Discarded Book Journals: A Tutorial

This week I will be participating in this local outdoor event with a very creative friend of mine.

 

We will be marketing in the Artist and Crafters Market.  I've created unique journals to sell in our booth.  I create journals from discarded books, which I display in one of my consignment corners.  Each journal is unique and has a story of its own. I LOVE, LOVE books, and I'm a sucker for patterns.  I have been lucky to find a batch of Reader's Digest books at a college bookstore at a very minimal price.  I love the Reader's Digest books because the book covers are very decorative, super cute, and have great patterns. 

 

 

A few samples from my most recent book store scavenger hunt.  Look at all the patterns and colors.

 

 

To begin the transformation process, I use an Xacto knife to remove the bound pages from the book.

 

 

 

I am left with the front and back covers of the book.

 

 

 

Sometimes I save the gutted pages for other projects.  However, this time, I will place the pages in the recycling bin.  Still good though, right?

 

 

 

This is what I'm left with. What an assortment!

 

 

 

Using a heavy duty paper cutter, I remove the front and back covers from the spine.

 

 

 

It is easy to do.  No real muscle work required in this step.  The muscle work is coming soon.

 

 

 

I band the front and back covers together.  It's easier to keep up with the pieces this way.

 

 

 

I save the spines that were not damaged in the cutting process.  I will eventually transform them into bookmarks.  That will be another tutorial later.

 

 

 

I take the measurements of the book over.

 

 

 

I always round down to the nearest quarter of an inch.  I don't do well with cutting paper into eighths.

 

 

 

It doesn't take long to whip through the stack of books I have.  I'm loving the covers more and more. How about you?

 

 

 

 

Now it's paper cutting time. I prefer using colored paper, however from time to time I will use plain white.  It is definitely not my first choice.

 

 

 

I cut 80 sheets of paper for each journal at 5" x 7 1/2".  Luckily, I can get two pages from one sheet of paper with little waste.  Again ,I band this step to keep the materials for each journal together.

 

 

 

I add a pocket to the front of each journal for tags and small paper items.  To do this I take a 12"x12" piece of  double sided scrapbook paper and cut it down to 10"x10".  I then score it horizontally at 7 1/2", turn the paper and score vertically at 5".  Fold the 

7 1/2" score line up creating a pocket and fold the 5" score line in half creating a page. EASY~

 

 

 

I, then use my Cinch to begin the book binding process.  Punching the holes into each book is the most time consuming and labor intensive.  I really have to flex my muscles doing this step. 

 

 

After punching all the books, I band them again.  All the banding is not necessary if you are only doing one book, but I have almost a dozen today.

 

 

 

This is a view of the front pocket. 

 

 

 

The finished books on a trial run display on the dining room table.

 

 

I created 11 journals in a few hours.  I will be making a few more to fill the display rack.  I will be adding the journals I don't sell to my etsy shop after the show.

 

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial~

Thanks for stopping by!

My First Show of the Year

I can already read your mind. 

You're thinking," It's October, the year is almost over and this is your FIRST craft show of the year!"
I am excitedly and calmly replying, " Yes, Yes, Yes! "

This has been a SUPER busy year-a milestone birthday, marriage, tracking in and out of a classroom, managing a larger family( it comes with a lot I didn't expect), common core (need I say more), and some stressful health issues (I'll share later when it's all behind me.) 

I really needed to do something a little "crafty" to divert my attention off the whirlwind I'm in , so I decided to join a local church and become a small vendor in their Holiday Bazaar. 

 

 

This is my table. I love the how lime green and red look together.  Red is very eye catching and lime green is just plain cute. 

 

I bought the shelf at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore for 5 bucks.  I gave it a new life with a can of paint. It added height to my table.

 

 I love the giant snowflake.  Yes, it came from a Pinterest pin.  I love it.  It didn't sell, so I'll be making our family initial using my Cricut to place on the center for Christmas.  It will definitely be hanging on my front door soon. (Pictures in two months)

 



 

These chocolate nugget trays sold very well.

 

 

I sold all but one of these.

 

 

These sold out.  Wish I had made more.

 

Overall I did well. I didn't create many items over a buck due to the audience being Young at Heart and the State Fair was in full force. But I had fun~

 

Thanks for stopping by~