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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 10 mins

Upcyle a record sleeve into a photo album or journal in under 10 minutes
I had to come up with this project a few years back because someone gave me about 200 old records to use for crafts (they were warped in a fire). I made most of the records into bowls, bracelets, clocks, etc. But, then I had all of the sleeves. I wanted to make something that even a guy would like. I've seen some people cut up the covers and bind them into smaller journals, but I don't like to destroy the cover art. So, I tried out 2 different versions of this project. I made the first version with laces of ribbon as the binding. That was a little girly, so I came up with another version that uses 2 hole metal prong fasteners (duo tangs). The 2 hole punch cuts through the record sleeve like butter. I highly recommend purchasing one for crafting. So many uses.

These are notebooks/songbooks. But, I also think that you could buy the 12x12 plastic sleeves from the dollar store or the craft store that hold 12x12 album pages and make a great scrapbook. They also sell 12x12 plastic pages that hold 4x6 photos. Those could be great in one of these albums.

Posted by boutique-it • Published 19th September 2010 • See boutique-it's 16 projects »

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Joslyn H. favorited Old Record = New Songbook 26 Aug 19:33
boutique-it entered her project Old Record = New Songbook to Daisy Rock 06 Nov 02:14

Step 1
Because the 2 hole punch can punch through so many layers at once, I take the album cover and shove my paper in against the spine. With the cover closed, I punch 4 holes with the 2 hole punch. For the laced version, I punch 6 or 8 holes.
Step 2
Open the cover and insert the fasteners through the paper. This is great because you can add more or throw out the old pieces when you are done with them (for instance if you are using this as a notebook for class - lined paper will work just as well as plain white.)
Step 3
It is hard to see in this photo, but I sewed down a piece of black elastic to hold pens/markers into the book. I think that you can actually see it better in the photo above.
Step 4
For the laced version I just threaded the ribbon through in a corest pattern. I scored the cover just to the right of the laces with my bone folder or the back of my scissors so that the cover would open more easily.