Tutorial: Postcard Album Makeover

I love collecting postcards.  I don't love letting them sit in a drawer/box/basket somewhere where I can't look at them.  So I decided to make myself a postcard album.

Time: 30 minutes

Supplies: 

• 1 yard of fahhbulous fabric
• 1 photo album 
• Spray adhesive
• optional: Stitch Witch (or any other iron-on hemming

Cost:  around $4

Obtain a photo album with inserts that will fit most 4"x6" postcards.  Make sure the photo insert pages are removable, like a binder. This is the one I found *shudder*.  Find some awesome fabric, preferably of a weight that won't show the hideous design through one layer.

Take out the photo inserts.

Measure a length of fabric to fit 2" overlap on the top and bottom, and enough fabric on both sides to fit all the way to the middle.

Optional: I wanted clean, nice edges, so I decided to hem them with Stitch Witch fusible webbing.

This is what it ends up looking like:

Everything nice and neat :)

Align the album where you want it on the fabric.  I used a blue pencil to lightly draw guide marks.

Here's a random picture of my ShihTzu, Teddy, wondering what the heck I'm doing.

Treat the spray-on adhesive like you would spray paint. Use painter's tape to cover the areas you don't want sticky yet.  I recommend doing this outside.  Spray the adhesive on the inside of the fabric.

Using the guide marks you made earlier, stick the outside of the photo album to the inside of the fabric.

Using the same method as before, spray the top and bottom edges with adhesive and affix to the album.

Spray and adhere each side panel to the album. For the side panel that was to cover the ugly metal part I simply cut lines where the rings would poke through.  If you wanted to be more classy, you could probably cut tiny holes instead, but that is too much work for me.  Oh, and I used that roller to make sure every nook and cranny was stuck to the album.

Here it the inside of the album with both side flaps affixed.

Here it is closed once it's done:

And a side shot:

And voila! You have your very own custom-made postcard album.  Enjoy!