I'm bummed about my wooden album

[monica31671]

I bought a great scrapbook album on our last trip. It is wooden with a cutout for a 5X7 picture in the middle of the cover. It has an icon for each of the parks and a vintage Mickey and Minnie holding hands and running. They have them all over the place at WDW. I bet most of you have seen them.
Anyway....I pulled it out to start a new scrapbook a couple of days ago and was dissapointed to see that my pages don't lay flat when I slide them in the sleeves! I crammed one page in it's page protector and when I tried to flip it open, my page got all bent. I put in different page protectors with longer bindings, but they didn't even open flat and then they stuck out over the edge of the book.
I am terribly dissapointed. Anybody else have this problem? Any suggestions about what to do?
I suggested to my husband that he cut off a chuck of the wood next to the 3 ring holes, but he told me that wouldn't be enough to make a difference.
Help!!!

 

[Timon]

What I do is just cut off about 1.5 inches of my page BEFORE I start working on it. (widthwise of course!) They tend to slide around a bit in the album but the pages lay flat!

Here's a page from mine...

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

If it makes you feel any better, I have found that same problem with other albums. You just have to trim it a bit.

Hope you don't lose too much of your pages in order to get them to fit.

 

[mydogisbo]

I had the exact same problem & I LOVE that album!

Mine was so that I even had to take all the pages out & punch new holes closer to the edge--I couldn't even come close to getting the pages to go in. They still don't lie flat. I've only done one page for that album , so the rest I'll plan accordingly & make them 12 x 11 or something.

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

I kept thinking about your dilema. I decided to check the pink Disney Princess 50th anniversary album we have from WDW. I put in a few more pages that I had just finished and the problem got worse with each page.

I then got creative. I remembered that I had purchased some Mrs. Grossman's refills for a different album. I pulled them out. They are about 1/2" wider. They worked! My pages now lay flat. The holes even lined up (well, the top & bottom.)

So, maybe you just need to change the refills. Expensive, I know, but your memories are worth it!

 

[monica31671]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.
I did try different refill pages. I have four types of refills (to get just the right ones for my 2005 book) and none of them worked.
I think I will try cutting off some of the wood and repunching the holes in my sleeves. The edges of my pages will hang out of the book, but I don't know what else to do.
I don't have a problem buying a new book, but I love this one! And it cost a small fortune. And I bought papers and stickers and stuff to match!

 

[MickeyEars]

I couldn't believe it when I read this thread because I have the same album and the same problem. I bought it in June of '05 at the scrapbook store in DD. I love the look of the album but I'm not really happy with it at this point. I can't believe you have to cut away 1.5 inches of your paper just to get the pages to lie down. At least I'm not alone in my flustration!!

Carla

 

[LindaBabe]

I think almost all the Disney albums and some other expensive ones as well have odd size page protectors. In reality the paper needs to be a good 8th to quarter inch less than the page protector in order to lie flat.

 

[monica31671]

I bought a shiny red book in DD in June of '05 that works great. It has the fab five on the front and "2005." The inside says, "Where the Party Never Ends!" I added 6 pages and they still all lay flat!
It never occured to me to open the wooden book. I thought, "Oh, pretty," and snatched one up. From now on I'll pay attention to those kinds of things.
Maybe I should pack it up and take it back when I go in September.

 

[revrob]

I have that same album, and I had the same problem on the first page I did. Then I realized that it wasn't a 12x12 album, it's more like 12x11 or 12x 11 1/2. For me, it wasn't that big of a deal. I just trimmed the paper down (after adjusting the layout slightly), and then trimmed my paper before I began each page. Works great! I LOVE that album. It's really not that big of a deal to trim down the paper to me so that I can enjoy the album.

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

And now that I know what a pain it could be to use, I will be staying away from it when we go back.

Funny thing, DH saw it and wanted to know if I wanted to buy it last year when we were at the park. I had my heart set on something that didn't even exist, so I turned it down.

Now I am really glad I did!


Let us know what you decide to do.