Project reNEWit…Altering a book

Hello! Dawn here with another reNEWit project. I have always loved altered art, mixed media, and just playing in my art supplies. And this year I am finally making some altered books for my family. But these are just altering the outside, and making on old book into a frame of sorts. I love being able to re-use an old book that was destined for the garbage heap. You can find cheap books at second hand stores and when the library has their sales.

Years ago, I started collecting books, and every time I saw a neat one or a title I liked, I would pick it up. So I have quite a few to choose from right now. And I found the perfect title on my books to use for my projects. I did 2 books to show you 2 different ways you can do this.

This first one I started out wanting to do it the way I did the second book I will show you in a bit, but I loved the kit so much I got a little carried away, so this is what I did.

First, I measured the outside on the front of the book. You will want to remove the dust jacket if it has one and put it in your stash or throw it out. I wanted to keep the same spine, so I measured from the overlap on to the edge, then added about ½ an inch or so, so I would have space to fold it over onto the inside of the book. Then I created the layout to those dimensions and just printed it out. I also printed the same thing but with just the background paper so I could put that on the back of the book. I used my Xyron to put adhesive on the back of both pages and then from there it is just a matter of lining it all up and smoothing it down. I opened the book and made my edges go around to the inside. It really doesn’t matter what it looks like inside because no one is really going to see it.

Now at this point, you can leave it as is, which is what I did. Or you can glue all the pages together. Just put some glue on the outside edges, with the book closed, and then put some clamps on it until it is dry. I personally don’t do it this way, because I like the book to be able to stand up on its own without falling. If you want it all glued, you will need a stand to set it on. So, here is my first example, I hope this all makes more sense once you see it.

I thought the title of the book was perfect to go with the picture of my daughter and her husband, and so I repeated it on my layout.

Now for the second option. This one looks more like a frame. You will need the following items besides the book for this one.

An awl, drill, or something to put 4 holes in the cover.

A piece of glass. The size of your book, and of course your choice, will depend on the size you need. For mine, I just picked up an ugly old frame and used the glass from that. If you want to make a few of these, you can probably go to a hardware store and get a piece and have them cut it in the sizes you need. Mine on this book is slightly bigger than 4×6.

2 pieces of thin elastic. Again, I used something I had around the house, which was a ponytail holder. The ones you can purchase by the dozens cheap, lol. I just cut it.

Any other items you may want to add, such as: ribbon, charms, paper strips, etc.

And of course, some adhesive if you want. Gotta love the xyron!

OK, so here we go. I made my layout about the size of the glass, which was 4×6. Then I printed that out, borderless.

I used the new welcome kit by Erica Zane from ScrapMatters, and really liked the red against the black of the book, so I left it quite plain. I didn’t add any other embellishments. If you are going to add anything that you want to go under the photo, make sure you put that on first. Then you can attach the photo to the book, or you can leave it without adhesive so you can change out the picture. It’s entirely up to you. I attached mine permanently. Then I set the glass on top of the photo and marked where I wanted the holes to go, as close to the outside edge as you can, maybe ¼ of an inch in. This is where the elastic will go to hold the glass on.

Then thread the elastic from the inside cover out to the outside. I just tied a knot on each end, but you can use whatever you want, maybe a twig, some sort of hook, anything that will keep the elastic from going through the hole. Then bring it down to the bottom hole, and thread it through to the back and tie it or attach it to whatever you have chosen. It should be kind of tight against the book. Repeat for the other side. Then all you do is slide the glass under the elastic and you have a book frame! It really is very easy to do and you can do it in a night.

Another idea is; you can print out digital papers and arrange them how you want on the book and just use a picture you have. Add any embellishments, and then put the photo and the glass on top of that in the same manner. And here is my book.

Again, I thought the title a good one, because it is of father and daughter and the title is Tell Me Your Dreams, which I just thought fit. And remember, you don’t HAVE to match the title to your photos, I just lucked out. I hope you have enjoyed this and I would love to see if you make one, so be sure to post it in the gallery. And now a few words from Donna!

Hey All….  Donna from reCREATE.org  here to share some eco-facts on books.

According to Eco-libris –  30 Million trees are being cut down every year to produce books for the US.   Ways you can make a difference

• Use the library,
• Pass on a book to a friend after you read it (or try sites like www.bookfree.com – the Netflix of books)
• Plant a tree for every book you buy  at:  http://www.ecolibris.net/

Ideas of reuse items you might want to include in your altered book project:

Old Game board pieces
Old Playing Cards
Old Book marks
Leaves
Fortunes from Cookies
Food Wrappers
Ticket Stubs
Old Brochures
Magazine Collages

Lastly, there are a large group of people making Altered Books and many wonderful artistic techniques you can discover by googling Altered Books.

I was inspired to make one after seeing the amazing art.

Have a great weekend!

Tags: altered book, hybrid, renewit

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under ScrapMatters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.