DIY Wedding RSVP Card Keepsake Book Tutorial

Doing the birthday card keepsake book for Gabby inspired me to see what else I could bind into a book. I dug through our box of wedding stuff and found stacks of wedding cards. We had over 200 guests and tons of out of town guests who sent cards. I think I'll save that project for another time.

I found our RSVP cards that I have been saving for the day I figure out what to do with them. We had asked guests to write some wishes or words of wisdom on the back of the cards. We received quite a few creative and funny ones. Some people drew pictures, glued on photos or wrote quotes. One even attached a saying from a fortune cookie. I'm really happy we still have these mementos from our wedding.

The difference between this book and the birthday card book is that this one has a hard cover and I didn't need to sew the spine together.

Pictures of the materials used and more details on the process can be found under this post.

Materials Needed: 

• RSVP Cards
• PVC Glue (I still had a tub I bought for $8 four years ago from Paper Source, but it's $10 now). 
• 2" Wide Book Cloth Tape in Blossom (10 foot tape roll is $6.50 from Paper Source)
• 3-4 Large Binder Clips or Clamps
• 3-4 Craft Sticks or Cardboard
• 1 Foam Brush 
• Scissors
• Bone Folder (Optional)
• Bookboard or Thick Cardboard
• Exacto Knife
• Two sheets of decorative paper
• Extra paper for the first and last protector page

All the RSVP Cards:





Cards Ready to be Glued: I made a mistake and forgot to add one or two blank protector pages at the beginning and end of the book. These pages will be glued directly to the hard cover of the book and help secure the book to the cover.

Glued and Waiting to Dry:

Close-up of the Glued Spine: Again, make sure you have blank pages at the beginning and end. I had to add it after the fact and is not as secure.

Inside the Book:

Supplies for the Book Cover:

Cut the Bookboard with an Exacto Knife: My cutting skills need work.

I cut and glued a decorative paper sheet to each board, leaving a small gap for the book tape. I accidentally cut the pink book tape a little short so patched it. I used a thin strip of cardboard from a notepad I had to use as the spine. Leave a quarter inch gap between the spine cardboard piece and front/back cover so that you can close the book.


Putting Together the Cover:

The Inside Cover: 

The Front Cover:

Take your book and spread glue on the front page, back page and spine. Lay the text block straight onto the spine of the cover and close the book. This will bind the book right to the cover.

The Finished Wedding RSVP Card Keepsake Book: