ACOT Message Board

I have been working on identical sister albums for my girls and I started to put them together last night. The album I am using is a post bond and I have already decorated the cover. I don't have it all together yet as I have to go and buy more page protectors, but as I laid all the pages in order inside of the album, it doesn't look like it is going to close after using post extenders. Does anyone have any ideas on how to still make this album work since I already decorated the cover? I should have used a 3 ring album but didn't think of it until now.

I used Pioneer Snapload Straps to replace the posts in an album I recently completed. It is really thick (4 1/2 inches) and I also put one long extended post in the middle to give it some more stability. You prob won't have to do that unless your album is as thick as this:

I will have to count the pages. I remember you saying that yours was so thick because of the embellies. I just think I might have made too many pages. My pages aren't that think. I will have to measure the album and see how thick it is. Thank you for the idea of the straps. I will have to go and buy some this weekend when I go get page protectors.

mgehrke wrote:I will have to count the pages. I remember you saying that yours was so thick because of the embellies. I just think I might have made too many pages. My pages aren't that think. I will have to measure the album and see how thick it is. Thank you for the idea of the straps. I will have to go and buy some this weekend when I go get page protectors.

Mine has 36 pages, if that helps, and yes many of them are very thick because of the Prima flowers I used. You may find that you have to add some spacers because the part of the page protector with the holes in it is ends up thinner once you put the pages in them. It may be minimal but the more pages you add the more that little bit of difference adds up.When that happens the cover of the book will not lay horizontal when the book is closed, it will be on an angel. Does that make sense? In my case there was a tremendous difference so I needed a lot of spacers until I got my book to close with the cover laying horizontal, but you shouldn't need anywhere near as much but you may need some. You usually get one in a pack of page protectors, but they are usually cardboard. Colorbok has nice white foam ones. I could't find them in packs so I actually bought sheets of black foam at M's and cut out strips and punched the holes. I am glad in the end that I did that because that much cardboard would have looked horrible. Even the small amount that I originally had started with didn't look good. I think you would be happier with foam spacers if you end up needing any. You can buy foam sheets to match the color of your album and then they will look like part of it. If you look at the left side of my pic you will see all black in the spine. That would have been all cardboard. Yuck!

Oh Barb thank you so much for all of this wonderful information. I would never have thought about spacers. I didn't realize what those cardboard things were. I always toss them out. Oops. So I just measured mine and it will be 4 1/4 inches and has 41 pages. Oh boy!!!

mgehrke wrote:Oh Barb thank you so much for all of this wonderful information. I would never have thought about spacers. I didn't realize what those cardboard things were. I always toss them out. Oops. So I just measured mine and it will be 4 1/4 inches and has 41 pages. Oh boy!!!

Yeah, I always threw them out too lol! But you know, being that your album is going to be very thick, you will be much better off making your own out of the foam sheets. This way you can pick the color you want and they don't get all bendy and creasy like the cardboard ones do. And it will look so much better since the album is going to be thick.

This was my first thick album too. I had been making page after page without ever putting them in the book. I had also bought the album when I first started and had it all decorated too. Plus I wanted post bound because all my pages (except opening and closing) are double spreads and I wanted them to butt together, which doesn't happen with three ring. Putting it together was a real experience and dh was really helpful! He told me I could punch spacers myself even tho I didn't think I could get the hole puncher to go thru. I am still leery of the straps possibly coming unsnapped, but my mom says she hasn't had any trouble with it coming open. DH and I both thought of putting one post thru the middle, and we gathered up all the extenders that came with all the page protectors and were able to make one long post to put thru the middle hole. So be sure when you punch your spacers to punch the middle hole too, in case you need to do that. Be aware also that the book may still be wobbly because of the thickness, but with the post down the middle it should keep it more stable.

I am happy if I can save you a lot of trouble by giving you some advice from my own experience!

Barb....thanks for all the great tips on the foam spacers...very clever.

I just hope I can find the foam in the right color. The album is a sky blue. I will look at M's this weekend. Thanks again for all the advise. I do have a couple of posts that are about 2 inches long. I am going to take your advise and put 2 together down the middle. I wish I could leave the plastic protector on the ablum. I don't believe it will fit. I will post a ppicture as soon as I get it all put together. Oh that is right I also need more page protectors. UGH!!!!!

I'm so glad I came across this post. This is very helpful...will bookmark it.

mgehrke wrote:I just hope I can find the foam in the right color. The album is a sky blue. I will look at M's this weekend. Thanks again for all the advise. I do have a couple of posts that are about 2 inches long. I am going to take your advise and put 2 together down the middle. I wish I could leave the plastic protector on the ablum. I don't believe it will fit. I will post a ppicture as soon as I get it all put together. Oh that is right I also need more page protectors. UGH!!!!!

If you can't find the color of your album then maybe go with white. I think it should look nice with the sky blue. Can't wait to see the finished product!

This!

pawprints wrote:I used Pioneer Snapload Straps to replace the posts in an album I recently completed. It is really thick (4 1/2 inches) and I also put one long extended post in the middle to give it some more stability. You prob won't have to do that unless your album is as thick as this:

Barb you are not going to believe what I did. I went to M's and found the foam in sky blue. It is just a little off, but looks good. I bought a sheet and some page protectors. When I got home I started putting my pages in the protectors and ran out. I now need to go back which is fine because I forgot to get the straps. I don't know where my mind was. So as soon as the store opens today I will be off to get more page protectors and I am not going to forget the straps. I am hoping to have this together today and I promise to take a pic of it to show you.

you can use chipboard to make the inserts kinda like a wedge beteen the holes so that it doesnt close like a V shape. If that makes sense. I just cut thick strips about 1/2 wide from chipboard and punch holes to match up with the page post holes...

OR what you could get is some pioneer post replacement thingys. I got a bunch of them on clearance at walmart cause I think no one around here knew what they were.

mgehrke wrote:Barb you are not going to believe what I did. I went to M's and found the foam in sky blue. It is just a little off, but looks good. I bought a sheet and some page protectors. When I got home I started putting my pages in the protectors and ran out. I now need to go back which is fine because I forgot to get the straps. I don't know where my mind was. So as soon as the store opens today I will be off to get more page protectors and I am not going to forget the straps. I am hoping to have this together today and I promise to take a pic of it to show you.

I am so happy you found the color!!! I can't wait to see it all finished!!

As promised here is a picture of the cover of the sister's album and also a picture of how thick it got. I really want to thank Barb for the wonderful information that she gave me on how to put the album together. It went together really nice and I like how it turned out. Thank you again Barb. Now you have to remember that I have 2 girls and I had to make 2 identical albums. The other one isn't put together yet, but it should go together quicker since this one is completed.

mgehrke wrote:As promised here is a picture of the cover of the sister's album and also a picture of how thick it got. I really want to thank Barb for the wonderful information that she gave me on how to put the album together. It went together really nice and I like how it turned out. Thank you again Barb. Now you have to remember that I have 2 girls and I had to make 2 identical albums. The other one isn't put together yet, but it should go together quicker since this one is completed.

Mildred that came out absolutely beautiful!!!! I love how you decorated the cover, and the spine with the blue spacers looks fantastic!!! What a wonderful gift to your daughters, they are going to love them! Glad I could help!

It may be the smallest, but the more pages you add more, a little difference, an increase in the cover of the book will not lay up.When level when the book is closed, it will be an angel. Does this make sense?

I am going to have to remember this. All of my albums are going to be too full!

Thanks for the information! I bookmarked this for later use!