How To Tuesday

“For today’s How to Tuesday, I’m going to show you how to make a 3 x 4 inch mini book using just a single sheet of 12 x 12 paper. The paper is folded in such a way that one pattern will end up as your cover and the other pattern will be the background for your pages. So you’ll want to choose a paper with that in mind.”  – Donna Jannuzzi, Pebbles Design Team Member

To start, begin by scoring your paper every 3 inches in one direction. Then turn your paper one-quarter turn and score the paper every 4 inches. This is easy to do if you have a scoring board, but you can achieve the same result using a ruler and a bone folder.

After you’ve scored your paper we’re going to cut it into thirds, but not all the way through! Place the paper in your paper trimmer so that it cuts 4 inches down:

(Be sure that this cut line is in line with one of the scored edges) and trim until you get to the 9 inch mark.

Then slide your paper down another 4 inches:

and this time, starting from the opposite direction, trim your paper until you get to the 3 inch mark.

Then all you have to do is start folding your paper along the score lines,

and when you get to the end of one row fold the paper back onto itself.

Continue folding, and once again when you get to the next end, fold the paper back onto itself again.

This is what the paper will look like with all the folds completed:

The last step is to use adhesive to glue the pages together. You can leave some of the edges open at the top and place tags for hidden journaling or other items like photos or ephemera in these pockets.

Also, I left my binding plain, but you could always embellish it with twine, washi tape, or patterned paper. Here are a few pages from my completed mini:

I had so much fun making this little book and using the Family Ties collection. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Family Ties Sister (751352)
Family Ties 6×6 Paper Pad (751360)
Family Ties Titles, Banner & Quotes Stickers (732148)
Family Ties Accent & Phrase Stickers (732149)
Family Ties Masking Tape Stickers (732151)
Family Ties Chips Chipboard Shapes (732153)