I love mini book necklaces, and I think they are amazing.  Most tiny books I have seen are made by sewing the pages to the spine.

I thought it would be fun to make a hard bound book with “perfect” binding.  “Perfect” binding is where you glue the pages into the book.  It’s a pretty quick and easy way make a book.

No sewing required!

This little book pendant can be used on a necklace.  You can even open it up and write in it!

Materials needed:

• White glue (such as Elmers or PVA glue)
• Jump ring (and jewelry pliers)
• Small hole punch or large needle
• Scissors

For the cover

• 2 contrasting sheets of scrapbook paper.   The sheet for the outside should be about 2.5 inches x 2 inches.  The inner will be slightly smaller.  (We’ll cut the inner sheet later.)
• Cardboard. (I used cardboard from a cereal box.)  Cut two pieces 1 inch x 3/4 inches.  Cut 1 piece about 1 x 1/4 inch.  (You need it to be as thick as the stack of paper sheets that go inside the book.)

For the inner pages

• Approximately 30 sheets of paper.  The sheets should be 1 inch  x 3/4 inch.  Stack them on top of each other.  I use a binder clip to hold them in place.

Materials

Basic Instructions (see the video for more detail.)

1.  Place the 3 pieces of cardboard on the wrong side of your outside cover scrapbook paper.  They should line up about 1/8 inch apart.  Glue them carefully to the scrapbook paper.  There should be about 1/4 inch from the edge of the paper to the cardboard all the way around.

2.  Cut the excess scrapbook paper off diagonally at the corners.  Do not cut all the way to the cardboard corners — leave about 1 mm of space there.

3.  Fold the scrapbook paper over the cardboard and glue.

4.  Cut your inside scrapbook paper so that it is slightly smaller than the rectangle that you have just created.  Glue it on the inside.  You now have your cover of the book.

5.  Using a very small hole punch (about 1 mm), punch a hole in the spine about 1/4 inch from the top of the book.  (You can also use a large sewing needle.)

6.  At this point, I like to put the jump ring through the hole using the jewelry pliers.

7.  Take the inner pages.  Keeping them in the binder clip, make sure that the edges are neat.  Then put a generous amount of glue along 1 of the long edges.

8.  Place the inner pages into the cover so that it glues to the inside of the spine.  Press the paper firmly back against the spine to make sure it adheres.  Carefully place the binder clip on the outside of the cover to hold the book together.

9.  Put aside and let dry for several hours.  (Try to resist opening and closing the book while it is drying because that will make the pages more likely to fall out.)

When everything is dry, place on a necklace and enjoy!

I Love Paper Beads

1. To make a cylinder shape, start with a long rectangular strip of paper. (I usually use a 3/4 inch x 8.5 inch strip of paper.)  In the tutorial, I used scrap paper which I had painted green.

2.  Using a bead roller or a toothpick or small tube or dowel, start rolling the bead.   Apply a little bit of while glue (ie. Elmers) or Mod Podge as you roll to keep the bead from unrolling.

3.  Optional: When the bead is completely dry, lightly sand the flat ends with a fine grit sand paper.

4.  Add a bit of color by painting the ends of the beads.  Use a small brush and acrylic paint. (I used Gold colored Liquitex Basics Acrylic Color — see Liquitex on Amazon.)

I Love Paper Beads

Recently, I’ve been trying to use different types of recycled materials to weave baskets.  I’ve seen people using plastic bottles to make baskets, but I thought it might be fun to use a soda can because the edges are more flexible and I could the shape the sides of the basket better.

The video tutorial is split into 3 parts.  It takes a little time to watch, but once you learn how to do it, with practice you’ll be able to make a soda can basket in under an hour.

Materials

• Empty soda (or beer) can
• 2 plastic grocery bags (may need more)
• Scissors

Warning: Working with the soda can metal can be a little sharp. This is a project best for adults and older teens.  I haven’t had any problems, but if you are worried about cutting your hands, it might help to wear gloves.  When cutting the can, you also might want to wear eye protection.

Video Tutorial

Prep the soda can and the plastic bags

1.  Carefully cut the top of the soda can off.

2.  Cut the soda can into 16 equal sized strips.  (Instead of measuring, I just estimated.  I cut it into 4 equal sized strips.  Then I cut each strip in half to make 8 strips.  Then I cut each of those in half to get 16 strips.)

Cut off any jagged areas at the top of the strips.

3.  Cut the handles and bottom of each grocery bag.  Then cut each grocery bag into 1 long strip about 2 inches wide. (You’ll cut a spiral around the bag.)

4.  Flare the metal strips out.  These will be the “ribs” of your basket.

5.  Put 1 plastic strip into a slot between the metal “ribs”.  Put the 2nd color plastic strip between the next metal slats.

Weaving

6. Start weaving by bringing the first plastic strip on the left over the first metal “rib” to the right. Then pass it behind the next metal “rib” and out the next slot.

Grab the next color plastic strip.  Bring in front of the metal “rib” to the right.  Pass it behind the next metal rib and out the next slot between the “ribs”

Continue doing this.  This is how you will weave the rest of the basket. Keep going to the right around the can.  When you reach where you started, just keep weaving, and you’ll make the next layer.

Don’t pull too hard on the plastic strips or it will tear.  If it does tear, just place the first couple inches of  the new plastic strip next to the last couple of inches of the strip hanging off the basket and keep weaving.

7.  When you get about 5 layers up, start pushing the metal “ribs” straighter up so that they are more vertical.  This will begin to curve the wall of the basket.

8.  Weave several more layers.

9.  To make the basket narrower at the top, you need to cut the metal strips so they don’t overlap. Cut a narrow diagonal strip off of each one.

Finishing the basket and adding a handle

10.  Continue weaving until you are about 1 inch from the top.

11.  Cut the leftover plastic strip and weave the ends so they face inside the basket.

12.  Fold the metal edges over the plastic.  Then slip the edges under the plastic.  (Skip the top row and then slide the metal under the other rows.

13.  Cut off any loose ends inside the basket.

14.  To make the handle, cut 4 strips of plastic about 8 or 9 inches long.

15.  On 1 side of the basket, slip them under a couple layers and let about 4 inches hang out.

16.  On the opposite side of the basket, do the same thing.

17.  Taking another strip of excess plastic , begin wrapping around 1 end. (In the picture, I’m wrapping the yellow with a strip of gray.)

Wrap all the way to the other end.   Tie and cut off the excess.

Finished!

You can leave your finished basket as is, or you can add a little decoration such as a bow.  On one of my baskets, I made a little plastic flower using a flower loom.  (You can see what a flower loom looks like on amazon.)

I Love Paper Beads