Monday, November 27, 2017

Miniature Monday: Easy Books Made from a Magazine, Tutorial


Make miniature books from your old magazines using these simple steps.


Find a magazine that is as thick as a miniature book. It has to be glue bound and not stapled.  I'm using an old Rolling Stone magazine that is 1/8" thick.  I was purging, and wondering why I had a stack of magazines the same size from 2011.  I was honestly shaking my head about my hoarding ways, until I remembered what I had planned on using them for. Now I feel rich!!

I used my T-Square to get an accurate cut as possible.  You're going to use the spine of the magazine as the spine of your mini books.  I cut about 5/8" from the spine.  This is the width of the book.



Cut your books the desired height, mine are 3/4" tall.  I used my T-square again, but I found that when I got closer to the bottom, I had more control without it.



I then covered the books with book cover printouts (re-sized from the internet), leather scraps, origami and scrapbook papers.  I also resized some handwritten journal pages and made a few open books.  The way the pages fan out are perfect.  If you need to, you can slide a bit of glue in between any pages that don't want to lay as they should. While the glue is wet, shape the pages.


This is a quick alternative to cutting individual sheets to make the pages of your miniature books that gives you a more realistic look than wood blocks.  Remember to use a fresh blade in your craft knife and take your time cutting.  You should use several slow strokes to keep your blade steady. I was able to make all of the books in the photo from one magazine spine.  Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by!

35 comments:

  1. Hello, Ketsia Elie! This is a good way to do books and pretty economical Hugs, Julia

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  2. Thank you for your work. Great idea
    Kiss

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  3. Hello Ketsia,
    The books look perfect. thank you for this great tutorial.
    Big hug
    Giac

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    1. Thank you! I've learned so much from your blog, it's my pleasure to share with you!

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  4. Thank you for this wonderful tutorial. You made it look very easy and I shall certainly give it a try.
    Hugs, Drora

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    1. Thank you! I'm so happy to share this with you. It really was easy and I was glad to use the old magazines!

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  5. Great tutorial and great result!!!
    Geneviève

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  6. Thank you! I love little books and couldn't figure out how to make them simply, THIS is the answer. I found a Craftsman Handi-Cut tool cuts the little things out perfectly, even the thick mags. They look great. Thanks for a great idea.

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  7. You are so welcome!! I love tools and have to look up the Handi-cut. I usually cut a bunch of spines at a time to get rid of these stacks of magazines I had. There's an elementary school across the street, so they use the magazine pages for collage. I leave them on the steps.

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  8. great idea, and really, you could make any size book you want. I'm making book ornaments for my grandkids this year.
    will just need to find covers with names they like.
    thanks
    Barb

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  9. Wish I had read this before I hand cut and glued thousands of pages for my Hogwarts Library!. Will never do that again!

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  10. Very good trick! I need some tiny books so I will remember this post! Thank you for the idea!

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  11. I have been looking on how to make books, found your blog. Can't wait to get started. Thanks for sharing. Ready, set, go.

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  12. Brillant. Much easier. Thank you.

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  14. Fantastic idea AND great for recycling. Thanks for sharing!

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  15. Thanks Ketsia! My new next big project on Pinterest! This will be fun!
    Regina, in Greenwich, CT! Small world!

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  16. Thank you very much for the inspiration!
    Karen Barnes in Wilhoit Arizona

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  17. You said you find books on the internet and re-size to make the cover, is this allowed? I do not want to infringe on copyright issues.

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  18. Thank you for this! I’m doing a book shop and this has been such a time saver and as you said they look so much better than blocks of wood.

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  19. The best look of books...I will be using this .thanks

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  20. So adorable and perfect! My gnomes and fairies will have well stocked libraries!

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  21. Love this! Thank you so much for sharing. So excited to make these and equally excited to have a realistic book instead of wood blocks or cardboard!

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  22. Brilliant idea!! Thanks so much for sharing this!!

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  23. this is an amazing idea! thank you for sharing with us!

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  24. Where and how do you find the tiny lil book covers ?

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