A Pocket Book or Money Holder for Graduation

Hello Everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful week. Today's post and project is called a Pocket Book, but I have adapted it to be a Money Holder for a gentleman's Graduation gift. I'm not sure who the original creator of this mini pocket book is, but it has been around for awhile and I have seen different versions of it in Mini Book magazines and books.  All I know is, it is fun and easy to make, and only uses one sheet of double sided 12 X 12 scrapbook paper.

I started out with pictures showing a smaller version, because I use my computer's scanner to scan my images. (I couldn't fit the 12 X 12 page on the scanner bed.)

1.  Fold sheet in quarters;  first fold in half, then fold each side to the middle.(you don't need to mark with white, I just did so on the dark side to show where to fold.)



 2.  Fold in 1/4" from left and right edges of the page. (I'm sorry you can't see the fold here, it is lost in the design of the paper.)

 3.  Fold each corner to the first fold line. DO NOT place over the fold! Up to the fold line ONLY! (do this on all four corners)

4.  When your 1/4" edges and all corners are folded, fold each side into the center of the paper.
(on the next step I will be showing the full size 12 X 12 sheet.)

 5.  Flip the entire unit over and fold 1/2" down towards you from the top of the unit. You will notice that you have created two tiny corner pockets at the top of the fold. (in my picture they are black)

 6.  Bring the bottom of the unit to the top, folding the paper in half, and then tuck the bottom corners into those two little pockets at the top of the card. (in this picture you will see two diagonal pockets, one on the left and one on the right) If you have a bone folder or creasing tool, use it now to set all of the folds in the card.

7.  Fold the unit in half and crease again with your bone folder or creasing tool. Now you have a pocket book with four pockets; one on the front, two inside, and one on the back.( I have placed a sheet of paper in the front pocket just to show you how big the pocket is.)

Now you can decorate the front with a graduation theme, as I did, or you can decorate it with any theme you wish. You can even leave it blank if you want to. I decorated mine with the Marcel stamp from Paper Wings Productions, stamping him on a sheet of Art Angel Element Deck Tags with Tuxedo black Memento ink and coloring him with my Copic Markers. I wanted to dress him in a black graduation gown, so I took my copic and drew the gown outline and then filled it in over the clothing of the stamp. I used the mortarboard hat from the Lawn Fawn "Hats Off to You" set and the sentiment "hat's off to you" from the Marcel set from Paper Wings. The hat was a little large, so I had to alter it a bit to fit his head. The sentiments inside on the various elements, are from the set "About New Beginnings" from My Favorite Things, and "Happiness Messages" from Hero Arts.

You can also decorate the pockets inside, and they can hold pictures of the graduate, a nice size check to get them started out in the work-a-day world, a gift card to their favorite coffee house, a list of things that they have done to make you proud of them. . . . . . . and on and on! Of course, depending on how much decorating you do, depends on if you can mail it or not. It will fit inside a letter size envelope, but since it is such a special gift that will be treasured a lifetime, you may just want to hand it to them in person at their graduation ceremony.  Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure you will be thrilled with the way it turned out, and know that it is a special gift that was made with LOVE;  From you to Someone Special!

Thanks for stopping by today. I would appreciate any comments you would like to leave on this post. Have a great day, and I will see you again soon.

Mindy