I have never been into scrapbooking. Ever. I’ve seen some amazing scrapbooks and have met some really talented scrapbookers, but me? Not enough patience. But then Instagram came along with all it’s charming filters and immediate gratification. I’m obsessed with Instagram and have hundreds of little 4×4 prints hanging around my house. A while ago, I showed you what I do with all the IG prints I’ve had printed with this simple frame project:
We’ve also made a wreath with IG photos, printed them on wood to hang on the walls, even turned them into a Valentine’s card, but the question for me was what to do with all the IG pics once I swap them out of the frame? I’ve seen some IG books that you can make online (like this one and this one), but they were either too pricey or too difficult to put together. I’ve also seen some DIY scrapbooks using scrapbook paper and chipboard. Really cute, but a little too flimsy for me- plus you actually have to make the book. Ha! Time is at a premium for me these days, so I wanted a simple project that I could do in one afternoon that would also look great. And guess what? I nailed it. At least, for my purposes. 😉
I had envisioned a small square book with sturdy blank pages, but you wouldn’t believe how difficult that is to find! So I ended up ordering a 6×6 custom blank watercolor art journal from Emerson Bindery. It cost me a little under $20, but came ready to go- no assembly required! I am thrilled with the quality (the pages are nice and thick and sturdy!) and the awesome French stitch spine. It has a subtle style about it that I love. Money well spent, in my book!
Here’s what you need to make your own:
*Watercolor journal from Emerson Bindery
*Washi tape
*Glue tape
*Pens, stickers etc. (whatever you want to use to dress up your journal!)
* 4 x4 Instagram prints
I adhered my pictures to each page with glue tape, because I wanted to use the washi as just a decorative accent- not to hold each photo in place. But you totally could if you wanted to! If you haven’t tried glue tape, it’s ridiculously easy to use. Just run it along the backside of your picture and it leaves a small amount of sticky, but not messy, glue. It’s the perfect thing for pictures!
This album has 20 pages, and I planned on using both front and back sides, so I used approximately 40 pictures. Some pages have two prints, so it was actually a little bit more than that. Narrowing down my photos was the hardest part of this project, and because I just couldn’t part with some of my favorite pics, I decided to make a book for each kid, six months at a time. Hi, I’m Jess, and I have an IG photo problem. Moving on….
The front cover lists some cute facts about Charlie that I don’t want to forget. Each page is a little bit different, but I love that the picture is really the star. No crazy stickers, sparkles, loud colors…just the cute little boy that I can’t get enough of. (If stickers, sparkles and loud colors are your thing- go for it! Don’t let me stop you.)
I’m so stinkin’ happy to have a concrete, hold-in-my-hands book of all my favorite images of my kid and this little book could not have been any easier. Yay for projects that mark things off the to-do list and are simple to do!
And oh yeah, I ordered my pictures here, but wait! Before you go off and order some for yourselves, check back tomorrow to see how you can make your own custom IG prints for less than 10 cents a print! Monica has a trick up her sleeve that she can’t wait to share with you!
If you want to follow along with all our IG craziness, please do!
@Jess_EC2blog and @eastcoastcreative
Leave us your IG handle in the comments- we’d love to see what you’re up to, too!
This is so sweet! I love it. And yay for Washi tape! My IG is runtoradiance. Hopping on now to follow you guys! 🙂
My IG is bemarie81. I so love the scrapbook, its simple and cute! But the glue tape though, were have I been?? I had no idea it existed. #badgirl
My IG is clickinmomof2….love this idea, I’m always wondering what to do with those pics