35 DIY Photo Album Ideas (+FREEBIES)

All these DIY photo album ideas will help those, who have gathered a large number of shots and want to store them in unique and exclusive photo albums. These can be the photos from a wedding, birthday or just important events. Check out my roundup of unusual DIY photo album options for any occasion.

DIY Photo Album in 5 Steps

Tools and materials needed:

Cardboard of any color
Pencil
Glue Additional colored paper (if you want)
Photographs

Cut a strip of paper 1cm smaller than your box where you will put your photo album as a small gift.

Using a pencil, measure the location of the photographs.

Fold your paper as it is showed below.

Using glue draw several lines where the photo will be located.

Stick photos on one side of your album only.

This is how it should look.

You can decorate the album with a ribbon.

35 Best DIY Photo Album Ideas

DIY photo albums can be both a decoration for your home and a great gift for a couple, best friends or parents. In this article, you will find easy DIY photo album ideas for different holidays, as well as different levels of complexity so that after reading, you can create your first image album.

1. Simple Magnetic Album

This creative and fully customizable explosion DIY photo album gift box will definitely impress your friends, family, and loved ones. When you remove the “lid” of this charming box, it opens up to reveal your notes, funny photos, and other decorated elements made by you.

2. Insta Photo Box

Here is one of the best creative photo album ideas for your favorite Insta pics. Get a small box that will serve as a case, and color paper to decorate it.

The shots themselves should be printed in the same size and glued to a long sheet of paper of the appropriate width. Then fold it angularly and place it in a box.

Learn more about the best photo printing apps.

3. Brag Book

For such homemade photo books, get bristol board that can be folded angularly. Its main advantage is that it holds its shape well.

You need to adjust the shots to the size of the paper and stick them with regular glue. The cover page should be made of cardboard.

You can decorate it with fabric or color with paints.

4. Mini Photo Album

Here is one of the simplest album ideas on this list. All you need is the Made Easy Album set. After selecting two cards for the cover and last page, glue them to the hard cardboard.

Place shots on each card, preferably adjusting them to the identical size. To hold the album together, make holes in the upper left corner or use strong bright ribbons or special rings.

5. Flip Photo Album

If you have an unnecessary wooden board, use metal hooks to turn it into an elegant album. Attach the hooks to the board, make holes in your favorite shots with a hole punch and hang them.

6. Photo Album with Instax Film

To realize this idea, you may use Instax printers or instant printing cameras. For easy storage, get a spiral notebook, which you can decorate with stickers, writings and various drawings on each page.

Check out what are the best instant cameras.

7. Accordion Photo Album

For such a cool photo album, you need to make a small accordion from glued-together sheets of paper of the proper length. Take the necessary shots and glue them to the accordion you got, and then place it in a small box.

Read more about free photo editing apps to enhance the shot before printing.

8. Acrylic Photo Album

To create this album you need acrylic paints and watercolor paper.

Prepare shots by cropping them to the necessary size. The paper should have free space next to the glued photo. In this free space, you can draw anything you want and add interesting writings.

9. Sturdy Album for Kids

If you dream of creating a gift for your baby, but ordinary albums can quickly get damaged, I advise you to pay attention to this option. Use chipboard as a base and glue together pieces of clear packaging tape. Such a base is sturdy and durable enough for a kid friendly photo album. Stick photos to it.

Check out the best child photography poses for a great album with child’s shots.

10. The Simplest Fabric Album

For this photo album book idea, you can use your old album and give it a second life by slightly renewing it. Or you can change a new album.

You need glue and any fabric, which you want to use as a cover.

11. Album Made From Envelopes

To realize this creative photo album idea, it is necessary to glue paper envelopes together. Each of them will serve as a separate place to store shots. You can decorate one of them or just the first and the last one.

12. Mother Day Album

For this option, use fabrics and various decorations. Additionally, you can place a photo of a mother on the cover page. Make drawings on the sheets for photos or scan ready-made drawings of children.

13. Elf on the Shelf Photo Album

I think it is one of the cutest festive DIY photo album ideas. To bring it to life, prepare in advance and take a couple of shots during the year with the traditional character – the Elf on the Shelf in different places in the house.

Then combine these shots with family photos. Christmas stickers will serve as excellent decorations.

Read more about Christmas photo props to make the photos even funnier.

14. The Alphabet of Our Love

Even the most ordinary notebook can become a unique photo album with a bit of imagination. Use special pens to draw on the cover page, and add carved hearts for decoration. Additionally, you can wrap the album with tape and present it to your beloved as a gift for Valentine’s day.

Get familiar with romantic Valentine’s day photoshoot ideas.

15. Halloween-Styled Album

To create such a DIY scrapbook photo album, you can stick various ornaments to the cover page as decorations, draw ghosts or other creatures.

Inside decorate each page with themed stickers and drawings. In addition, you can replace ordinary white sheets with special Halloween-patterned paper.

Learn more about Halloween photography ideas.

16. New Year’s Photo Album

This album is perfect for storing winter photos. The best decorations are pinecones, Christmas ornaments and ribbons with snowflakes.

Different stickers, Christmas cards and other festive attributes can be put inside the album.

Check out photo ideas to try this winter for your album.

17. My Baby Journal

It is one of the best children’s photo album ideas to reliably save these precious shots. The idea is especially suitable for the “first-year chronicle” of a child's life. As for decorations, use letter stickers, bows and flowers.

18. Photo Album for a Boy

This idea can become a great gift for a baby boy or a family album with his photos. I suggest decorating it with fabrics, various stickers, flowers or toys. Design the inner pages according to the child’s hobbies – scraps from comics, drawings of cars, heroes, etc.

19. Album in «Alice in Wonderland» Style

To create scrapbook albums in “Alice in Wonderland” style, I advise using magazines on springs that need to be decorated according to the chosen theme.

Find matching accessories to decorate the cover page and purchase themed sheets for the decoration inside the album. You may attach photos to them and leave notes.

20. Balloons for Birthday

For this DIY scrapbook album, you need to cut out balloon shapes from colored sheets and attach them to the center of the cover page. Additionally, use thread and decorations for scrapbooking, such as bows to “tie” the balloons. Inside the album, you can continue this idea and make drawings or add stickers.

21. Photo Album for Princesses

While creating baby photo album, you need lace and fabric flowers. Besides, you can attach stickers and ribbons with princesses images to the album.

22. Minion Photo Album

Minions are favorite cartoon characters of many children. You can draw a minion on the cover page, find stickers or cut it from fabric or paper. It is an excellent photo book for baby to play with, which will later bring back precious childhood memories.

23. Elegant Black Wedding Album

In order to create a personal original wedding album, you can use special kits with the album, black paper and colored pens to draw on it. Pictures in the Polaroid style are perfect for this idea.

Learn more wedding photography ideas for your photo album.

24. Album for Chronicles of a Couple

For this album, you need to get blank index cards. Stick your favorite photos to one side of the card.

On the other side, you may write wishes, a story related to a photo or just words of love. As a decoration for this DIY scrapbook cover page, use a printed photo with initial letters or special text.

Learn more about Canva photo editor to create a stylish cover page for the album..

25. Wooden Album for a Couple

To bring this idea to life, you can use thin boards or hardcover albums. In the second case, use wood-like adhesive paper to decorate the album. I suggest adding cut stencils in the shape of hearts or words to the cover page and glue red paper to the reverse page.

Find out more couple photography ideas for your creative photo album.

26. Flowers of Our Love

One of the best album ideas for weddings or times spent together is to cut out a large heart on the cover page and place the photo of both of you in it. Decorate the album with sets of small flowers.

27. Love Letters with Photos

Use a couple of beautiful paper envelopes, which must be glued together from the bottom. Decorate such DIY photo albums with drawings or inscriptions. Photos themselves can be stored in envelopes and glued to the outside. Put letters and important items inside.

28. Photo Book Album

In case you wish to dedicate an album to a specific person or even, you won’t find a better DIY picture book idea. It is rather portable and you will be able to take it with you anywhere, unlike bulky and heavy albums meant to be stored at home.

29. Traveler’s Album

We usually have a large number of different little items, such as tickets, guides or checks after travels. You can combine them with photos, short written stories and get a perfect gift for a traveler.

Pick the best travel camera to fill the album with professional shots from your future adventures.

30. Photo Album from Old Maps

Use old maps to realize unique photo book ideas. With their help, decorate the front and back pages with photos and mark the places where the photo was taken. Also, from the cards paper left, you can make envelopes for storing various small items.

31. Postcard Photo Album

Among the best DIY photo album ideas for memorable pictures from vacations, this one is rather simple and cheap. It won’t be difficult to find binder rings, a hole punch, a couple of postcards and make an album. The photos themselves can be glued to postcards or pierced with a hole punch and placed on a ring.

Read more about the best photo collage app to put more photos on one card of your album.

32. Photo Album From an Old Book

If you have an old, unnecessary book, you can turn it into a photo album. Simply cut out windows in the desired pages, tape them to the next page on three sides with double-sided tape. This way, you will create slots where you can put the selected shots.

33. Vintage Album from an Old Copybook

In case you have old school copybooks that you don’t want to throw away because of certain memories, you may use them and bring to life DIY photo album ideas. In addition, the sheets covered with writing can become an original background for each photo that you stick.

34. Sea Album

For this idea, it is better to make an album in blue tones and use seashells for decoration, which you can gather yourself or purchase. For internal pages, use sheets with coastal patterns and similar stickers.

35. Harry Potter Album

Here is one of the best DIY photo book ideas for the fans of wonderful Harry Potter story. Such an album will be of great value! To create it, you need to use albums and old vintage sheets. Also, get themed stickers and potion bottles as well as decorations.