Hey there, friends! Aly here again with another gift idea for Father’s Day. I wanted to create a mini album for my husband with special journaling and photos from my kids, so I got out my Template Studio and a sheet of Kraft Designer Poster Board and made a DIY accordion fold mini album. The Template Studio is the perfect tool to create this type of album, so let me show you how to make it.
To create a 4″ accordion fold album from one sheet of poster board, first you’ll need to cut your poster board down to 16″ x 16″ using the Template Studio. (To watch instructional videos for using the Template Studio, visit our YouTube channel HERE.) Tip: be sure to hold the template guides in place when cutting and scoring to ensure your lines are straight.
Once you’ve finished cutting, score your poster board vertically at 4″, 8″ and 12″. Then score it again horizontally at 4″, 8″, and 12″. Your poster board should now look like a grid with 4″ squares.
Next you need to cut three horizontal 12″ lines along the horizontal score lines. Begin the top line on the right edge of the poster board at 4″ down and cut until you reach the 4″ mark on the top of the cutting mat. Begin the next horizontal cutting line at the left edge of the post board at 8″ down and cut until you reach the 12″ mark along the top of the cutting mat. The last cut will start at the right edge of the post board at 12″ down and end at the 4″ mark along the top of the mat. (See image below.)
Once you’ve made your cut lines, start accordioning folding with a mountain fold at the top right square. When you get the the top left square, fold it down over the square below. Continue folding the same way until you reach the end of the poster board as seen below.
Fold the cut and scored poster board up into an accordion fold mini album as see below.
When you get to the squares that fold down onto each other, add some strong double sided tape (or other strong adhesive) so that you form a flat panel just like the other squares in the album.
Once you’ve finished folding all of your squares, and adhering the squares that fold down, your DIY accordion fold album should look like the album in the image below.
Now the fun part–you get to add photos, journaling, and embellish your album to your heart’s content. I pulled out the more muted, masculine color papers and embellishments from the lovely Hello Darling collection to decorate mine. Then I added photos of my kids and their own words listing 5 things they love about Dad. Take a look at some more photos of my completed album below.
This fun DIY accordion fold album makes a great gift for any occasion. It would also be a perfect way to display your photos from your Instagram feed. Creative cheers!
Supplies:
Template Studio Starter Kit
Kraft Designer Poster Board
Hello Darling Collection