A child asked me to make a drawing book, and so I looked into my collection of empty boxes and found this. Sometimes friends give me interesting boxes, as I often buy in bulk and don't get the packaging, so you see below the box I have acquired. A fruit pectin box will work, as well.
After cutting the flaps off both ends of this box, cut out one of the narrow ends and open it up so that it looks like a book.
Slide the hand-held hole puncher as far as it will go on each end of the "spine" and punch a hole.
Trace the box on whatever paper you choose by rolling it along the paper folded up and tracing each side. The paper cover will not fit the box if you trace the box when it is flat, because there is extra space on the folded edges.
Cut about a half inch larger around the traced box so that the edges can be folded over, as you will see later. Swirl glue all over it. The glue sticks work best, as the white liquid glue is too wet and makes it wrinkle.
For end-papers on the inside, trace the box flat and cut about a fourth inch shorter all around.
Trace on paper of your choice for the inside pages of the book. 12 pages ought to do, but you can make less. Then stack them and cut about half inch smaller all around. Center the papers and lay the box on top to punch new holes through the already punched holes.
Fold the edges in and glue down, and then paste the end paper over, trimming it shorter if necessary. Re-punch the holes through the paper, with the original holes as the guide.
Assemble the pages inside the book, centering them and punching the holes, using the holes in the book back as a guide. Twist one end of wired ribbon and bring it up from the back of the book to the inside, and into the other hole to the back of the book again. I would recommend using wired ribbon from dollar stores instead of fabric stores. Trim the pages if they are larger than the book cover.
Form the ribbon into a bow on the outside along the spine of the book.
Depending on what kind of pattern is on the outside cover, you can decorate it with stickers or clip art to match. This was plain white construction paper so I added paper and cloth butterflies.
Now you have a little book to draw in, and this is what
the inside looks like with the end papers.
Now that you see how this was done, you might find yourself looking at throw-away boxes a little differently, imagining which way to turn it to make a book.
These note books made from scraps have been shown elsewhere on this blog a few years ago, and I wanted to show how to make them again.
For each book, you will need:
Construction paper
Printer paper
wired ribbon, yarn or string
pictures cut from catalogs
glue stick for paper
1. Select a piece of construction paper (children's art paper) and fold it in fourths. These will be the covers of the books.
2. Open the paper, and cut the paper along the folds into four pieces.
3. Fold one of the pieces in half and punch a hole in it close to the fold, as you see.
4. Open it up and use the holes as your pattern for the filler paper and the back cover.
5. For each book, fold two pieces of white copy paper in fourths, open them up and cut them into four pieces each. There will be 8 small pages. Since the copy paper is smaller than the construction paper, center it on the cover before you punch the holes.
6. With the cover facing up, and the paper beneath it, use the holes already punched as a guide and punch holes in the pages,
7. Cut about 10 inches of wired ribbon for the tie.
8. If you are making many books, unroll the ribbon and fold it 8 times, cutting after each fold, to make 16 pieces. Do this by counting by 2's each time you fold.
9. Twist one end of the ribbon and put it through the hole, from the front.
10. Twist the ribbon end again and bring it back up through the back to the front.
11. Tie the ribbon once. It is not necessary to tie a knot in wired ribbon. Roll the ends of the ribbon over twice to hide the wire, and then arrange it to look like a bow.
Use anything you have on hand for the inside pages. Scrapbook papers are usually white on one side and would make good pages, but you would have to trace around the book cover to get them the right size. You can also make your book covers from scrapbook papers, folding in the same manner as this book.
I clipped items from the Castle and Cottage catalog. You might use other types of clip art, from cards or things you get in the mail. These booklets are being made for a lady who has an upcoming homemaking class and would like something to hand out for her guests to jot down notes if they need to. She did not want anything expensive.
I cut out pictures from the catalog that went along with her homemaking theme. Since each one is different, there is no need to write names on the books to distinguish one from another. Enjoy coordinating the clipped pictures with the color of the construction paper, and using ribbons that also contrast nicely with the paper and the pictures.
Below you see several books completed, and some tied with white wired ribbon. If you are needing favors or gifts and have no time to shop, this is a quick way to make something. A book like this is good for a shopping list or a schedule or a reminder list, and will fit easily in a pocket or purse.
If you need small copy books for boys, just use your model car catalog or any kind of interesting seed catalog or magazine for clip art on the cover, and tie it with rope or string. You can also easily tear the construction paper if the folds are creased well enough, which gives the edges of the covers a feathery look.
