Paper Bag Albums

When I create paper bag albums, people always have to look closer to confirm they are indeed made out of paper bags. That’s because after all of the colorful papers, ribbons and embellishments are added, these little works of art bear little resemblance to their original form.

Paper bag albums—yet another form of altered art—are easy to make. Just follow these steps:

1. Collect four or five paper lunch bags of the same size and color.


2. Arrange the bags in a stack alternating open and closed ends.


3. Fold the bags in half and crease.


4. Bind the bags about a quarter inch out from the seam using stitching, ribbons or brads. If you are punching holes for ribbons or brads, because of the thickness of the bags, it is easiest to make a template and punch through one folded bag at a time.


5. Decorate the pages using patterned paper, cardstock, photos, stickers, stitching, staples, buttons, fibers and any other embellishments you like.


6. Create coordinating tags to place inside the bags’ open ends for a nice extra touch. These can be used for journaling or to showcase small photos.

Note that paper bag albums are not acid-free or lignin-free, so they shouldn’t be used for preserving one-of-a-kind photos. To help extend their life, you can spray them with an archival mist, but still use duplicate pictures or color copies.

Like any scrapbook, a paper bag album can capture any theme. Some of my favorites for this format are:

• Mom’s or Grandmom’s Brag Book
• Our Family
• A Dog’s (or Cat’s) Life
• A+ Teacher
• Fieldtrip
• Birthday

Parents and teachers can easily adapt this project for children. After I do the binding, my four-year-old daughter loves to decorate the pages with construction paper, stickers, markers, paints, crayons, foam shapes and googly eyes. For a change, you can even use pipe cleaners or yarn for the binding.

No matter how you decorate them, paper bag albums make great gift items and are one more creative and unexpected way to use your scrapbooking materials.