miniature book how-to

My miniature book pins are very popular with librarians, teachers and book club members and also with those who just like unusual jewelry. They are actual books with 30 pages inside, a decorated cover and a pin on the back. I'm going to show you how I make them. There are those who would call me crazy, but I'm not going to share all the little tricks and details. In my mind, a greater appreciation can come from seeing what goes into that little 2 inch bauble. So here we go.

First you assemble all your materials:



Tiny book boards, handmade paper for the cover and spine, a stack of interior pages, glue, scissors, bone folder, advil.

The first step is to glue the covers to the paper, leaving room for the spine.



Then you glue the coordinating material that will be the spine over the boards



The book, at this point, looks like this:



Then you glue the edges of your pages



and wrap them in the paper that will be the inside of the covers. Now you have a cover and an insert:



You glue the insert into the cover



and there is your little book. At this point, I usually wrap each one tightly in waxed paper and put it in the book press. That helps it glue properly and the press makes them nice and flat and square.

Now you can embellish the book if you like. Sometimes, if the paper is special I leave it alone. You can do a tiny torn paper collage, glue on a charm, a picture. The word tag is very popular. This is a simple combo of torn papers, a word tag and raised paint dots..



There you have it. When I have a collection of them ready, I'll post a group photo.