Clara’s Christmas Album, Part 1 · A Cottagecore Comforts story and craft-along
Some keepsakes begin with beautiful paper. This one begins with an ordinary brown lunch bag—and the thought of all the little things we would like to keep.
Today we’re building the blank base for a vertical paper bag mini album, following the method shared by Ginger Ropp of My Sisters Scrapper. There is no decorative paper to cut today. After the November release of Clara’s Christmas Expansion, we’ll share our coordinating decorative-paper cutting guide and return to dress these pages together.
The recipe tucked between the pages
Clara had begun leaving the lamp near the window a little longer each evening. She told herself it made the kitchen easier to see from the path. Whether it also made the path easier for Jacob to find was a thought she kept to herself.
The firewood still appeared by the door. Her baskets still found their way home. But on this particular October afternoon, one came back with something beneath the cloth: a folded recipe, its corners softened from years of being opened.
Mother thought you might like this for Christmas, Jacob had written on a smaller scrap. She says the extra spoonful of spice is important.
Clara read the note twice. Then she opened her old household book, meaning to tuck the recipe somewhere safe. Out slipped another: one she knew by the handwriting before she had read a word.
There were recipes scattered through that book like pressed flowers. A little of one kitchen, a little of another. Some had instructions so brief that only the person who wrote them could have understood. Others carried a correction in the margin, or a floury thumbprint, or the name of someone Clara missed.
They deserved a place of their own.
She cleared a corner of the table and began to imagine a small Christmas book: pockets for recipes, room for remembered meals, a list of gifts to make by hand. Five treasured recipes, she decided. Five would be a lovely beginning.
When Jacob came past before dusk, she was still at the table. This time, she opened the door before he could set down the wood.
“Would your mother mind,” she asked, holding up the folded sheet, “if I kept this in something a little more special?”
His smile came more easily now. “I think she’d like that.”
Clara smiled back. Four more recipes to choose, then. Though she already suspected she would save the last pocket for something she had not yet been given.
Read Clara and Jacob’s previous chapter, The Smallest Smile.
Remembering Ginger of My Sisters Scrapper
With love and gratitude, in memory of Ginger Ropp. Our album base follows the paper-bag construction method Ginger taught through My Sisters Scrapper. We miss watching her videos, hearing her explain the next little step, and sharing in the creative inspiration she brought to so many craft tables.
It feels especially meaningful to revisit her teaching while making a book for treasured recipes and Christmas memories. The base construction is credited to Ginger’s tutorial; the forthcoming Cottagecore Comforts artwork and Christmas inserts are our own.
Watch Ginger’s Part 1a: Building Pages · Her earlier Christmas paper-bag page tutorial
Gather your supplies—just for the blank book
- Six standard gusseted brown paper lunch bags for the six-page base.
- Plain cardstock for page flaps, binding and lining; kraft or another neutral colour works beautifully.
- Chipboard for two covers and a spine.
- Paper trimmer, ruler and pencil; scissors for small adjustments.
- Scoring board or scoring tool, plus a bone folder.
- Strong double-sided craft tape and suitable paper-crafting glue.
- A protected cutting surface and a craft knife if needed for your chipboard.
Save the patterned papers, lace, ribbons, printed recipe cards and embellishments for our decorating session. You do not need to buy the winter expansion to begin this blank base.
Your base cutting list
We’re using Ginger’s original size: covers approximately 5 inches wide × 8½ inches tall, with a 2⅝-inch chipboard spine. All measurements below are in inches and come from the descriptions of her construction videos.
| Piece | Quantity | Cut / score |
|---|---|---|
| Brown lunch bags | 6 for this base | Trim to 8¼ long; keep the closed bottom intact. |
| Cardstock page flaps | 6 | 8 × 5; score at 4½ across the 5-inch width to leave a ½-inch tab. |
| Front and back chipboard covers | 2 | 8½ × 5 each. |
| Chipboard spine | 1 | 8½ × 2⅝. |
| Small cardstock binding strip | 1 | 8¼ × 1⅞. |
| Medium cardstock binding strip | 1 | 8¼ × 2⅝. |
| Large cardstock binding strip | 1 | 8¼ × 3⅜. |
| Interior spine-covering cardstock | 1 | 8¼ × 5. |
Binding scores: score ¾ inch inward from each long edge of all three binding strips. Ginger’s Part 2 binding video shows how the pieces fit together.
Step 1: Prepare one bag before making the whole stack
Lay a lunch bag flat and identify its open mouth, closed folded bottom and two side gussets. The gussets are the accordion folds tucked into the sides.
Pull out only the gusset on the binding side and reverse its centre crease outward to form the projecting attachment tab. Leave the opposite side gusset folded in for this step. Burnish the folds neatly. Follow Ginger’s page-building demonstration before gluing: the bag’s own opening must remain available as the large pull-out pocket.
Measure 8¼ inches from the closed bottom edge toward the open mouth. Mark a straight line across the bag and trim away the excess at the open end. Do not cut off the folded bottom—we need it for the small pocket.
In Ginger’s Part 1a, the bag-preparation section begins around 1:25. Make one practice page first, then repeat the same orientation for the remaining bags.
Step 2: Turn the folded bag bottom into a pocket
Bring the bag’s folded bottom flap against the page face and crease it neatly. This becomes the smaller pocket on the page. Keep its top edge open so a card can slip behind it.
Use Ginger’s demonstration to check the edge-gluing placement before pressing anything permanently. Avoid spreading adhesive across the entire flap: that would close the space we want to use. Test the pocket with a scrap card and make sure the main bag opening remains open too.
Step 3: Add the plain cardstock flaps
Cut the six 8 × 5-inch pieces, score and fold the ½-inch attachment tabs, then burnish. Ginger demonstrates creating these flaps around 4:35 in Part 1a and attaching them around 11:05. Follow her positioning so the flap opens freely without sealing a pocket or covering the binding tab.
Step 4: Make the cover and binding
Cut the two chipboard covers and spine from the list above. Follow Part 1b: Building the Cover for wrapping the boards in plain paper and leaving the working hinge spaces. Keep the finish simple; we will add our Christmas cover papers later.
Cut and score the three binding strips. Follow Part 2: Creating the Binding to assemble them, centre the binding inside the spine and line the inside covers. The binding demonstration begins around 3:37; attachment to the cover begins around 12:27.
Step 5: Fit the pages and check the blank album
Follow the page-attachment demonstration in Part 5, using plain pages for our base. Dry-fit before committing the adhesive. Turn every page, open each flap, and check both the little bottom pockets and the larger bag openings.
Stop before the decorative-paper stage. Let the adhesive cure according to its instructions and store the book gently closed, without forcing a bulky stack flat. These notes are a companion craft-along: Ginger’s videos remain the reference for the precise wrapping, hinge and gluing movements.
Leave room for Clara’s Christmas
For now, your album should be beautifully plain. After Clara’s Christmas Expansion releases in November, we’ll share the coordinating decorative-paper cutting instructions for this original-size base. The planned Christmas keepsake will make room for five treasured recipes, handmade-gift notes, Christmas-card records, menus, wishes and holiday activities.
Do not pre-cut the decorative panels yet. We’ll place the artwork thoughtfully around the pockets, folds and openings when the collection is ready.
Come back for the decorating chapter
Join our creative community for updates and free journal layouts. You can also explore the current Cottagecore Comforts collection on Etsy. Today’s blank base needs no printed collection, and the winter expansion will be announced separately when it is available.
Which recipe would go into your first pocket—and whose handwriting would you most like to preserve? Tell me in the comments. I would love to hear the story behind it.
The project images in this post are AI-created illustrations, not photographs or stills from Ginger’s videos. Measurements are given in the text; follow her linked tutorials for construction.
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Save this craft-along for later
Choose your favourite image below to save this tutorial to Pinterest. We’ll decorate our blank albums after Clara’s Christmas Expansion arrives.
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