Comfort & Joy Day 6: Holding Onto Memories

For today's final post of our "Comfort & Joy" series, I have a special guest, my mom.  (You can expect to see more from her in 2013, yay!)  Each year she makes this special "scrapbook" to hold onto our most treasured holiday cards, but it could be used for photos or for cards received all year round that you want to hold on to.  

Until Next Year!

Megan

P.S. Be sure to check back on the 1st and 5th next week for special blog posts!

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For years, we have recycled our Christmas cards and those we have wanted to save, we have put in a box. I decided several years ago to do something a little different ... I created a Christmas Card Keepsake album ... somewhere to store each year's cards, pictures and letters in a more organized manner.  This way, the album can be put out each Christmas for all to enjoy along with the new cards, letters and pictures.  

This is a great project to get the entire family involved in or to just enjoy doing yourself!  You can use either scrapbooking paper or fabric.  Last year, I chose scrapbooking materials as you can see below but this year, I decided to change it up a bit and use fabric. This is a great project to use your scrap fabric for!  No matter which you choose, the method is still basically the same although one uses glue exclusively and the other you will need a sewing machine or needle and thread to complete.

Christmas Card Albums ~ Left: Scrapbook Materials ~ Right: Fabric Materials

You will need to collect the following items to complete your album:  two pieces of cardboard, fabric scrap pieces, scissors, pins, matching thread, ribbon and a Crocodile heavy duty punch.  Now, you are ready to begin :)

The first thing you will need to do is measure your largest card and then cut two pieces of cardboard so that your front and back cover will encase your cards.  Cut the cardboard to that size ... mine was 6 1/2" by 10 1/2".  Then take your fabric and cut it so that it is an inch larger horizontally and a 1/2 inch larger vertically ... so my fabric was cut 7 1/2" by 11".  

You will want to put any embellishments on before stitching your front pieces of fabric to your back pieces of fabric.  For this year's album, I fussy cut fabric and then appliquéd them to the front and back covers, both outside and inside ... you can do as much or as little as you want ... make it your own!  

Inside Front Cover

Inside Back Cover

The one thing that I always do is put the year on the front cover.  After embellishing your fabric, put the right sides together for the front and back covers and sew the top and bottom and one of the sides together ... you will do this twice ... once with the fabric for the front of your album and once for the back of your album.  Turn your sewn pieces so the right sides are on the outside.  Iron your covers.  

Next, slip the pieces of cardboard in between your sewn covers.  Fold the open end of your fabric in and slip stitch the opening so it is closed ... again, you will need to do this twice.  

Back Cover

Take your largest Christmas card and decide where you want it to sit in your album.  Mark your cover pieces and then using a Crocodile heavy duty punch and punch two holes in both the front and back covers.  Punch holes in each one of your cards, thread a ribbon through the cover holes and card holes and tie the ribbon at the top ... there you have your Christmas Card Keepsake Album to enjoy for years to come!  

I hope you had fun making this project and that you and your family will enjoy it for years to come!

Wishing you fond family memories, health and happiness in 2013 ~ Penny