Easy Mini Album Tutorial

So glad it's the start of a new week.  Last Friday started out pretty bad but thank goodness for my crafty friends, they made me realize how funny it all really was and by the time I was having dinner with them, I actually laughed about it too.

You see, it all started when I decided to go to Michael's Moskatells near my job, downtown Los Angeles.  It's a very large arts and crafts store.  After my little shopping excursion, I decided I wanted to have lunch at KooKooRoos,  and for some unknown reason, I took a bus to 7th and Figueroa.....even though KooKooRoos is not on 7th and Fig.  I was so certain it was there when I boarded the bus that, needless to say, once I got there and KooKooRoos was no where in sight, I was very disapointed.

I hopped  back on the bus to head back to work.  Once I got back to work my phone was ringing like crazy and my email inbox was overflowing.   While I worked through the phone calls and messages and a few other things, I thought about how I could have forgotten the location of my favorite restaurant.  What made me take the bus and go to the wrong location????

As it got time to go home, I gathered my things and I thought about how it must be old age.  This happens to people over forty and now I'm officially over forty.  It was bound to happen, at least it wasn't something big, like forgetting the kids at the grocery store or forgetting to drop them off at school.  Taking the bus to the wrong location was just a little mistake, right?

I continued walking.....destination- home.  I walked past the guards and took the elevator.  I started to pick up the pace, after all, it was Friday, the start of a fun weekend.   I took the bus down to the train station, something I do EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Around quitting time, EVERYONE is in a hurry.  People rush past trying to get home.  As soon as I got off the bus I heard the train coming.  I rushed past all the off loading passengers, I rushed past the sweet lady carrying a million bags, I rushed past the train tracks and quickly ran into the train which was nano seconds away from taking off.  Woo-hoo I made it!.....lookout weekend, here I come!....I sat happily in my favorite seat looking out a large window.  I do this every day, twice a day.  In the morning to get to work and in the afternoon to get home.
As I sat in the train, I could hear the engineer announce each stop along the way, like he always does.  On the third stop I realized how much I loved riding the train.  I looked out the window and saw unhappy people stuck in endless traffic, meanwhile, I was sitting nice and comfortable in my seat.  No traffic to worry about....no delays.... As I looked at all the unhappy people, who were stuck in traffic, I thought, "wow, I guess I like riding the train so much that I don't even remember my ride this morning.  Funny 'couse I always remember.....every day I remember".  And yes, it hit me like a ton of bricks with freezing cold water thereafter.  The reason why I couldn't remember riding the train that morning was because I DROVE MY CAR TO WORK!!!!

It's a good thing my dear friends saw the humor in it and snapped me out of my misery.....now I laugh hysterically about my absent minded Friday!

Has something like this ever happened to you? are you still upset about it or can you laugh about it now?

On to my Easy Mini Album:

All you need is a 12" by 12" inch double sided paper.  You can find it at a scrapbooking store like Joann's or Michael's.  A pair of scissors, glue and a piece of ribbon.

Here's the finished mini album:

First, fold the paper in half, make a sharp fold with your fingers then fold in half again.  Next, lay the paper down once again with the first fold so that it lays like below, notice the fold in the center.  Am I making sense? I feel like I'm thinking in Spanish, translating to English via Japanese. 

Fold each end toward the fold you made in the center, press down to make a sharp crease:

here's another view from a different angle:

Now, unfold the whole thing and fold in the sides like so, these two folds will act as pockets for each page:

Next, cut the paper like so, leaving the top part uncut:

Now the folding begins.  Start from the bottom and accordion fold like so:

When you get to the end, turn the paper over and fold down:

Still with me? glue the center part to look like this: the page sticking out towards the front is the one that got glued to it's back counterpart:
notice the pockets below:

Lastly, embellish your album, I added a clip art and some ribbon to tie together. Here's the back of the album, the back does not have pockets:

and the front of the album:

Hope you liked it and it inspires you to try it.