A Book of Books

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from cover to cover, a look at repurposing pages written and designed by

Sarah O. Hutto


Š 2012 by Sarah O. Hutto All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Sarah Hutto. Interior and exterior design by Sarah Hutto saraholiviadesigns.com Photography by Edward Fieder Printed in the United States of America


Contents Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Definition Jewelry. . . . . . . . . 7 Binder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Nail Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 iPad Case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Book Spine Crafts. . . . . . . . . 23 Wallets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Book Cover Purse. . . . . . . . . 31 Shadow Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Collab: Megan Welch . . . . . . 39 Decorative Trees. . . . . . . . . . 43 Gift Bags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Journals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Collab: Savannah Harrison. . 55 Paper Rose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Ornaments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Papier-mâchÊ. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Mini Paper Roses. . . . . . . . . . 71 Woven Place Mats . . . . . . . . 75 Candle Holder. . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Curled Paper Wreath. . . . . . 83 Book Cover Frame. . . . . . . . 87 Hollowed Books. . . . . . . . . . 91



Acknowledgments This book was not created solely by

And, again, to Savannah who sat

Edward Fieder shot most of the

my hands. Many people put time and

down one day across from me for lunch,

photos in the book, and was more than

effort into my senior thesis, and to these

wearing the necklace that solidified my

patient through my scheduling conflicts.

people I cannot express enough thanks.

goals. That day changed the course of

Every shot was stunning and I was more

my semester.

than pleased with his professionalism.

First, my parents for supporting me throughout the entire process (and for

My roommate, Lynsi, made the rose

To Scott Walker for not only giving me

my mother, who inspired me with the

when she probably could have been

his input as I needed it, but also for being

first project.)

studying, which ended up as the cover

there for me when I realized just how

design and my favorite project. She also

daunting publishing a book really is.

My sister Laura helped and even created many of the projects, showing

forgave the constant disaster that was

once again how big her heart is and

our living room due to this process.

how deep her patience runs. To my collaborators, Savannah

My two models are Emily Jackson and Laura Hutto. Thanks goes to these ladies

Harrison and Megan Welch, for adding a

for not questioning me when I asked

needed variety to the project list.

them to model book pages.

And to anyone else I may have missed (you know who you are): I appreciate you. Thank you for allowing this to become reality.

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Introduction Books are an escape into a different reality.

On the other hand, I also enjoy crafting.

Using the time given to me during my

Within the pages of a well written book,

There’s nothing quite like discovering an idea,

final semester in college, I explored the uses

readers can find solace in the characters and

executing it, and then passing it along for

of the pages and covers of books that we

stories that either mirror their own lives or

another person to try.

would otherwise donate or throw away. By

take them far from it. To me, books have always been a source of

My theme for my senior thesis

thinking of books as a material for a future art

project revolves around books and crafting.

project, new pieces can form to be something

creativity and inspiration. After I complete a

Not only their tangibility, but hopefully the

beautiful with the written word.

story that kept me captivated, I feel motivated

wisdom they also hold inside their pages.

to push further into its pages and concepts.

Now that books have evolved into digital

This project encompasses many aspects of my personality: design, reading, crafting, and

I research, write, design, and create based on

devices, the physical copies are fading into

sharing ideas. I hope that it will show who I

my feelings and curiosities.

nostalgia. We hold them dearly, but how

am within its pages, and that it may too one

practical are they?

day be repurposed. – Sarah Hutto

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Materials X-Acto Knife

Pages

Ruler/Cutting Board

This small blade is on the end of a

You’ll need a wide assortment of page

If you don’t have a proper cutting board

utensil that is much like a pencil. It allows

types. I found that different texts made

or ruler, be prepared to make several

for precision cutting, though the blades

for different looks. The dictionary pages

jagged lines and cuts on a table.

need to be exchanged every 100 pages

were whiter and cleaner, with a thicker

cut.

text. The Reader’s Digests that I found

Scissors

had antique looking pages with yellowed

While I do love my X-Acto knife and its

Glue

corners. Then, when I cut up The Book

versatility, sometimes you have to make

There are going to be a variety of glue

Thief, its pages were somewhere in the

some quick and dirty cuts. Be prepared

types you’ll need for many of these

middle.

to also have some scissors on hand.

Elmer’s Glue 75% of the time. I also had

Needle, Thread, Sewing Machine

Miscellaneous

to use a hot glue gun for some projects,

Three of the projects required some

Be creative while crafting! Grab some

and for that I say be careful!

form of stitching/sewing: the purse,

buttons or ribbon and add personality.

projects, but I’d say that I used regular

wallets, and journal.

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Definition Jewelry My best friend and I have a lunch routine to make sure that we get to see each other throughout the week regardless of our busy senior schedules. One day as she sat down, I noticed for the first time a very striking piece of jewelry she wore. Her necklace featured a simple glass dome with her favorite quote from To Kill a Mockingbird. At that moment, I had my notebook open on the table in front of me to ‘senior thesis ideas.’ I had been searching for the perfect project for my body of work, and seeing her necklace finally solidified an idea I previously had after seeing the decorative trees. I was going to craft. Her necklace inspired these jewelry pieces. With my pieces, I decided to cut out illustrations from books and definitions from the dictionary. Where did I get the pages? See ‘Hollowed Books,’ pg. 10. I chose words that I could stand behind, and asked my sister and best friends what words they’d like to see. The result allows us to stand behind words we believe in, and accessorize with a piece of jewelry for book lovers.

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Definition Jewelry: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Book Pages

Glue! How in the world do you get

Bases

a piece of glass and a piece of paper

Glass

to stick to a necklace base without

Chains

anything showing? I ended up using the

Circle Cutter

clear glue shown in the materials list

Glue

and letting it dry overnight.

Time & Difficulty: The time varies depending on how and what you cut and what glue you use. The project is not difficult whatsoever, and tons of fun to individualize.

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STEP BY STEP

1

Find a setting. I chose to look on etsy.com for jewelry settings and glass inserts.

2

Using a circle cutter, cut circles from illustrations, text, or dictionary pages.

3

I used a clear glue to add my pictures to the glass and let them dry overnight.

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Binder I love organization, and I love when repurposing projects turn old items into useful products. Using a book cover and the metal binder rings from a thrift store notebook, I turned this old brown book into a trendy binder to hold note cards. I love using note cards when I study, but they’re a pain to store. This way, the note cards fit into my bookshelf and blend right in with all my other books. I also found a pattern for an insert on the left side of my cover to store my notecards. The bright blue page is from a Real Simple hardcover how-to book with several bright and inviting pages. The insert was very easy to make and adds a nice touch to the inner pattern of the book.

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Binder: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Binder rings

Finding the binder rings to

Book cover

fit a certain book size can be

Fabric

difficult. I was lucky to find a

Paper

small note card binder that fit perfectly into my book.

Time & Difficulty: From cutting to adhering, I spent a little over 20 minutes on this project, and it is at a beginner’s difficulty level.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2 3

Measure fabric panel the size entire length of book, then glue down fabric panel. Glue binder ring to book. I chose to make a little holder on the left side of my book (diagram to the right), but that’s optional.

Fold and glue .5” strips along the sides.

Fold upward 3”, but only glue outer sides.

Allow to dry.

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Nail Art When accessorizing with words, the boundaries are unlimited. When my sister and neighbor presented this image to me through a text, I immediately created a page for it. This project takes maybe a half hour to finish, but can be fun to do with friends and with your favorite pieces of literature. Nail art is a huge trend right now, and finding new and interesting ways to decorate allows the creativity to shine. My sister in the photograph once again used pages from her favorite book, The Book Thief, but I’ve seen people use a wide variety of pages to accomplish the same effect. Newspapers, dictionaries, books, and even textbooks can be used to imprint your favorite words on phrases to keep around for a few weeks.

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Nail Art: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Book pages

You have to hold the pages down or

Rubbing alcohol

the words will get messed up. Also, the

Clear Polish

clear polish is a necessity. The words

White/Silver polish

will rub off within a day if that polish

Time & Difficulty: Each nail took 30 seconds, and though getting all nails done may be tedious, the project is simple.

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isn’t applied at the end.


STEP BY STEP:

1 2

aint nails a nude or light P color. Make sure your nails are completely dry (not even slightly sticky) before moving on to the next step. Cut ten pieces of paper for each nail. The size depends on your nail, but 1�x 1� strips should work.

3 4

Dip paper in rubbing alcohol and press on nail for 30 seconds, then remove paper. Do for each nail. Allow to dry completely, then apply clear polish.

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iPad Case I may love crafting and being hands-on, but I love technology and computers just as much. My iPad follows me wherever I go, often accompanied by its keyboard, and I have to admit I’m not the most careful with it. I love cases, so I decided to make one of my own using the cover of a book. While perusing the book aisle of a thrift store (and picking up many other books for the remaining projects), my mother handed me this silver cover and said, “Read the spine.” The book was titled The Incredible Machine and was the perfect size for my personal incredible machine. The coincidence was too perfect, so that night I went home and cut the pages from this book so my iPad would have a new home.

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iPad Case: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Zipper

Research zippers. They’re not easy to

Glue

apply, especially when you’re not using

Fabric

a sewing machine. Also, letting glue dry

Padding

is a true test of patience but is essential

Book cover

to having a clean craft.

Time & Difficulty: The fabric and book cover are easy and only took me minutes. The zipper, however, proved to be difficult to apply and took most of my night to practice.

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STEP BY STEP

1

Cut the pages from the book

4

lue the fabric on top of the G felt pads. These are creating the cushion for your iPad.

2

Measure the fabric out according to the size of your opened book.

5

3

ake about 3 or 4 felt pads, glue T them together, and glue them to the center of the covers of your book.

ow, glue the zipper along the N outer edges of your fabric, making sure that it lines up with its other side.

6

Once the glue dries, you’re done!

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Book Spine Crafts After I had torn the covers and the pages from many of these projects, I was left with a few book spines that looked too unique and antique for me to throw away. What to do with these spines? I couldn’t bring myself to not use them, so I incorporated them into a few projects. First, I made a cuff bracelet with a green and red spine that says “BOOKS” in large print. Secondly, I made a bookmark from the fabric and a green spine, and by adding some ribbon I had it match several other projects.

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Book Spine Crafts: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Book spine

Use hot glue, because adhering the

Hot glue

material of the cover with other

Ribbon

materials gets tricky, but the hot glue

Bracelet

worked every time.

Time & Difficulty: 15 minutes, and each project was just a manner of adhering and adding.

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STEP BY STEP

1

lean up the sides of your spine with your C X-Acto knife. Most spines are just flimsy paper so that they can bend as you read a book.

2

lue the spine onto the material you’d like, G whether it’s cardboard to make a bookmark or a leather bracelet to make a cuff.

3

Add any other accents you’d like to see. I added ribbons and more fabric.

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Wallets Back to the sewing machine again! I received a free Real Simple hardcover book about repurposing, so of course I had to repurpose the book about repurposing! I love the bright colors of all the pages and decided to use them to make different colored wallets. In addition, I also used more of the pages from The Book Thief to make wallets with the book page feel (shown left). Wallets are very easy to make as long as you have a pattern to follow. They can be as simple or as complex as you’d like them to be, so for the purposes of this book, I created several simple wallets from different types of pages. I found that by using book pages, colored pages, and even a page out of an atlas of the moon, I could create a different feel and texture with the same template.

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Wallets: How-To Materials:

Tips:

Sewing machine

Measure your paper first! Bigger wallets

Book pages

take large sheets of paper. Also, you can

Thread

laminate or glue cellophane on your pages to give them a glossy look and

Time & Difficulty: An hour. The wallets weren’t hard to sew, but making sense of the patterns becomes a tad difficult when resizing.

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make them a little more durable.


STEP BY STEP

1

easure out your page M according to the pattern you are going to follow. Look online for patterns.; they are easy to find on the web.

2

Score (using the back of your X-Acto knife) along the score lines.

3

Fold the wallets, and sew where the pattern indicates.

4

Glue on accessories (I used a button) and use velcro to allow the wallet to snap shut.

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Book Cover Purse Several tutorials on this purse are floating around on the web, but the accessorizing and customizing differs from tutorial to tutorial. I decided to go with a blue cover and a pattern that mimics the patterns seen on many of the Reader’s Digest covers. I also found a metal chain and metal buttons to accent my purse. Before this project, I had only sat down at a sewing machine once before in my life. If I can make a book cover purse, then I know anyone can. The end result is durable and carries a normal amount for a purse. Because the outer cover is a sturdy book cover, I found that the purse was sturdier than the purses I had been carrying. The addition of a chain and a pretty durable fabric also made this a tough accessory.

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Book Cover Purse: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Book cover

Use whatever you like in terms of

Fabric

accents. I use a silver chain, but I’ve seen

Chain

examples with handles and cords. Also,

Buttons

it might help to have a friend for the

Sewing machine

last step, because adhering the second side is tricky.

Time & Difficulty: Two hours, but I’m new at a sewing machine. Then, I allowed my glue to dry overnight.

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STEP BY STEP

1

Separate the cover from its pages.

2

Cut a panel of fabric that spans the inside of your cover, and glue it down.

3

L ay your cover down onto your fabric at a 90 degree angle, and trace the triangle that the side makes. This will be the side panel.

4

ut out that triangle, pin it C to your fabric, and cut out four triangle panels from your fabric.

5

L aying the fabric back side up, sew two triangles together, leaving a hole at the bottom. Do this again with the remaining two panels.

6

Flip the fabric inside out. Line the outer edges of your panels with glue, and lay them down on the sides of your book. The tricky part is having the book slightly closed to get both sides glued down.

7

llow glue to dry overnight. A Now that your purse is ready, attach your chain and buttons and accent as you wish!

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Shadow Box I’m a fan of the 1950’s and an even bigger fan of Amelia Earhart. When I saw this book, “Women Aloft,” and saw the illustrations and information inside, I knew it would be a part of my project. I collected the images that were most striking to me and turned them into a shadow box, or a collage. This is a way to condense a story down into one smallish box. The box is a cigar box, which will forever remind me of my grandpa. He gave me about four of these boxes after he was done (because I certainly do no not smoke them, that is all grandpa). They can be seen throughout this book being used as props and as stands for many of the projects. So, this project is not only special for its subject matter, but also for the memories it holds for me.

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Shadow box: How-to Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

A box

Cut out all images first before you

Glue

place them. I also recommend laying

Cut out images

them out on a blank sheet of paper

Scissors

and imagining how they’re going to look. Once that glue dries, you’re stuck

Time & Difficulty: The project was very simple and at an easy level, but the time can vary. If you know exactly what your finished piece is going to look like, then it should be a snap. I took an hour deciding where each image should go.

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with what you have!


STEP BY STEP

1 2 3

(Optional): Line the inside of your box with pages. Cut out all images. Glue images to inside of box in desired placements.

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Collaboration: Megan Welch What better way to upcycle than to make a new, usable material? I met Megan Welch earlier in the year when I interviewed her for an article I was writing. As she told me her art story and talent with paper making, I knew that I’d be working with her again. Megan is a brilliant paper maker, and helped me make several pages of my own out of books I had already cut up for other projects. Here she has taught me how to cut up old pages, blend them, and create a journal. While the process was lengthy and exhausting, I felt extremely rewarded at the end when I finished with 48 brand new pages. I loved learning every step, from blending (with an actual blender) old pages, to sifting with a large bucket and wooden frame, and drying them off with cloth.

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New Pages: How-To Materials

Tips & Tricks:

Around 500 pages

Know where you’re headed in terms of

Access to boards, clamps, and a

thickness of paper and how many pages

printing press

you need. This will save you time and

A very large sink or bucket

energy.

Two smaller buckets

A blender

Paper towels and sponge

Time & Difficulty: The process from start to cleanup was five hours. This is, however, coming from a beginner and was also overly ambitious in making 48 pages.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2

Tear pages into small 1” x 5” strips, and soak them in hot or warm water. Mix one handful of the soaked pages and about five cups of water in a blender.

3

our this substance into a small P bucket. Repeat until bucket is full.

4

F ill large tub halfway with water. My tub measured about 4 ft. wide, 2 ft. long, and 1 ft. deep. Then, add bucket of pulp mixture.

5

S tir the water with your hand, causing the pulp to rise to the top. Get board, sifter, and tray, and ‘prospect’ for pulp.

6

Drain water for a moment, then remove board. Flip sifter onto a sheet of fabric.

7

se large sponge to soak up U water, then cover this page with another sheet of fabric. Repeat steps 1-6 until you’ve done about 8 pages, laying all sheets between fabric one on top of the other.

8

Press the pages with the printing press. This should press all the water out, so use the sponge or a paper towel to prevent from making a mess.

9

Peel carefully! Let pages dry carefully, then begin to make journal!

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Decorative Trees These trees are the catalyst that began this entire thesis. Originally, my thesis project involved a digital book that I knew was going to be too difficult and was beyond my skill level. I came home during Christmas break to see the colored tree on the left sitting on my living room mantel. I picked it up enthusiastically as my mother came into the room. When she saw how excited I was about this simple craft, she suggested that I instead do something much more fun and light-hearted for my project. Though the idea wasn’t solidified until I saw a necklace later (see Definition Jewelry), I will always remember how that tree led to the design and production of this entire book. These are a simple project and can be dressed up in many ways. I found that the addition of a snowflake, ornament, glitter, or even a necklace can dress these trees up for any holiday or occasion.

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Decorative Trees How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

A book of any size

Do all the folding sharply. If you get lazy

Patience

with the folding, you’ll find that your edges will start to look sloppy.

Time & Difficulty: One hour per hundred pages. The colored tree took my mother two hours. The smallish sepia tree took me one hour, and the larger glittery tree took an hour and a half.

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STEP BY STEP

1

The beginning.

Fold top line with the left side of page, only halfway to make triangle shown.

Again, align this fold along the left side of page.

Find a book with not too many pages. Remember, about an hour per hundred pages.

2

See diagram. Fold the right side down, the bottom side up, then flip to the next page.

3

Decorate or leave it as is.

Fold the bottom triangle upward, so that you have a flat bottom.

Turn the page and repeat!

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46


Gift Bags With more pages and ribbon leftover, I found this tutorial on how to make a gift bag. Unfortunately, the tutorial calls for a rather large sheet of paper to use as a pattern. Since most books are a smallish size, I decided to use a poster board and layer strips of paper on top to still have a page like effect. The strips are from the leftover dictionary pages from the place mat project. My bag ended up small, but it would be the perfect wrapping for a book lover as long as the gift inside wasn’t too large. The bag is also sturdy, due to the lamination of the pages, the poster board, and the layering of the pages. On the inside of the bag are a few pages from the collaboration with Megan Welch.

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Gift Bags: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Strips of paper

If you’d like to make a larger bag, make

Lamination machine

sure that you stay with proportion

Pattern

and don’t simply add inches to the

Glue

measurements. The bag then will not

Hole Puncher

fold correctly. Also, try to make your

Ribbon

holes for the ribbons before you glue.

Time & Difficulty: The longest part was cutting the strips and placing them on poster board. The folding and adhering took 10 minutes. The difficulty level is at medium, because folding can get tricky.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2

et your pages ready. This G could either be using newspaper, large pages, or do as I did and cover a poster board with strips of paper. Cut out your pattern, then score along the dotted lines as in the picture shown.

3 4

he 1.25” fold at the top is T optional, but it does make for a nice clean look at the top of your bag. F old along the scoring and push your bottom edges up. Glue either a cardboard insert in the bottom or glue the bottom edges together.

5

Glue the bottom side flaps together.

6

Punch holes in the sides, then attach your ribbon.

1.25”

5”

2” 4.5”

3”

4.5”

2”

2”

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50


Journals Never before have I been this excited about sewing. For this journal, I once again used the covers of my Reader’s Digests and the pages that I created with Megan Welch. I learned how to make signatures, do a bind, and end up with a handy little journal. This journal opens flat on all pages due to the type of binding, and it is also very sturdy. I saved this Reader’s Digest for last because it was my favorite color and pattern combination. I love the orange with the pink, and the dark green spine. Coincidentally, my pages folded perfectly in line with the book cover without my having to cut them. I also made a mini journal as you can see on the next page.

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Journals: How-To Materials needed:

Tips & Tricks:

Covers

Use a sharp point to punch holes in

Pages

your cover and pages before you start

Needle and Thread

sewing, or you’ll have a hard time!

Time & Difficulty: I spent two hours from start to finish on this entire project, including learning how to bind. If you’re already familiar with a needle and thread then I’d say this is an easy tutorial, but if you’ve never bound a book before, beware.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2 3 4 5

F irst, cut out your covers from their books. You can also use cardboard coated with pages, but I loved my Reader’s Digest cover. Have your pages ready in their signatures. Mine are in signatures of four. unch holes in your cover P and pages. They should be .5” away from the edge of the cover, but right along the spine on the pages. Mine are 2” apart vertically. F ind a tutorial on binding, and follow a binding pattern you like. I found a fairly simple tutorial and followed that pretty easily. When you’re done, be sure to cut away any excess string and tie your thread tight.

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Collaboration: Savannah Harrison My best friend Savannah also happens to be a brilliant writer. After inspiring me to create some jewelry pieces, I had to involve her with a collaboration project. Savannah is a creative writer and pieces words together in ways I know I’ll never be able to do, so asking her to incorporate some sort of writing with book pages was a must. We are both fans of newspaper blackout poems compiled by Austin Kleon, and the idea came for Savannah to do one of her own. If any writer wants to be challenged, they can pick up a random book page and attempt to use the words on the page to make a poem. Once the words are selected, the remainder of the poem is ‘blacked out’ with a sharpie. The result is a new poem and a new meaning.

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Black Out Poem: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Page

Don’t highlight the words that you will

Sharpies

use in pencil or pen, because they will

Basic concept of poetry

show through the sharpie and may leave indentions in the paper. Highlight

Time & Difficulty:

them in sharpie, since that will be your

Depends upon the writer and the

end result anyway.

creation of the poem.

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STEP BY STEP

1

S elect a book. For a challenge like I gave Savannah, use an obscure book.

2

Search the pages for words that stand out to you.

3

Outline the words you like as you start to see your poem form. Circle or mark them.

4

nce you’re finished with your O poem, black out the remainder of the page with a sharpie, swiping in lines from left to right for a consistent look.

5

( Optional): I selected a frame and to mount her page on my handmade pages from my other collaboration.

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Paper Rose This rose became my favorite project (if not evident by its presence on the cover and in several project group shots). In its pages I see what my thesis project is truly about: repurposing, and creating a new and beautiful object out of an old treasure. The rose was actually created by the hands of my roommate, Lynsi, as I worked on the curled wreath. I laid a tutorial in front of her, and turned around to work on my own project. When I glanced back over after making headway on my wreath, I was blown away. The petals curled perfectly, she laid them in row exactly as they would lay on a real rose, and I could see that she was putting effort into every petal she placed. Though the project took her over an hour, the end result was striking and perfect in every way.

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Paper Rose: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Petals

Hot glue is hot! As the petals are

Scissors

placed, they need to be held still and

Glue

pushed onto the base. This will hurt

Base

your hands, so use the scissors or a pencil to push the petals into place.

Time & Difficulty: About an hour, but this was a rather large rose. The project wasn’t difficult at all for Lynsi, and she enjoyed every step.

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STEP BY STEP

1

ut the petals out from the C book pages. I used yellowed antiqued pages, but for a whiter rose use a newer book or dictionary.

2

se a pencil or your finger to U ‘curl’ the pages. You want them to be slightly rounded at all the corners.

3

S tarting from the inside out, stand the smaller petals up using hot glue, which will make the inside of your rose.

4

ttach the petals from smallest A to biggest, going in circles. Go from a 90 degree angle to a 45 degree angle as you progress.

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Ornaments I couldn’t complete my paper project thesis if I didn’t have some form of holiday item. These ornaments are very easy to make, and can be used with any form of paper. I loved the idea of customizing each ornament by page or accessory. Here I’ve used brass prongs to hold my pages together, but pins or buttons could also be used. They can also easily have their size changed according to what size paper strip used. I had fun trying out different sizes and different accessories. I hot glued buttons on the ends of one to add a craftier flare, and it’s now the perfect book page addition to my tree!

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Ornaments: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Strips of paper (any size)

Find some way to poke holes in your

Brass pin, or something to connect

strips before you sit down to do the project. I had to locate a hole puncher

Time & Difficulty:

for my brass prongs, putting a halt to

5 minutes per ornament, depending on

my project. An X-Acto knife and pin

the time it takes to cut the strips. This is

didn’t quite cut it!

one of the easiest projects in the book.

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STEP BY STEP

1

ut your strips. You’ll C need about 15, more or less depending on how sparse or spread our you want the pages to be.

2

S tack them on top of each other, then punch a hole in the top and bottom.

3

ut a brass prong (or P whatever you’d like to use to secure them) through the holes, fold down the edges, and cut off the excess.

4

ull one strip away from P the others, swiveling it out to the other side. Continue with the rest of them until you’ve made your sphere.

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Papier-mâché Adding variety to these projects was a challenge. Aside from using the individual pages to create things that still resembled books, what could I do to create new shapes and ideas? I wanted to sculpt, so I turned to papier-mâché. Papier-mâché allows you to use the pages of books to create anything you like by making a wire frame and then layering pages on top of it. My tree took me all night to make, but I couldn’t be prouder of how it appears to be bursting out of its book. The pages weren’t easy to sculpt around my wire frame, but the result is a ghoulish appearance that could be perfect for Halloween or an abstract sculpture.

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Papier-mâché: How-To Materials

Tips & Tricks:

Glue Mixture

Usually, newspaper is used in papier-

(75% water, 25% glue)

mâché sculptures because the paper is

Wire frame

thin and absorbs the glue mixture well.

Book pages

Beware of using pages that are thicker,

Base

because they don’t mold as well.

Time & Difficulty: Five hours, and then overnight for it to dry entirely. I chose a rather difficult shape because of all the branches, so I feel that the level would depend on your final goal and idea.

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STEP BY STEP

1

Create your glue mixture in a large bowl.

2 3

Create your wire frame structure. Cut paper into strips 1” wide, and however long you need.

4

Dip them into the glue mixture. No need to soak them.

5

lace and mold them P around your frame. You’re going to get your hands dirty as you mold and push the paper into the curves of your project.

7

fter you’re done, allow A the sculpture to dry overnight without touching it. Mine was even still a little damp in the morning.

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70


Mini Paper Roses Accidents sometimes make the best surprises. While browsing paper tutorials, I saw these adorable mini roses that a blogger had used to decorate gift bags. After making a few of them just for fun, without any intention of including them in this book or in my thesis, I realized that I could use these mini roses for a multitude of projects. Their versatility won me over and before I realized, I had created headbands, rings, pins, and other accessories just from this one project.

71


Paper Roses: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Half of a regular size page book

Wind the paper as tightly as you can, so

Scissors

that when you loosen it, the entire thing

Accessories

doesn’t unravel.

Time & Difficulty: One rose takes maybe five minutes, and they’re extremely easy to make.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2

Cut a spiral into your page. Starting from the outer end, roll the paper into itself until it reaches the center. You will have a wound up piece of paper.

3

Set the spiral down on a flat surface, and let it unroll naturally. You should see the rose shape now.

4

Put a dab of glue (hot glue or regular glue both work, but hot glue is faster) on a base. I used another sheet of paper as a base.

5

Cut the rose from your base, and adhere it to what other accessories you’d like to see.

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Woven Place Mats This woven pattern can be used to make baskets, holders, or as you see here, place mats. The texture of the paper is simple to make and pretty sturdy if you have the patience to secure each loop. I set my sister to work on this project while I worked on research, and she enjoyed the methodical placement of each loop. She loves projects where she can zone out and enjoy the repetition of movement. This project was tricky, however, and took hours for us to figure out and complete. The final look makes a nice conversation piece, but patience is high in the list of materials needed.

75


Woven Place Mats: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Patience

Fold your paper tightly and crease the

Strips of paper 1” x 5”

edges sharply. As you layer, it will get

More patience

less sturdy, but it will help to make sure that you take time to secure each loop.

Time & Difficulty: Four hours for a 15”x15” mat, and that’s with distractions. Folding the paper strips isn’t difficult, but understanding how they attach was very hard.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2

Cut about 125 strips of paper to 1� x 5� rectangles.

4

Fold them once, hot dog style, then again to make a second fold.

3

5

Fold them again lengthwise. Unfold.

Take each edge and fold toward the crease you just made, then fold lengthwise finally. L ink the strip you made by slipping the fold of one into the fold of another. They should fit snugly in the corners.

6 7

Continue, until you have as many rows as you like in one row. J oin rows together by taking a long piece (only to step three) and weaving it through folded pieces. Make sure you pull tight to make a snug place mat.

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Candle Holder Simplicity is sometimes the key to good design. With this candle holder, several rolled pages were glued to a small jar which created a lovely candle holder. I saw the idea on the web used as a vase, but realized that a candle (though maybe a slight fire hazard) would be the perfect addition to my other decorative projects. Once again I used the antique older looking pages. I scoured the thrift stores for the perfect jar to adhere my rolled pages to.

79


Vase/Candle Holder: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Rolled pages

Hot glue sticks very quickly to glass.

Glue

You will have no time to shift or move

A Vase

the paper once it is stuck to the glass. Also, measure your pages first before

Time & Difficulty: The pages take a little while to roll, since you have to do them one by one. This project is at a very easy level.

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attempting to attach them to your vase.


STEP BY STEP

1

Measure your jar/vase to decide how long your pages should be.

2

oll all the pages, using hot glue. Rolling the R pages consistently can be tough, but I ended up using my thumb to keep them consistent.

3

Glue them one by one onto your vase, being careful to keep them vertical!

– Victor Hugo

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Curled Paper Wreath There are some projects that, though incredibly common and overdone, must be recreated. I saw endless examples of this wreath on the web. At the risk of walking the trail that is certainly most traveled by, I decided to follow the tutorials and create my own. The result is the piece that now hangs above the couch in my and my roommate’s living room. I’m in love with the old edges of the pages and the haste final look. The project took the better part of an evening but the result is one of my favorite pieces in this entire book.

83


Curled Paper Wreath: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Book Pages

Hot glue hurts! When applying the

Hot Glue

hot glue to the page and then curling

Circular cardboard base

it, make sure to not use your hand instantly to hold the glue in place. Even

Time & Difficulty: About an hour. The beginning was slow because curling the pages just right took a little bit of time. Then, after I figured out the proper paper rolling method, I had a system going and it went very quickly.

84

through a page of paper, the heat hurts!


STEP BY STEP

1

F ind the color pages you want. I went for pages that had browned edges for an aged look.

2

oll the pages from R corner to corner, not side to side. This will make a cone shape. Hot glue the edge and attach to itself.

3

o in a circular G pattern as you attach each cone to the base. I used a cardboard ring I cut out of a box I had lying around.

4

nce you’re done O with the first layer, go through and add a second layer of cones.

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Book Cover Frame I am undeniably in love with the covers of the old Reader’s Digest books. For this project, I selected a pattern with one of my favorite colors. Using the covers worked out well for the remainder of my projects, because I could use the inner pages for other assignments. I was hesitant at first about how this project would go, because I had never attempted to cut into a book cover and this was the first time I had taken apart a book (by the end of the semester, however, I was a pro at disassembling and cutting). The end result is a picture frame that demonstrates my love of books and my love of patterns.

87


Book Cover Frame: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

A box cutter (My X-Acto blade

I put book pages on the inside of my

was too weak)

frames, but get creative! You could do

Pictures

several things to add a personal touch

Glue

to your frame.

(Optional): Magnets or stand

Time & Difficulty: 15 minutes! The part that took the longest was deciding what pictures to put in the frame. The difficulty level is at easy, until you have to cut out your cover, when some strength may be required.

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STEP BY STEP

1 2

F irst, you’ll need to separate the cover from its pages. This is pretty simple to do, depending on what type of book you’re using. I used an old hardcover version of a Reader’s Digest, and all I had to do was cut between the inside page and the spine. sing the BACK of the cover, measure out where U you would like your opening to be. Then, add a half an inch so that you’ll have something to adhere your picture to.

3

sing a utility knife, score your marks first. Then, U cut slowly along the lines, adding more pressure with every cut

4

( Optional): You can add magnets or a stand to make your frame stand upright or on a refridgerator.

5

( Optional): You can cut out pages from the book and glue them on the inside, so that your pictures have a little bit of an extra flair to them. Colored paper might also look good on the inside.

everyone – Plato 89


90


Hollowed Books Hollowing out the books was the very first project I did, because I was so excited about the idea of having a secret nook to stash my valuables. Little did I know, the thickness of the books would have me questioning the remainder of my thesis. I started out by drawing my lines and beginning to cut pages away from the center of my book with simply an X-Acto knife. About 50 pages in, I realized how dumb I had been and how many blades I was about to go through. My edges were getting jagged and my X-Acto knife blades were breaking under the pressure. Finally, the light bulb turned on and I rushed off to Wal-Mart to get a utility knife. Now, the progress started. Unfortunately, the dictionary I had been working on was already looking sloppy, so I started again on my sister’s favorite book The Book Thief (big mistake, as I would find out from an angry sister later). I layered the dictionary with its inside pages to cover my blunders, but The Book Thief turned out well and had a title fitting for a book full of secrets.

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Hollowed Books: How-To Materials:

Tips & Tricks:

Utility Knife

Corners, corners, corners! The

Book

edges begin to look jagged

Glue

when you don’t pay attention

Water

to cutting into the corners. It

Paint brush

may seem okay to tear the

Heavy Books

pages from the corner once, but do it with three hundred

Time & Difficulty:

pages leaves you with a big

The glue took an hour to dry

mess. Also, if you’re planning on

for both books. After the glue

doing any other projects, save

had dried, the dictionary took

the paper you cut away!

two hours because I was just getting started and was clueless. The Book Thief took 45 minutes, after practice.

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STEP BY STEP

1

ut away the title page of C your book. Or, a few pages from the inside. This will come in handy later.

2

F irst, you’ll need a glue mixture to adhere the outer sides of the book together. I mixed 50% water and 50% Elmer’s glue in a cup.

3

se a paint brush and coat U the sides of the book with your glue mixture, applying generously.

4

S tack other heavy objects (maybe a few other books you have lying around) on top of your book, so that the pages stick together when they dry. Be sure to leave the top cover off so it doesn’t also get stuck.

5

et a ruler and measure G away from the sides of your book. Mine are 1” away.

6

et your knife and cut G away, being sure to make clean straight cuts deep into the corners also.

7

ere’s where step one H comes into play. I pried the back of my pages open, placed my title page, and re-glued the stack back. That way, when you open the hollowed book, you see the title.

8

r, if you’d like to cover up O the inside, you can use a few of the inner pages to make a collage of pages to cover up the sides.

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