DIY Photo Album

I was at Target yesterday, browsing photo albums for all the Snapfish prints I'd just gotten back. I'm very particular about albums, and over the years my preferences have changed 6,000 times. Lately I've been buying these huge 350 photo, 5 to a page, horizontal and vertical photo slot books. My problem is that my photos are not always the same size, because I take them with all means of camera (cell phone, Sony Bloggie, Nikon...), and I also don't like that I can't add in some memorabilia here and there unless it measures 4x6. I used to scrapbook, but I just do not have the time or patience for it anymore. So, while Reese got impatient and kicked around in the red card, I made a decision to grab not a typical photo album, but a 3-ring binder, and various forms of photo book refills. I bought the binder for around $10, and the refill pages for $5 per pack.

Assembling my photos.

The basic supplies: a 3-ring binder, and various refill pages. The best part is that you can always add to it later!

Gift tags, scrapbook stuff and memorabilia can be added right to the binder. Here, I placed a tag with our last name before page 1. I can always go back and add more to each page.

A section of photo sleeves will track my belly photos week by week. I can add to the section depending on the amount of photos, and I don't have to screw up the composition of the album as a whole.

I've added  the front yard sign from Reese's birthday party in sleeves, in the section of photos of the same party.

Sleeved section of party photos. Good for sections where there are a lot of photos. 

Unsleeved section, with some stickers. I will probably go back and give it more of a "scrapbook" effect later. It's nice to be able to add some detail about the day the photos were taken. Regular albums just don't have that appeal.

Here are my grievances about the regular old photo album:

-pictures have to be one size, or risk floating around looking stupid in their sleeve.

-some photos have to be flipped, if you don't have the perfect ratio of horizontal and vertical pictures.

-sometimes the amount of photos you want to include in one book exceed the amount of room in the album.

-sometimes you're ready to move on to a new chapter of your life and would like to start a new album, but you then have to leave a quarter of an album unfilled.

-memorabilia/ "scraps"/ stickers don't always fit in an album with sleeves.

When I bought the binder, I realized I could mix up pages with sleeves and pages without, and also scrapbook pages, and just general papercraft. I can add or eliminate pages without changing the overall composition of the album, and it will be "full" whenever I choose for it to be, without leaving all those sad blank pages at the end.

Maybe not everyone is as OCD about their albums, but for me, this is the perfect solution! Nothing like a fussy toddler to put you into creative overdrive so you can get the eff out of the store!

What do you think? Any great album tips to share?

Lindsey.