For this project, I’ve turned a matzah box into a mini album or journal. I call them “mini” albums because they’re small enough to fit in a bag, with just enough room to put one picture on each page. They can also be used as scrapbooks, perfect for displaying vacation mementos or even favorite recipes, or for writing journal entries.

Materials needed:

Matzah box

Wrapping paper

Spray adhesive or glue stick

Hobby knife/straight edge

Scrapbook or plain paper

Rubber bands

Hot glue gun

Decorative brads

1) Cut the box into two main sections. The majority of the box makes up the cover. Leave about 1” on the right side for a binding spine. Discard the top and bottom box flaps.

2) Using spray adhesive or a glue stick, cover the printing on the cover piece with wrapping paper. You will probably still see some of the printing showing through, but I like the reminder that it’s a food box. Start with a piece that’s slightly larger than the cover, and then trim on all sides with a hobby knife and straight edge so there are clean, straight edges.

3) To make the interior pages, cut scrapbook paper (or any paper) to twice the size of the cover, so that when folded in half, it fits inside the album. You will need about 12 pieces of paper folded in half, which will create a 48-page album.

4) Attach the folded pieces of paper to the binding spine (that’s the short end of the box you cut) with rubber bands. The rubber bands will sit in the folds of the paper and wrap around the outside of the binding spine.5) When the pages are spaced evenly, apply hot glue all over the spine on top of the rubber bands. Be careful when working with hot glue.6) Press the binding spine to the spine of the cover, holding it steady until the glue dries. Now the rubber bands are hidden by the cover.7) Hot glue the flaps of the binding spine to the inside front and back covers, and the binding is completely sealed.

8) Punch holes on the front and back cover to accommodate two decorative brads. Hook a rubber band between the brads for an album closure.

What you’ll need:

Empty cereal box

Wrapping paper

Scissors

Hobby knife

Straight edge

Spray adhesive or glue stick

Hot glue gun

Embellishments

Step 1: Cut the box so it lies flat, and then cut off the end flaps. If the box is large, turn it horizontal and cut it in half so you can make two frames.

Step 2: Apply spray adhesive to the plain side of the box and adhere a piece of wrapping paper to it. Spray adhesive spreads an even coating of glue, but it is messy and needs to be used in a well-ventilated space. A glue stick is a good alternative, especially if you’re doing this project with kids. I actually like using my Xyron Creative Station. You put what you want to make sticky into the machine, crank the handle, and a layer of adhesive is applied to one of the sides. No mess and so easy.

Step 3: Using a hobby knife and straight edge, trim the excess paper, along with the edges of the cereal box that may have been cut unevenly with the scissors. Be careful with the hobby knife, and keep it away from children.

Step 4: Cut a square or rectangular hole on one side where the photo will be inserted.

Step 5: Apply hot glue to the end flap and fold it over one side to assemble the frame, with the wrapping paper on the outside. The finished product will be a three-sided, easel-style frame.

Step 6: Add embellishments like ribbon, buttons and charms to the front using the hot glue gun. And when you’re done, tape a photo in the opening.

Here is my video on how to make them:

I love to make paper flowers, so it seemed like a natural to try it with the yellow pages. Here is a method for making paper roses that I use all the time. It’s really easy, and all you need is a stapler and double sided tape. You can use the flowers in arrangements or glue them to a wreath, like I did.

First, tear out 5 pages of the phone book. 

Fold the pages in half lengthwise. On the folded edge, staple at 3 points — the left side, the right side, and the middle point.

Tear or cut four to five slits crosswise on each page, starting at the side with the open pages, and do not cut past the folded edge. Try to stagger the cuts so they are not lined up evenly. These will be the petals, and you want the petals staggered.

Apply a piece of double-sided tape to the edge that is folded and stapled.

Starting at one end, roll the paper like a cigar, pinching at the bottom where the tape is to secure the roll.

Now here’s the fun part. You know all those slits you cut? Peel down all those cut sections to form the petals. The ones in the middle are tight and will be difficult to peel down. That’s okay, leave them be. Just as the inner petals in real roses are tight, so will these.

The petals are a little too square, so just tear off the corners to round them off. Hand-tearing gives the roses a nice vintage look and shapes the rose beautifully.

The center of the rose (the part that’s wound up tightly) is probably too long compared to the rest of the petals. So take the scissors and trim off an inch or so to make it look more balanced. 

I glued them on a burlap-wrapped wreath form with hot glue. I really love the yellow base of the phone book pages, and how the color from the advertisements give the paper roses pops of color.

I’ve also used this method with old Thomas Brothers maps. The pastels of the map are so pretty on the rose. Poor Thomas Brothers. No one uses them anymore, either. 

And I’ve made flowers the same way with dictionary pages. I know I will get a lot of flack for tearing up dictionary pages, but I have about ten dictionaries that I bought for $1 each from thrift stores, and I use them for crafting. Here is a dictionary rose that I use as a boutonniere. Thanks (or forgive me), Merriam Webster.

For a great gift, you can also put photos on the CD cases with the Craft Attitude film. Here are photos of my dogs Gershwin and Fosse on the CD cases. LED candles would light up their cute faces, too.

Before I go through the super easy tutorial on this, let me talk about Craft Attitude, because it’s a new product and not a lot of people know about it yet.

So in the spirit of being eco-friendly, I decided to repurpose, or upcycle, the prints into functional art. Using my Sizzix Big Shot die-cutting machine and some of my favorite dies, I made some really beautiful pieces – a business card holder, a post-it note memo holder, and a decorative box. They went through the die-cutting machine really well. The one thing I did do was double up the prints back to back, bonding them together with Super 77 Spray Adhesive, so that they would be thicker. The thickness allowed the paper to be scored in the Sizzix Big Shot. I hope Cassie gives me more cast-offs. I want to make more stuff with it.

These are the dies I used. They were all designed by Eileen Hull, who is also a friend of mine. (Lucky me!)

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die – Business Card Box

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die – Memo Holder

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die – Box, Candy Drawer

Sizzix Bigz Die – Leaves  (The perfect touch, since the Ecoprint designs are actually leaves. For the box, I used the leaves to make a lotus on top. All the embellishments on these pieces were from the Leaves die. And some look like wood, but they’re actually the paper with the Ecoprint design on it.)