better method out there, but that was mine.  The 3" rings were just barely big enough to hold all the cards and the covers.  I could have split them up, I guess, but I liked the idea of a single collection, so I pushed it a little.  I cut scraps of ribbon, all from Michael's I believe, into roughly 4" strips then tied them all along the rings down the side.  I tied a couple of pieces of ribbon and tulle inside the book where a new section started (with the invitation for that event).  I very quickly glued some scrapbook paper to a cardboard box, put the book inside and tied more of the purple gift ribbon into a bow to take it to Lindsay's house, but I didn't get a picture of that.  I thought about writing a little message inside the front cover, too, but didn't do that.  I really like this idea (not my own--I've seen it done several ways on Pinterest) of making a keepsake out of cards rather than stashing them in a box.  I was going for a kind of shabby, scrappy, layered look, and I hope Lindsay and her new hubs like it.  There's no going back now...those holes are punched!