Upcycle Paper Roll Mini Book

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This article was written by Melanie Statnick

We all have paper towel rolls and bath room tissue rolls. It’s recyclable and reusing able and some save it for all sorts of things. Something I have learned to do with it is make books and or note pads. These ideas can be found on Pinterest. There are many different ways to make and design these and I encourage you to find them and come up with something new and share your ideas in the comments. You can get your children involved also. They are fun and easy.

Melanie Statnick created this fun up cycling mini book

Supplies:

Paper roll

Craft paper or Scrap book

Gel medium/Mod Podge

Hole Punch

Binder Rings or Craft wire

Images, letters, word art

Micron or Copic Pens

Process for Creating your Mini Book

Begin by flattening out the paper roll. Here I used bathroom tissue, you can use a paper towel roll and cut it in half. Glue the inside of both rolls to create your front and back cover and let dry.

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

Next you want to take a ruler and measure approximately were you want to your holes and use the hole punch to punch through. Once you have them punched measure and cut your craft paper the same size as your roll covers and punch holes in each to match your covers.

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

When you have your papers cut use four and glue them to your covers front and back. The excess will be your pages. You can place images and word art on these as you like. Design the covers the same way.

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

When you are finished with your pages use your binder rings to hold the book together.  On the blank side of the pages you can draw in your own pictures and create your phrases.   Happy Creating.

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

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Melanie Statnick is a Canadian Mixed Media & Collage Artist out of North Carolina. Melanie creates art daily from her private studio. Her style is fun, whimsy and eclectic. Melanie is also an Art Instructor for local venues and community colleges for students of all ages.

handmade books with paper towel and toilet paper rolls

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How to Make an Accordion Book

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This article is written by Melanie Statnick

Recently I have noticed the trend in creating our own style of journals, mini books, according books and more. Pinterest is full of inspired artists in the present and in the past each with their own style. Some tell a story and others like the accordion book, are one long piece of art. This can be done in a horizontal or vertical fashion. It is up to your imagination. I had more fun with this book then I thought and it became somewhat addictive. Here is how to make yours, in a fast and simple way in case you’re making art at the speed of life.  You can always add more and take as much time as you need.

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

Supply list:

Watercolor paper 140lbs cold press

Cardboard (craft) or heavy card stock

Watercolors

Gel Medium

Stamps and/or other word stickers

Ribbon

Instructions

Begin with measuring your watercolor paper approx. 11”x4”.  You can go as big or as little as you want. Measure your cardboard the same to a bit larger 12 x 5”.  Paint your watercolor paper any way you wish.

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

Apply gel medium (glue) to the cardboard piece you’ve cut. This is the cover of your book. Lay your ribbon down onto the glued cardboard, then lay your painted watercolor paper on top of your ribbon. You may want to use a brayer to make sure all your corners are flat and everything is glued well.

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

Begin to fold paper into itself in an accordion fashion.

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

Here is where it becomes fun! You can stamp or draw anything you want to create one long piece of art. I used one of my favorite stamps, my city stamp and my star stamp. I found a heart stamp, some word art and a mini wood house. I painted the house, added some sparkle to my night sky and hand drew the moon using acrylic paint and Micron pens.

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

How to Make an Accordion Book with your own style

When you are happy with your end result use the ribbon to wrap around your book if you have cut it longer. Tie it up in a bow and use it for a gift or make a shelf full.

Happy Creating.

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Melanie Statnick is a Canadian Mixed Media & Collage Artist out of North Carolina. Melanie creates art daily from her private studio. Her style is fun, whimsy and eclectic. Melanie is also an Art Instructor for local venues and community colleges for students of all ages.

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Making Mixed Media Mini Books

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This article is written by Laura Shelton Thykeson

I just love everything about books, and when I started making these mini books, or as I call them, my “Teeny Tiny Books”, I absolutely got hooked on them!

handmade books with mixed media art

I love working in such small detail, and some of my books have only measured 1” x 1”. But, I usually enjoy working with a 4 x 6” piece of cardstock or recycled watercolor paper art for making the cover, and then add a signature of 5 pieces of folded paper on the inside for the pages I am going to embellish. I usually sew the spines using colorful embroidery thread, but if the book is small enough, I sometimes also just staple them together in the fold.

handmade books with mixed media art

I really love embellishing the pages in these little books, and often give them to others as little gifts. They are great tucked into a card, or tied to a tag on a present, and gives the new owner a wonderful collection of designs and textures and even some of your own poetry, etc. on each page that you made just for them! These little books are also fantastic for using bits and pieces of your recycled art, tiny pieces from old journal pages, lace and fabrics, buttons, brads, anything you can think of.

handmade books with mixed media art

When I am finished embellishing, I usually coat each page with a clear gloss varnish that helps to protect and seal the pages. I just use an inexpensive acrylic varnish made by Sargent, and it works just fine. Just put a nice thicker coat on and let the pages dry completely before you close the book. One other trick I use is to use just a dab of Turtle Wax (yes for cars, lol) and buff the pages, which helps to keep them from sticking together.

handmade books with mixed media art

If you love books, and like working in miniature, these are a great project for both adults and kids!

handmade books with mixed media art

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Laura Thykeson has been totally immersed in mixed media art for many years. She discovered altered books and art journals about a year ago and have been hooked ever since! She has always loved mixed media art because of the variety and the “no rules” aspect! Laura lives in Granbury, Texas USA.

You can see more of Laura’s work at Taz’s Corner

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Little Fat Books

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Joy Bathie continues to share her passion for handmade books, with these stunning Little Fat Books (LFB).

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I have always loved books and my interest was expanded after attending a workshop at the State Library of NSW in Sydney some years ago, where I learned how to construct a basic hard cover codex book.  Since then I have experimented further and my repertoire now covers “handmade artist’s books” of various types and sizes, filled with colour and texture.  I’m now creating smaller books and enjoy making ‘LFB’s” (Little Fat Books) which are generally 10.5cm x 10.5cm (4” x 4”) square; I love this size, which sits so nicely in the hand.

LFB in greens

This page from an LFB looks through the central circular  cut-out to the following page

Little Fat Books in greens

Here is a the page beneath

LFB in greens with found objects featured

and the close-up view.

Altogether there are five layers of colour and texture, plus clear and printed acrylic windows. Amongst other recycled materials these pages incorporate painted curtain rings and other circular metallic pieces, soft drink bottle caps cut, rusted, and patinaed, and also pulcinella (sequin waste).

This lovely Little Fat Book has a textured cover with nature elements

Here is another LFB, called “Twigs”, with two of its pages.  Again, each page in this book has a central cut-out section to view adjacent pages. 

This lovely Little Fat Book has a textured cover with nature elements

This lovely Little Fat Book in greens and blues

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 Joy Bathie lives in Port Stephens, NSW, Australia. You can see what Joy is up to over on her Facebook page.

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