Scrapbook Cube

Part of the excitement of doing scrapbook projects is that there seems to be no end to the things you can do. With borders, torn paper, stickers, and conversation bubbles, plus all the colors and designs on the papers themselves, each project is completely different. It's so much fun to make scrapbooks featuring your own family and friends, or to make scrapbooks for others. But if you think you've done everything you can do with scrapbooks - even though you're not tired of it all yet - there's one project you might not have ever done. Make a scrapbook cube, to set on a desk or table, and you'll always have your friends and family nearby.

You can buy a paper mache box at a craft store for a buck or two and that's what you need to make the scrapbook cube. The boxes - with removable lids - are available in an assortment of sizes. Purchase the cube box you want and it will be really easy to make the unusual scrapbook.

Remove the lid from the box and set it aside for now. Go to one corner of the box and slice straight down the corner with a sharp knife. Do this to all four corners. When the fourth corner is cut the box will open up and lie flat.

You'll need ten photos - or photo copies - to complete the scrapbook box. Each photo should be cut to the same size. Cut each picture to be almost the same size as one side of the box.

If you want, you can paint the paper mache box and lid. When it's dry the photos can be attached. Just apply decoupage adhesive to the backside of each photo and arrange them like this: one photo on the inside bottom of the box, and one on each of the inside walls. Put one on each of the outside walls as well as one photo on the lid of the box. The image you use for the inside bottom of the box could be a presentation banner rather than a picture. For example, if the scrapbook cube features photos of you and your friends on vacation in Texas, the banner can be a Texas flag with "Texas" written across it.

There are many different embellishments you can add to the box, just as you do with ordinary scrapbooks. You can cut the photos smaller and put frames around them, or you can glue on accents, like conversation bubbles, stickers, wooden shapes, or borders.

To give the box, just pull the four sides back up, and place the lid on it. When the recipient opens the box, the four sides fall down, and they present the unusual photo layout.

With the paper mache boxes available in sizes from tiny to huge, you can easily make a miniature scrapbook box curiosity, or a coffee table version to show to visitors. Now you can add yet one more technique to your scrapbook repertoire.