... Mini-Albums. I love them! I take a ton of photos during one event, and rather than choosing one to three and create a layout, I can fit a lot into a small album. Combine hybrid scrapping + a mini-album and you get a great time-saving solution for using lots of photos.

Luke and I had our engagement photo session with our photographer at the beginning of June. We had a lot of great photos. I narrowed it down to 12 of my favorite and created this little album to display at our wedding. I also included journaling describing our different personalities and little quirks.

While it's convenient (and tempting) to go out and buy an album, I am on a tight budget these days with only 5 weeks to go until the wedding and house hunt. So I made my own album out of corrugated (cover) and thin cardboard (inside pages) that I had leftover from another project.














Here's the step by step:
1. Find a mini-album template from your favorite digital designer and download it. (I downloaded the Tutti Frutti 4x6 Quick Page Album from We Are Storytellers.) Gather some cardboard or a blank album you already have.

2. Design your album in PhotoShop, PS Elements, or any design program with the digital template you downloaded.

3. Print and trim your pages. (I printed my pages on our Epson R1900 and trimmed them with an Xacto knife).

4. Now is the time to add embellishments to your pages that you don't want sticking through the other side of your cardboard. For example I wanted stitching on my cover, but I didn't want to see the stitching on the other side of the cardboard. So I stitched the cover before I adhered it the cardboard so that it looked seamless. (This would be a good time to add any brads.)

4. Measure and cut out cardboard to match the size of your album. Adhere your designed pages to the cardboard. (My album is 4x6 and I used Tombow Mono Adhesive)

5. Use a hole punch to create holes for binding. Use ribbon, binder rings, or other binding method to finish your album.

6. Add any stamps, embellishments or handwritten journaling to finish the album.

This hybrid album took about half the time it would have taken me if I didn't start with a digital template. Do you have any time-saving tips to share for making mini-albums or multi-photo layouts?

Have a great weekend!
Christy