DIY Mini Beach Life Scrapbook Album

Going to the beach each summer should be on everyone’s bucket list. There just is no other place like the beach with the crashing waves, the soft sounds of flowing water, the screeches of seagulls, the sun….you know what I mean. Even if you do make it to the beach each year, you should always take some time to sit down and do some memory keeping in a scrapbook album of that day. You’d be surprised how much we forget once the moment passes.

You might remember the Rainbow Unicorn Kit Travelers Notebook Planner Setup I created for my daughter using the Planner Society July 2018 kit. For this beach life mini album I used the same paper from that kit to create a different vibe from her travelers notebook setup. It’s always a good thing to use what you have when creating a new project. In taking the pictures for this post, I even used seashells that I collected from Sanibel Island in 2001. I have a whole bucket of shells I collected from the beach during that vacation.

This mini album was so much fun to create and I’ve already got some summer beach pictures to add to it. Before we get to the walk through, let’s take a look at the cover and keepsake envelope.

• Vellum Envelope: I used glittery white alphabet stickers for “The Beach Life” quote. The finished size of the vellum envelope is 7-3/4″ wide by 6-1/4″ high (of which 1-1/4″ was used for the flap of the envelope). I used the whole 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet of vellum paper. My only mistake with this envelope was not making it expandable but the album still fits in it. Whew!
• Cover: I used adhesive foam dots to raise a 3-1/4″ x 4-1/2″ piece of kit paper off the cover page. Using the foam dots again I added two die cuts from the planner kit.
• Binding: Each page is an individual sheet of paper. I glued each page set together (back to front) to create an accordion style album. Then I used a 3/4″ piece of scrap paper to glue at the edge of the seam to hide the edges of the album.

Walk Through of The Beach Life Scrapbook Album

Let me walk you through the inside pages of my mini scrapbook so you can see how it all came together and how I plan to use it. This will also give you lots of great scrapbook ideas to create your own summer beach life album for memory keeping.

01. Inside Cover and 1st Page

• The best part of the Planner Society papers are that they are double sided which made it real easy to create pocket pages. On the pocket portion of the paper, I used my Martha Stewart paper punch because the pattern reminded me of the bubbles that are created when a wave hits the shore. I then glued down each edge of the pocket to their respective page.
• A die cut was added to the upper left corner.
• A matching page tab was added on the right page.
• The kit had some white glittery stickers and I added the floral one because it reminded me of beach sand.
• I tucked in a 2-3/4″ x 2-3/4″ square die cut with holographic foiling on it that reads “The possibilities are endless”. It’s the perfect size to record a memory for that day.
• The last piece added was a washi card using washi tape the unicorn washi from the kit, holographic bow washi from Simply Gilded and a white glittery “sand” style washi tape from my own collection. The backside of this washi card is plain white cardstock paper.

The added benefit of these pockets, throughout the whole album, is that you can tuck in pictures and other memorabilia from that day at the beach.

02. 2nd and 3rd Album Pages

• Two diecuts from the kit were added to the bottom corners of each page.
• I tucked in plain white cardstock paper sized to 4-3/4″ x 3-1/4″ to each page pocket.
• On the left side, I created a 2-1/2″ x 3-3/4″ memory keeping envelope out of the kit paper; tucked in a 3-1/4″ x 2″ piece of cardstock (white on one side, kit paper on the other); then I used a bow paper punch to glue on the flap of the envelope.
• One the right side, I tucked in a 2″ x 4″ piece of scrap paper that I used a decorative corner punch on each corner; and a 2-3/4″ x 2-3/4″ square die cut with holographic foiling on it that reads “Love always wins”.
• The right page also has a matching tab at the top.

03. 4th and 5th Album Pages

I just loved this blue floral paper, it reminds me of Hawaii (even though I haven’t been there before).

• On the left side, I tucked in a 4-3/4″ x 3″ white cardstock card to which I glued a piece of paper that I cut out from the bag the kit came in; on the backside of this card I fussy cut one of the pink/coral toned flowers and glued that to the corner; also tucked into that pocket is another 2-3/4″ x 2-3/4″ square die cut with holographic foiling on it that reads “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible”.
• On the right side is a 2-1/2″ x 3-3/4″ piece of kit paper hand-cut into a tag shape to jot down a memory on the backside (I haven’t quite found the ribbon I want to attach to the top yet); the other tuck-in is a 2″ x 4″ memory card fan that has kit paper on the outside and plain white paper on the inside. I used a gem topped fastener to hold it all together.
• Last addition to these pages was to add a matching paper tab to the top right side.

04. Backside of Mini Album

• I glued down a lovely girl die cut and punched out of the kit paper a small tag shape to which I hand stamped “created by” (eventually I’ll write my name in there).

It really was a lot of fun creating this handmade mini scrapbook album. It’s the perfect size, at just 4-1/4″ by 6-1/4″, to carry to the beach but I’m sure I will leave it at home so it doesn’t get sand all over it. It is my plan to fill in this whole scrapbook album and do a short flip through of it. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter because I will announce when that video goes live and where it’ll be posted.

It’s the beginning of August and I hope you have been having a wonderful summer so far! What projects have you been able to get done so far?

If you are inspired to create a mini scrapbook album after seeing this post don’t forget to share by tagging me on Instagram and using #btdinspired, I’d love to see your work (and I just might repost your photo)!

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Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I just really love the product(s) I’ve willingly chosen to feature. All opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.