Tutorial - Small Ephemera/Postage Stamp Storage Folder

I've been in an organizing mood lately and, since I'm trying to stay home most of the time, I've also had lots of time to create. I came across a little ephemera storage folder on YouTube and decided to give it a try.

This is a fairly quick and easy little folder to make. It is 4 inches wide by 6 inches high when closed and uses just one 12"x12" piece of paper plus two 4" x 6" pieces. This can be made with patterned paper, solid card stock, coordinating patterns or all the same. I used papers from an old Pink Paisley collection.  

First you will need to cut 8 pieces 4"x6" - I cut 6 from the 12x12 paper for the "pages" and 2 coordinating ones for the front and back covers.

You will also need three 4"-long strips of muslin about an inch wide. Take two pieces of your paper and lay side by side with a tiny (about 1/8") space between, front side facing down.

Place a line of liquid glue along each side of the gap and lay down the muslin. This secures the two pieces together and allows for a fold.

Repeat the above with two more pieces of paper. Then attach the two sections together in the same  manner.  With the four pieces now joined and still facing down, glue the two remaining papers to the two center sections ("right" side up).

Next, glue on the front cover paper to the section farthest to the right (see below). If you want to attach a ribbon for the closure, glue that on before placing the cover paper on.  You could also just add an eyelet for a closure after completely covering the booklet.

Repeat for the back cover, adding to the section farthest to the left.  Accordion-fold the booklet.

For the little pockets to hold ephemera you will need some vellum.  Cut 6 pieces of each of the following measurements: 4"w x 1 1/4" h; 4"w x 1 1/2" h; and 4"w x 2" h.

Use a thin line of glue on three sides of each piece and adhere to the pages, the largest on the bottom of the page, the 1 1/2" high pieces in the middle, and the shortest at the top, leaving a small space above each. (See below).

I then sewed around each page but this is not a necessary step. It would help the pockets be more stable though. 

This was a fun little project and will be useful in keeping small ephemera sorted and visible. Hopefully it will make it easier to find and use these items. I hope you will try one yourself. It could be adapted to any size!

DIY Ephemera Folder

A few weeks ago I made this folder to hold some of my paper ephemera which I've been storing in various locations - not very conducive to seeing and using. I saw several versions of this on You Tube so this is not my original idea but I think it's ingenious.

The base is made with two 12"x12" pieces of heavy scrapbook paper. I used old papers from The Girl's Paperie (anyone even remember that?) that I love and have been hoarding. I thought I might as well use them on this so I could see it and enjoy it regularly rather than being stashed away in a drawer! The finished size is 9"h  x 6"w and is tied shut with a torn strip of muslin.

First I cut two papers 12"x9" and scored each in half at 6" (folded to form the inside cover flaps). I adhered the two papers together with a 2.5" wide strip of heavy fabric glued along the two 9" adjacent edges, leaving an approximately 1.5" space to form a spine. I took two more papers and scored and folded them in half at 6" and then at 9" to form pockets. I glued these inside the front and back covers.

For the inside pages, I used some Tim Holtz embossed kraft papers from an old paper pad that I have never used since they will be mostly covered and are sturdy. I cut them to 12"x9" and folded in half to create the pages. On each I used pieces of plastic cut from old page protectors for the pockets for the ephemera.  

I had quite a time adhering these to the pages. My liquid glues wouldn't hold the plastic - I tried several kinds. Some people had sewed theirs but I didn't want to go to that trouble. I ended up using Scor-tape and my ATG tape which is holding up ok. A few overstuffed pockets are starting to come apart so I may have to redo those but most are fine. I used either two or three pockets on each page for different sized ephemera. I sewed these into the spine with a three-hole pamphlet stitch.

This folder holds quite a lot and I'm really liking the portability and accessibility of it. So far so good!