Tutorial of the Week: Mini Album Closures Part I

Good morning, everyone!  It is time for another tutorial 🙂  Last week, we managed to finish our mini albums….so, now what?  Well, I was asked about different options for mini album closures, and thought that would be a perfect topic to cover this week.  I’ve been digging deep, way back into the recesses of my mind (plus doing some internet scouring) to come up with as many different options as I can.  Why not make this blog post your one stop shop of mini album closure resources, eh?  Actually, in all my digging and scouring, I came up with  A LOT of different ideas…so many, in fact, that I think I’ll have to spread this one over 2 weeks!

So…where to start?  Materials…that’s where!

Material Options

Before I get to the different design options for mini album closures, I thought I would talk about materials.  The only limit on the material you use for a closure is really strength.  Your closure is going to see a lot of bending, flexing and tugging, so best to choose a strong material.  Here’s a quick list of some of the materials I would consider using for a mini album closure:

• ribbon
• lace
• fabric
• chain
• elastic
• leather
• Tyvek
• duct tape

Closure Types

Zutter Perfect Closure

One of the easiest closures to add to a mini album is a Perfect Closure made by Zutter.  Each closure comes with an alterable leather strap, closure, rivets for attaching to chipboard covers and sometimes a couple of small charms.  You can even get different closure designs and colors.  To use this type of closure, you just rivet the leather strap and closure to back and front covers, respectively.  The covers of your mini should be finished inside and out before doing any riveting.  Here’s a beautiful mini album created by Shani Thomas (Paperesse), in which she uses this type of closure:

Complete Wrap Closure

Another option for a mini album closure includes simply wrapping a piece of ribbon, lace, seam binding, thin leather cord, or even elastic around your mini album and tying the two ends together in a bow.  Here’s a beautiful example by youruniquescrapbook on Luulla:

You can even use chain and a clasp like Ginger did on her Tim Holtz Dapper mini album:

Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg for this type of closure.  There are a ton of different ways that you can wrap and tie your ribbon.  To get your create juices flowing, I found a YouTube video by Crafty Come Lately that covers a lot of variations.  I did my own variation on this type of closure on a mini album I made several years ago.  I opted to attach the ribbon to the back cover using three brads, then used a snap on the front to connect the ends of the ribbon together.

Secure Tie Closure

Instead of wrapping your ribbon around the whole of your mini album, you can always secure a length of ribbon to each of the front and back covers and tie the ends to create an endearing closure like Sarah from Saimba did here:

Now, this looks simple enough, but if you use your imagination I’m sure you can come up with variations on this one, too.  How about using a couple of pieces of fabric with a button and hole instead of tying the ends together?  …or check out this very inventive variation on this closure using leather loops and a pencil by Konenko:

Tie Wrap Closure

This next closure adds a little twist to the Secure Tie Closure above…instead of tying the ends of your ribbon together, try adding a button or spool onto the cover of your mini album that you can wind the end of your ribbon around.  Here’s a simple example from Kate Bowles on Folksy:

Belt Closure

The last type of mini album closure I am going to go over this week is a belt closure…and it really looks exactly the way it sounds…a belt 🙂  The following journal by Belinda Basson is a beautiful example of this type of closure in use:

A belt closure can be made from a variety of different materials such as leather, canvas, a heavy grosgrain ribbon, Tyvek, or even duct tape.  Kathy Orta King from Paper Phenomenom has a fantastic YouTube video I recommend watching where she shares how she creates duct tape belt closures for her mini albums.

Well, that about sums up all the mini album closures I’ll be covering this week.  I hope you found some inspiration in some of the examples I’ve shared.  If you’d like to share a unique mini album closure that you’ve used, I’d love to see it!  Just post a link in the comments on this blog post.  Thanks for popping by!  Cheers!