Craft of the Week Club #6: Accordian Display Books

Accordian Display Books for Children's Art and other stuff!

I have been enjoying the Mom's Little Book of Displaying Children's Art by Lisa Bearnson and I thought this would be the perfect thing to kick off the new school year with a "plan" for displaying all the wonderful keepsake art that our children create!  This idea is really a scrapbooking solution, but has MANY possibilites which I will list later in the post.  It is truly an open-ended craft that you could tailor to your current art projects or save for an extra special Feast or Celebration that you want to highlight!

I love the simplicity of this craft and it's ability to "morph" into whatever-suits-your-fancy! 

Here is the example from the book mentioned above:

Here are the supplies you will need in order to make one Accordian Display Book:

• Cardboard or other stiff art board (you could also purchase a pre-made accordian book to fill in with your own art, just another option)
• Decorative Scrapbook Paper
• Photo Mounts
• Glue Stick or Spray Adhesive
• Tacky Glue
• Ribbon or Lace
• Gel or Metallic Pens
• 4-6 pieces of your Children's Art work reduced to prefered size of display book (The one I'm showing is approximately 8 1/2  x 11 inches)

Here are the supplies I have chosen:

Violet's Art Work, some beautiful tracings and sketches of Redoute's Roses:

Shades of green scrapbook papers:

Ribbons (I chose the white as it didn't detract from the other colors in the art):

Instructions for assembly:

Set up cardboard pieces the way you want them to appear, leaving a space twice the thickness of the cardboard between them.  Cut two pieces of ribbon or lace a foot longer than the combined widths of cardboard; the extra foot should hang over the left side of the panel that will be your cover.  Using tacky glue, glue the two pieces of ribbon or lace in parallel rows across cardboard, one closer to the top and one closer to the bottom.  Let dry.  Flip and do the same thing to reverse side, making sure the extra foot of ribbon or lace hangs over the back of the cover panel (just as the front piece of ribbon or lace does).  Let dry.  Tie bows.  Using any color of cardstock, and a gel or metallic pen, create a cover with your child's name.  Crop and mount copies using glue stick or photo mounts.  Proudly display your child's new Accordian Display Book!!

And here's how mine turned out:

Front Cover

Inside Pages (I created three for this book)

Now for some *Extension* ideas (lovely Montessori-ish term, eh?) for the Display Books:

• Feast Days of a Month in Holy Cards
• Stations of the Cross Book
• Rosary Mysteries Book
• Art Impression Study Cards
• Mini "Who Loves Me" Toddler Album with felt cover and laminated photos (this is my next project for Sean-Paul, I think he'll LOVE it)!!
• Phases of the Moon Book
• Planets & Constellations
• Pressed Flowers
• Any Holy Cards Display Book
• First Communion or Confirmation Pictures &/or Narrations of the event, heck why not Baptism...
• A "Day in the Life of..." Picture Journal (could do week or month also)

Have a good time with this craft and in my mind, simple is better to let the displayed item shine through!!  Don't forget to visit Sarah at Plainsong for the complete schedule of Crafts by Week and the 4Real Learning Forums for past weeks' crafts!!

May God Bless you in your artistic days!!

Comments

[Theresa]

Lovely craft! Hey! I am able to comment again! Cool!

[MaryM]

These turned out great. It is a creative idea for a variety of display themes like you mentioned. And love Violet's Redoute-esque illustrations - beautiful. Have you read Redoute: The Man Who Painted Flowers - a good children's book.

[Marianne]

Thanks for the idea. There are so many ways to use this one! The flowers are beautiful.

[Mandy]

What a great idea! Just stumbled into your blog from a link in another blog and I am so glad I did!

[Erin]

Meredith
They look absolutely fantastic!! I had to giggle, I had something very similar planned for my craft week, well can I say "Great minds think alike?" lol;)

[KC]

Great idea!!! I'll have to file this one away.