How To-31: "How to Make a Homemade Book"

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Have you ever wanted to make a book for whatever purpose? A diary or a gift book, perhaps? It's easier than you think.

Steps

1. For the cover, cut two identical pieces of cardboard (or whatever, as long as it is thick).
   
2. Cut out sheets of printer paper so that when folded in half they will be ¼ of an inch thinner and ½ an inch shorter than the cardboard.
   
3. Fold six sheets in half.
   
4. Sew the six folded-in-half sheets together at the crease in a figure 8 pattern. Make sure you start and end at the same point and the knot faces inside.
   
5. Stack several of these six-sheet stacks on top of each other, making sure they are aligned. Press them down between some heavy books and measure the width of the spine.
   
6. Cut a strip of fabric that is as long as the pages and two centimeters wider than the spine.
   
7. Coat one side of the fabric with glue — use a lot, but not so much that it drips — and stick the fabric to the spine of the pages. Pull it tight.
   
8. Place the book between sheets of wax paper and underneath a heavy book or two. Wait for the glue to dry.
   
9. When the glue dries, take out the book and glue the cardboard pieces to the first and last pages. Make sure they are aligned with each other and also with the spine.
   
10. Cut two pieces of fabric that are as long as the cardboard pieces, and two centimeters wider than the piece of fabric holding the pages together. Glue these to the spine on top of the cardboard and press them into the first piece of fabric.
    
11. Again, place the book between wax paper and underneath the heavy books. Wait to dry.
    
12. When this has dried, cut out a piece of any decorative paper, as long as it is two inches wider than both the covers and the spine combined, and two inches taller than the cover.
    
13. Make a crease one inch from the top and one inch from the bottom. Glue these flaps to the inside of the cover.
    
14. Cut the paper so the spine is covered but there is no paper directly above or below it. You should now have four flaps — two above the book and two below.
    
15. Fold these flaps down and glue them to the inside cover.
    
16. Cut out two sheets of paper ¼-inch thinner than the cover and ½-inch shorter. Glue it to the inside cover so that it covers what the cover paper doesn't, and so that it sits flush to the spine.
    
17. Let all of this dry.
    
18. When it dries, decorate it however you want!
    

Tips

• Be precise with your measurements.
  
• It's your book, so make it look however you want.
  
• If you are making a diary you can wrap some string or ribbon around the front cover to make a convenient place to put loose paper and/or pictures.
  

Warnings

• Don't glue the pages together.
  

Things You'll Need

• cardboard (or some other thick board)
  
• scissors
  
• needle and thread
  
• two kinds of decorative paper
  
• printer paper
  
• Elmer's glue or similar craft glue
  
• fabric (old sheets work best)
  
• wax paper
  
• stuff to decorate it with
  

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