Paper Bag Album

I try to make something for our parents & grandparents each year for Christmas. This year I made a paper bag album for my mother in law. I thought she would enjoy having an album with photos of Shawn while he was deployed and of our homecoming since she wasn't able to be here. I was going to do an acrylic album but things didn't start out well with that so I changed my plan rather than fighting with the thing and probably still be working on it. I got this done in two afternoons, most of the first afternoon was deciding on which photos to use and get an idea of the layout. I didn't have each page planned ahead of time but it all came together well and I'm really happy with it. I'm sure she'll enjoy & appreciate it.

This is the cover, flag patterned paper & a photo of the kids' outfits & sign for Shawn's homecoming.

These are some photos taken of Shawn while he was deployed. Left to right - in gunner position on a tank, training exercise, receiving his purple heart, wearing his purple heart.

More photos in Iraq, I made a flap on the right page so it could hold four photos instead of two. Left to right - group photo of his company holding the American flag {Shawn is on the very bottom left}, Shawn in his full battle rattle, standing in front of a mansion, posing with his snacks.

This is one of my favorite pages. I had LOTS of photos of the kids that were cute so I made a flap turning out on each side, so each page holds three photos instead of just one. When you open Lydia's picture you see the photos of her kissing the dog tag and her & Michael.

When you open Michael's picture you see two more photos of the kids. The next set of pages just held two photos.

The next set of pages I had open upwards. Under the picture of the doors is a photo of the soldiers in formation and then Shawn & I hugging each other. Under the photo of Shawn & Michael is another photo of them and one of Shawn and Lydia. I put them in chronological order.

This one I changed up a little bit. The first photo folds up showing more photos of Shawn & I. The second photo folds down showing pictures of Shawn playing with the kids at home.

These are the photos I put in the pockets. Because I used four paper bags there are four pockets so I have one insert for each. The paper I used wasn't double sided so I adhered two pieces of paper to eachother & stapled the tabs on. You can see the front & back.