Tuesday, 5 April 2011 by Irene Hoofs

DIY mini stamp collecting book by Teri from Giddy Giddy

We needed a lovely display and storage solution for all the wonderful stamps we’ve been collecting. The criteria is something kid friendly and practical. But also beautiful and high quality enough that the collection can be passed down to my kids’ kids. After much experimentation, I have come up with an easy yet lovely mini book and wanted to share the process with you.

The materials you will need:
*Cardstock paper
*2 paper maps
*Glassine envelopes
*Leather scrap
*White masking tape
*Rubber cement glue (acid free) ** It’s important that you do not use white glue as this will discolor the paper over time.
*Thin cord (leather, cotton or synthetic)
*Scissors or preferably a paper cutter.

Step 1:
Cut cardstock paper desired size.
For my example, I used 3 inches by 3 inches cardstock pages.
Step 2:
Cut map into long strips which will be used to cover the cardstock pages.
I used a paper cutter cut 3 inch strips the entire length of the map.
Step 3:
Tape pages together using white masking tape.
Step 4:
Brush rubber cement onto cardstock and adhere precut map onto the pages.
Step 5:
Now you can glue the glassine envelopes on each page using rubber cement. I cut the envelopes to size and then oriented them so that the envelope opening is facing the center binding.
Step 6:
Using a leather scrap, I cut a little jacket for my book and sewed long strap onto it.
Step 7:
Attach the jacket by wrapping cord around the center and knotting on the exterior.