Good Thing

Brag Books

Martha Stewart Baby, Special Issue 2000

Wallet-size accordion brag books filled with snapshots make wonderful keepsakes for relatives who have yet to see the full range of baby's first expressions. Use original photos for a single book, or make color copies to use in multiple books. Enlarge or reduce photographs to suit the size of your books.

Tools and Materials
11-by-17-inch lightweight art paper
Scissors
Glue stick
Wallet-size baby photos or color photocopies
Heavy paper or wallpaper, for cover (optional)
Hole punch and ribbon, for bow closure (optional)

Brag Books How-To
1. Accordion-fold the 11-by-17-inch paper. Glue a cutout color-copied picture (below) or original photo to each panel. Trim the paper to align with the photos' edges (with careful placement, you can make more than one book at a time using the same piece of paper). Below each photo, write or rubber-stamp its date, or add captions.

2. To make a cover, cut a piece of heavy-stock art paper (or the wallpaper from your baby's room) to the same height and twice the length of your closed accordion book. Fold the paper in half (or bind together two separate pieces -- one for the front cover and one for the back -- with a zigzag stitch), and glue the last accordion panel to the inside of the back cover (leave the front cover unattached). Punch a hole midway up the right edge of the front cover, and thread it with a ribbon to serve as a wraparound bow closure.

Reviews (1)

  • BarbaraPenelope
    8 Apr, 2008

    Fold back and forth book, perfect to send to people pictures