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A mini scrapbook can be made with almost anything, from paper bags to simple pieces of paper bound at the side with staples or brads. Think about the purpose and theme of the scrapbook and try to match your materials to it. Here are some ideas for products to use:

-Mini photo album. You can find mini photo albums almost anywhere, especially at dollar stores. They're the small plastic photo albums designed to hold 10 or so 4X6 photos. I find these are great to use for mini albums. It's really like a miniature scrapbook. You can customize a front and back cover and then simply make miniature scrapbook layouts on 4X6 pieces of paper and slip them in. It's inexpensive and very portable if you'd like to carry it with you in your purse to show off pictures of your kids. I like to make them for my children using pictures of them at the zoo or doing certain activities, or with pictures of relatives that they don't see very often . Since they're covered in plastic and inexpensive I don't worry about the kids handling them all the time.

-Accordion album. There are plenty of accordion album kits in stores but you could easily make your own if you'd like. Simply fold a large piece of paper accordion style and trim to the desired size. You can then scrap directly onto the fronts and backs of the folds. Attach ribbon to the ends and tie them for a closure or find a container that the album will fit into, such as a decorative box, or metal container such as an altoid box etc. You can then decorate the container as well to coordinate with your album theme. Have an old lunchbox from your childhood? Make a mini album with pictures and memories of your childhood and early school days and house it in the lunchbox.

-Sports card protective sleeves (sometimes labeled as "Top Loaders"). My husband collects sports card so I have an ample supply of these, but they can be found at most stores that sell sports cards such as WalMart and Target. They're thick, strong plastic coverings designed to protect sports cards and they have an opening at the top to slide the cards in. I slide mini scrapbook pages in instead. I use these to create mini brag albums for my parents. I slide photos of my children mounted on patterned paper into the protective sleeves, punch a hole in the top corner and then place several of them onto a metal ring I purchased at an office supply store. You could also tie them together with decorative ribbon or string. The photos are fully protected and portable. My mom carries hers wherever she goes. The other great thing is that as the kids grow she can take off some of the earlier pictures and replace them with more recent photos.

-Tags. Create a series of tags with photos and journaling on them and string them together with ribbon or string. Think creatively. Grab a bunch of paint swatches from your local hardware store and crop photos and decorative paper on the back of them to create a mini album about some of your home decorating projects, or how much you like to paint, or even your kids' favorite colors. Use a variety of luggage tags (which can be found inexpensively at dollar stores and other places) to make a mini album about a trip. Simply slide your photos and journaling into the space where your address would go.

Whatever products you choose to use and whatever themed scrapbook you create, you'll find the mini scrapbooks are fun, inexpensive and quick to make.

Learn more about this author, Amy Freidhof.
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