A month ago, my daughter and I went over to my friend’s house. I got tons of wonderful photos of her and of the two of us together. I wanted to make a little mini album with these photos so I decided to alter a board book. Dani’s Gidget kit was perfect for this album because the colors matched the great colors in my photos!
Supplies: 1 blank 5×5″ board book (you can also alter one of your kids’ board books), Mod Podge (paper formula), small foam brush, fine tip crafting scissors, sanding sponge, assorted ribbons and twine, paper and fabric flowers, 1 small clothespin, button, hot glue gun, a pair of my DD’s old jeans - I cut out one pocket and two belt loops.
First, I created my pages in PSE. My book had ten pages and a front and back cover. I sized each interior page at 5×5″ and decided to make one long continuous print to cover the front and back cover. I sized the cover at 5×10.25″. I had done a board book before and I didn’t cover the spine. The covers started separating from the book near the spine so I wanted to cover it this time. Once my pages were designed, I opened up two 12×18″ canvases. I flattened my pages and dragged them onto the 12×18’s, then saved them as JPEGs. I sent these prints to Costco for printing on matte photo paper (lustre finish).
After I had my prints I cut them out and gathered my supplies! Then I started gluing my pages in, starting on the inside pages, saving my cover for last. I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge with my foam brush to my board book and a layer to the back of my print to make sure that baby was really stuck on there. I glued to the front side of each page first, waited until the Mod Podge was 110% dry, trimmed off the overhang with my fine tip crafting scissors, then repeated the process for the back side of each page. Don’t rush Mod Podge!! It will come back to bite you in the bum! 
If you print at home, you may want to let your prints sit overnight before using Mod Podge as I’ve heard some people have trouble with ink running and pages curling.
For my cover, I wrapped my print around the book to get an idea of where the creases would need to go on my print for the spine. I took my print off and made sharper creases at these points. I then glued the cover on with Mod Podge and trimmed the overhang after it dried. With all my pages and my cover attached, I was ready to sand with my sanding sponge! This helps smooth out any jagged edges on your prints.
Next came my favorite part!! EMBELLIES! I first added some ribbon to the cover and some of the interior pages. Then I started working on my pocket. I cut out some ribbon and hot glued them to the inside of my pocket.
Then I added my flower clipped with the clothespin, hot gluing the pin to the inside of the pocket. Once this was done I applied a line of hot glue to the inside of the pocket on top of the ribbon pieces and then glued the pocket shut. I attached the pocket and the belt loops to my cover with hot glue.
Then I added a few paper flowers, a twine bow, and a button to the front cover! I was done! I just love how this turned out and I hope you’re inspired to make something similar! TFL!
