How to Make a Blank Accordion Album

A true gift of the heart is one in which you invest great thought and time. A wonderful way to show off photos, accordion albums are not difficult to make and can be completed in a matter of hours. A few easy-to-find supplies and a little creativity are all that are required.
You could use 12-by-12-inch paper to make a longer, medium-sized book. Mini books are great, too, so the size depends on what your intentions for the book are. For full 3-by-5 photos, you may want to use larger paper.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 piece of 12-by-12-inch watercolor paper
• Ruler
• 1 mat board
• Decorative paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Embellishments

Creating an Accordion Album

1. Fold the 12-by-12-inch paper in half; be careful to make sure the edges meet exactly. You could use a ruler to help keep the creases straight and to flatten my creases.

2. Fold the top half of the open side of the paper backward, toward the crease of the first fold; be careful to make sure the edges meet exactly. Flip the paper over and do the same to the other side. When the paper is opened, you should now have three alternating folds.

3. Open the paper and fold the bottom to the top, making a new crease perpendicular to the three creases you already made. There should now be a crease running through the center of the paper, through the original creases.

4. Follow Step 2, meeting the edge of the paper with the new fold. When you open the paper, you should have three new alternating folds crossing the original three and resulting in 16 3-by-3-inch squares.

5. Cut along three of the folds--with scissors or a guillotine paper cutter--so you will have four strips of four squares that fold alternately.

6. Cut one of the strips of squares in half, so you will have two small strips of two squares and three strips of four squares.

7. Glue a strip of two squares to the ends of two strips of four so the four will become a long strip of eight squares that fold alternately. Connect the third strip to the eight using the last two squares.
   You should now have one long strip of 12 alternately folding squares. These will be the pages of your book.

8. Glue the decorative paper to the two 4-by-4-inch mat boards (the front and back covers). The paper should be a little bigger than the boards all the way around.

9. Cut off the corners of the paper close to the corners of the boards, but leave a little space.

10. Put a little glue on the paper around the edges of the boards, and fold the paper over. Your mat boards should now be fully covered.

11. Glue the mat boards to your pages, one at each end. You should have 10 "free" alternating pages and two cover pages, one at each end.

12. Attach photos, embellishments and your own creative style.

Tips & Warnings

• If you'd like to keep your book closed, glue a ribbon across the back mat board and tie it across the front.