Hello. My name is April, and I am obsessed with layered tabs in my bible.
If you follow me anywhere on social media, you know I have a verrrrryyyy serious #tabcrush and consider no page to ever be complete without some sort of fancy-fied, over the top, paper explosion tab section at the top.
Today I plan on pulling the rest of y’all into this same obsession of layered tab goodness, so buckle up! ;)
First off, let’s grab up some supplies, friends. This can be as little [or as much] and as involved + detail-oriented [or not] as you want. I love digging deep into my creative juices to find unique items for tab pieces that I already have laying around…. shipping tag tops, crepe paper yo yos, and alphabet ephemera are some of my all time faves!
The obvious go to for getting started in the ultimate science of tab layering is…. well…. tabs! I love all of the pre-made, themed + gorgeously colored tabs that we have available through Illustrated Faith. I keep all of mine mixed up in a vintage tin so I know right where to look when I’m ready to start my bible page tab section.
I also love to add “extras” in to my tab section. I hold on to #allthethings and consider nothing to be trash in my craft room. I love love LOVE saving my kraft mailers from the monthly devotional kits for creating paper pieces!! I also pull tab inspo from the designer collection paper pads as well as resizing some of the Print & Pray digital shop downloads…. these Season of Worth washi strips make for some lovely faux-painted tab pieces!
Next to my bible journaling desk, I have a basket full of shaped punches that I occasionally treat myself to when I find a local sale or have some birthday cash to spend ;) My favorites [found here] make for lots of interesting shapes that can be mixed + matched to your tab loving hearts content!
Now that we have all of our fab supplies, let’s make a tab section piece together!!! Here I’ve pulled a couple of pre-made tabs from my vintage tin of pretties along with a couple of punched paper shapes to layer with.
Now the fun begins! Start playing around with your selected paper pieces. Sometimes you may put some tabs or shapes back & try different pieces until you feel like you’ve got it “just right” — but let me assure you, friends. There is no such thing as a one size fits all “just right” tab section. You do YOU & let your creativity shine through!
Once you are loving what you’re seeing, start putting pieces together. I like to work little by little, adhering one or two pieces at a time until I have a fully assembled, gorgeously layered tab section ready to glue down at the top of my bible page!
PRO TIP — If you lay all of your tab pieces down & simply L O V E what you’ve created, grab ALL. OF. THE. PIECES together & staple that bad boy together! I don’t like to leave layering mishaps to chance by picking up one piece at a time to glue together & then feeling like I didn’t get them in exactly the same spot I had originally found.
Staple right away…. Trust me on this. I’ve suffered many a #tabcrushheartache, y’all.
Voila! You are now a layering tab professional, my lovely friend. There is no one more proud of you than me…. except God [#duh]. Because all of those extra minutes spent scissoring + punching out papers for a silly little tab section gave you those same extra minutes to truly meditate on whatever verse, passage, or devotion you are tabbing to remember for later. Every little swatch of paint or tiny stapled tab brings us into His presence in such a unique + creative way…. what a joy + a privilege!
