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It is a lot of fun to have a personalized item from the park. You can find a lot of tutorials for autograph books that are as simple as decorating a cover of a notebook, to making a scrapbook style autograph book. I wanted to make some that are in between for some friends, and for our Disney trip coming up later this year. I am excited to share with you today these DIY Disney Autograph Books and they are hard cover!
(This post is from when this site was Love Our Disney)
For this craft you will need:
- Chip Board – You can buy it pre-measured to the right size, or a large piece you cut (I did the latter as the 12×12 were on clearance at Hobby Lobby)
- Card Stock
- Distressing Ink (optional)
- Paper cutter
- Hole Punch or a binding system like The Cinch or Zutter
- Decorative papers, stickers, etc
- Adhesive
To start- I had 12×12 chipboard. I decided to make my books covers 4×6 so that I could get 3 books out of each piece (each book has a front and back cover). I cut my chipboard to the correct sizes.
Then I used decorative scrap book paper to cover the chipboard. I did it differently for each one.
In this one, the character paper is actually the back cover.
I also covered the inside of the covers.
Then I cut card stock. I cut each 12×12 and made them 3.75″ by 5.8″ You can make them the exact same size as the chip board (4×6) to make it easy but I like my pages slightly smaller. Your pages need to be no smaller than 3×5 so that the characters have enough room to sign.
I then distressed the edges. I did this for 2 reasons. First, I like to distress things (as you may have noticed by previous crafts) because I like the look. Second, distressing the pages helps them not look dirty when little kids handle them with not-so-clean hands.
I was making 5 books so I cut 20 sheets of card stock (to make 120 pages). Each book will get 20 pages, and then the extras will be used for other parts of the books.
Next, I took a card stock for each cover and glued it to the inside. I then decorated it with stickers
I also put this “If Found” label I made and printed in word on card stock. I put it in the back cover.
Next, decorate your cover. For the one pictured below I used stickers, alphabet fuzzy stickers, and some Disney rub-on accents. (Alphabet stickers and rub-ons added later)
After you make your cover, and have everything done, it is time to bind it. I used The Cinch system (affiliate link) to bind these. You could also use the Zutter.
Remember to always practice on scrap pieces that are the same size before punching your actual project.
TIP: When you put the binding wire in, put the covers together, outsides (sides that will be the front cover and the back cover) facing each other then put all the papers on. (After you bind it, you will flip over the cover not touching the card stock and it is all in order. Be sure both your covers are facing the right way (top of pictures on same side))
Squeeze the binding as tight as possible.
(IF you do not have access to a binding system, you can use a hole punch. Punch 3 holes down the side and then carefully match up all the holes. Use craft rings to make it into a book.)
Another tip- See the one below (with The Goof’s real name blurred out)- well, I thought it would be cute to only have a small line of binding. Well, it doesn’t feel secure. The papers can still swing around a bit . So on the other ones I did as many holes as would fit completely on (ended up being 7 for this size book) and they felt a lot less flimsy that way.
Now all you need to do is flip the cover over and you are done.
If you like you could also decorate each page for the character, but I personally like to leave them blank, at least until after the trip, because you never know exactly which characters you will meet.
Enjoy these personalized, one of a kind autograph books!
LOVE! Super cute!
I LOVE these! We are heading to Disney next year, and I think I am going to try this out. Do you suggest the hole punch method or the binding machine? I think I could borrow a binder from a friend if it is way better.
Christy-
That is a great question. I personally feel the binder is more secure, etc. If you are really going to hold on to these as keepsakes, then I would definitely suggest a binding system. I personally prefer The Cinch but the Zutter is good to. But don’t just buy it for this project. (That would be a waste of money)Of course, you said you could borrow it which is a fantastic option.
But if you do not have access to a binding system, the hole punch and craft rings are a great option.
I love these! Very cute and seem pretty easy to make. Thanks.
Such a lovely idea – I made our autograph book for the last trip we had to WDW, and the characters loved seeing themselves inside the book (I’d put pictures of each character on each page), I know I’ll make a new one for our next trip!
Thank you so much for sharing this at The Purple Pumpkin Blog! Hope to see you again at the next party
Have a wonderful week
Michelle xx
Thanks so much for this great tutorial! What a fabulous way to save money!
LOVE These! You should sell them, I’d buy some for my girls. Do you make these to sell? We’re going to Disneyland in October and these are way cuter than the ones you can buy. I’m not crafty enough to make these on my own, but they really are too cute!!
Thank you so much! I actually used to sell them on Etsy, but life got too busy and I closed my shop.
I promise, it really is not that hard. It looks harder then it is. 🙂