Welcome to our Make a Book! page. Here you'll find instructions on creating a 3-hole pamphlet, an accordion book, and an instructional video on making marbled paper. These instructions are just the start of possible creativity. Check out Puget Sound's Makerspace, an informal setting in the Collins Memorial Library that allows Puget Sound students, faculty and staff the opportunity to make, create, collaborate, learn and share. You'll find a wide variety of instructions for projects including zines, dictionary art, printing lithophane.
Pamphlet books are great for taking notes, doodling, making collages, or anything your imagination can come up with! Special thanks to Collins Library Makerspace where you can find a whole bunch of other fun projects to try your hand at.
1. Select one piece of colored paper and fold it in half. (5.5”x8.5”) 2. Fold 4 pieces of white text paper in half and nest them inside each other to make one signature. 3. Place the signature inside the cover and place inside an open phone book.
2. Fold 4 pieces of white text paper in half and nest them inside each other to make one signature.
3. Place the signature inside the cover and place inside an open phone book.
4. Using the hole template, use an awl (or large needle) to make 3 holes in the pamphlet.
5. Cut a piece of cord or ribbon about 3.5 times the length of the pamphlet spine.
6. Thread a needle with the chord or ribbon.
7. Starting from the outside:
a. Sew into the middle hole
b. Sew up and out of the top hole
c. Sew down the outside into the bottom hole
d. Sew back through the center hole to the outside
e. Pull each end of the chord to opposite ends of the long center stitch
f. Tie two ends into a bow or insert additional decorative threads before making a knot.
8. Finished!
Making Marbled Paper Tutorial
What is marbling? Marbling is the art of printing multi-colored swirled patterns on paper. The patterns are formed by first floating the color on the surface of a liquid, and then laying the paper or fabric onto the color to absorb them. This requires many special tools and techniques—but we have an easy to use method you can do at home!
You will need:
STEP 1:
Spray shaving cream onto flat baking sheet, making sure to smooth out the surface.
STEP 2:
Pick out your colors and drop them onto the shaving cream
STEP 3:
Use the stir stick to swirl designs (make sure your stick is perpendicular – you want to swirl your colors into each other not mix them together, the tighter and quicker you move the stick, the more intricate your design will be; remember practice makes perfect!)
STEP 4:
PLACE, PRESS, SCRAPE!
PLACE your paper in selected area and PRESS down firmly, once you remove the
paper, SCRAPE off shaving cream with a spatula and you are done!
** note that the shaving cream needs no time to dry and you can touch and render your paper as you please**
Accordion books are useful and versatile books that are great for displays and exhibits, as well as personal projects. Their history spans the globe from places like China, Japan, and Burma to the Aztec and Maya civilizations in Mexico and Central America. They are ripe for experimentation! With thanks and credit to Making Books and to the Collins Library Makerspace!
You will need:
* 1 long narrow piece of paper
* front or back panel of a cereal box or cardstock, or poster board
* glue stick
* scrap paper
1. Fold the long narrow piece of paper in half.
2. Take the top layer of paper, flip the edge back to meet the fold, and crease the paper.
3. Turn the paper over, flip the edge of the paper back to meet the fold, and crease.
4. Lift the first page, insert scrap paper, and cover the entire surface with a thin coat of glue by starting in the middle and making stripes up and then down.
5. Place the folded pages, glue side down, on one corner of the cereal box. Leave a narrow border on the outside edges.
6. Remove the scrap paper and fold it in half with the glue on the inside.
7. Complete the cover by trimming the cereal box so that there is an even narrower border all around.
8. Using the cover you have already made as a guide, cut a second cover.
9. Using scrap paper, put glue on the other side of the pages and place the cover on top.
10. Open the book and smooth the first and last pages with the palm of your hand to held the glue adhere.
11. Decorate as you like, with words, images, collages, or anything that takes your fancy!
