Make your Own Scrapbook Albums? Yes, you Can!

Seasoned scrapbookers know that scrapbooking is an expensive hobby. In addition to costly tools, embellishments, and paper, there are expensive albums into which you insert your family’s memories for safekeeping. Sometimes, we want to make event scrapbooks to share as gifts with family, friends, and coworkers, but the cost of these albums can be prohibitive. Fortunately, there is an alternative to traditional scrapbook albums that you purchase in the craft store. You can make your own album with your choice of acid free paper using spiral coil binding.

You can buy spiral coil in a variety of lengths and colors. No matter what the theme of your scrapbook, you can definitely find a coordinating color of coil since it is manufactured in over sixty colors. Some of the newer colors include spiral blue, dark purple, copper, tangerine, lilac, light teal, and charcoal.

In addition to spiral coil’s color options, you can also customize your scrapbook’s size through coil size selection. No longer must you choose standard sizes selected for you by the craft industry. You can choose to create books ranging in widths from a quarter of an inch up to two inches. Instead of settling for standard six, eight, eleven, or twelve inch lengths, you can go all the way up to three feet with spiral coil. Taking control of your binding allows you to experiment with different sizes and configurations so that you can create unique scrapbooks that are just perfect for the memories contained inside them.

You may think this type of binding equipment is expensive and is not a viable option for scrapbookers on a budget. That simply is not true. For crafters who make 8.5” x 11” scrapbooks, the GBC ProClick P50 is available for about $60. Compared to the price for one album, this equipment is a viable option—especially when it can be used to make album upon album. It will pay for itself in just a few projects.

If you are not an 8.5” x 11” scrapbooker, you will need to look for a machine that can bind scrapbooks of different lengths. The PC200 machine is more expensive (about $250), but it is much more customizable. This machine allows you to shift into creative overdrive since you can bind memory books ranging in length from one inch up to 21 inches long. In addition to its versatility, it uses plastic coils that are slightly less expensive than those used for the GBC ProClick machine.

Not only can spiral coil binding help you create scrapbooks and craft projects for you and your family to enjoy, it can also help you to make money. Think about putting together your own unique scrapbook kits to sell online or in local craft stores. Compared to what you can make—especially by offering products no one else has—the costs associated with binding equipment are minimal. There really is no limit to what sorts of projects you can put together using your imagination and the right equipment.