Favorite Reads Mini-Album

Document your favorite books with this simple mini-album.

Here on the blog today I'm going to share with you a project created by Megan Anderson for the Lesson One: What is Storytelling Creative Challenge. I love the way Megan has chosen to document her great stories for this challenge, and how that evolved out the way she has currently been documenting the stories she reads. Visit Lesson One: What is Storytelling (you must be logged in) and check out even more contributor inspiration from week one!

Thanks Megan for sharing this amazing project with us.

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I'm an avid reader, so when Lesson 1 asked us to think about the great stories in our lives, I immediately began to think about my favorite books. Since 2013, I've been working my way through my favorite works of fiction. I generally re-read a few a month in addition to the new-to-me books I read. I've been writing essays to capture what it is I love about each of the books, which not only helps me to think more deeply about these stories that helped to make me who I am, but also gives me an opportunity to work to become a better writer by studying the authors I admire.

While I love these essays, they are very personal and not something I'd want to print out. Instead, I wanted a more simple way to display the books I love and short descriptions of why I love them, so I decided to make a little minibook! It's a simple 5 inch x 4 inch minibook bound with jump rings, so this project is one you can replicate easily, even if you've never made a minibook before!

I used the (sold out) Find Your Voice Instagram kit, the Find Your Voice Embellishment Kit, and the Freckled Fawn Silver Linings Kit to create this simple mini.

First, I photographed each of the books I wanted to include on the same background--I worked with the first seven books I re-read and I'll include more in batches later. Then I printed each photo as a square on a 4 inch x 6 inch with white boarders. The acetate numbers in the Instagram kit are not quite square to allow for the holes in the side, so I trimmed the photos down to the same size and used the acetate numbers as a template to punch holes in my photos. After my cover, which includes a photo of the books all stacked together, I alternated between photos of books and the numbers by the order in which I re-read them.

On the front of each photo I included the month and year in which I re-read the books, then on the back of each photo I added a little decoration with washi tape and the first letter in the title of the book. I wrote a few sentences in this space for each book, detailing why I love each one of them.

This small space doesn't leave much room for me to go into detail about the books, so I just listed a few of my favorite things. This is enough information to jog my memory when I'm older and have a changed perspective and is also a good bit of information for friends who might want to flip through the mini in order to decide what they'd like to check out from my personal library (a real thing that happens).

This minibook method could work with others of your favorites too--musical albums, movies, historical tales, or whatever great stories inspire you! Get creative and make each page different, or repeat a cohesive design like I did, and your mini will come together in a snap!

Megan is a crafty nerd who loves documenting life at The Nerd Nest. When she’s not on nerdy adventures, she spends her time filling up pocket scrapbooking albums, reading big stacks of books, and making stuff. She loves documenting her everyday life and sharing daily memory keeping tips on Instagram, creative writing, coffee, sociology, and learning as much as her brain will hold. She believes in the power of stories and wants to inspire you to tell yours. Join her in Pocket Your Year, a year long pocket scrapbooking e-course!