One easy and very trendy way to create a keepsake book is to compile everything into a smash book. So what is a SMASH book? It is a quick place to literally “smash” photos, memorabilia, journal notes, and other keepsakes into one place for a collage of memories.

So instead of buying a pre-made smash book I wanted to upcycle and make a smash book as well as have a more personalized book than something I could find at the store because I figured if I’m going to all the trouble to hand make this project then perhaps having a “green” way of making the base of the book would be a great way to make it even more personal

Below is an example of how to make a smash book from an old ring binder.

I started with an old 3-ring binder, since the rings are a great way to easily add new pages to the smash book – it just seemed like a no brainer.

First I needed to get rid of the cover so I cut off the vinyl from the front and back and removed it from the spine where the ring is.

And I was left with this!

I saved the front and back chipboard from the binder to use as pages in my SMASH book which I then trimmed to the size I wanted.

To add a little pizzazz I thought it would be fun to create tabs so I created a template for the tabs I wanted and trimmed the pages accordingly.

And here is my SMASH book ready to decorate. All I needed next was a few scrapbooking supplies, photos, and a little creativity.

The best part of leaving the chipboard under the ring is it gives you a good base to decorate. I found some scrap burlap and decided to glue that on more a more rustic feel and finished it off by accenting with jute.

Then I got busy adding photos!

Other fun things I could easily add to this book are:

Greeting Cards I don’t know what to do with but don’t want to throw out.

Scribble art

Funny notes and memories

Piece of that favorite old blankie

Trip memorabilia

Ticket stubs

Now that you know how to make a smash book, it’s time to dig into your old office supplies/crafting stash and make that smash book of your own.