Halloween Envelope Album

 I'm getting a jump start on my Halloween photos this year. Every year, when the costumes come, my boys put them on to make sure they fit and to check that we have all the accessories needed. I usually take this opportunity to take photos. That way on the actual day of trick-or-treating, I only have to snap a few photos of them in the act. Since I already have some of the photos, I decided to get a mini album started and half decorated.

This year, I'm making an envelope album, but instead of using pre-made envelopes, I made them myself from My Little Shoebox's Trick-or-Treat collection. It's bright, fun, and has spiders and bats in it, which is perfect for highlighting my little Spiderman and Batman.

To make the album, first you'll need to decide what size envelopes you'll want. I chose A7 which is the size that fits a 5" x 7" photo (so the finished envelope is slightly bigger than  5" x 7").  No need to re-invent the wheel here, if you have the Martha Stewart Scoring Board it gives you all the measurements you'll need if you stick with a standard size. Otherwise, Google the size you want to make. No need to try to figure it out for yourself.

For an A7 envelope, cut your paper to 10" x 10". Place your paper so it's shaped like a diamond. Score at 3 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, sore at 4 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, score at 3 1/4". Turn 90 degrees, sore at 4 1/4".

Cut the notches out where the score lines overlap.

Now you're ready to fold and assemble your envelope. I like Glue Dots® Glue Lines the best for this task. They're thin and come pre-cut in just the right size sections.

 I used 4 lines per envelope, 1 at the middle and one at the bottom of each side. Fold the bottom  flap up over the side flaps. Leave the top open (just like a regular envelope). 

Make as many of these envelopes as you want for your album. I made 7.

To assemble your album place a few glue lines along the flap of the envelope where the adhesive would normally be on an envelope. I also placed one in the middle just above the flap fold line. Take the envelope with the adhesive flap open, face down. Take another envelope, face up (if this is the first page fold the flap backwards, otherwise the flap will already be folded into another page). Insert the flap of the face down envelope into the pocket of the face up envelope. Move into place until both edges match up. Press down to seal adhesive in place. Repeat until all of your envelopes are gone.

Now the fun really begins: you can decorate your album. By creating an album from envelopes, you'll have pockets on every other page so you can:

...hide journaling

...stash a photo

...or seal right over it an use it like a normal page.

Happy haunting!

I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.