Monday, July 25, 2011

mini book diy


A couple of years I had to take a "How to teach Art in Elementary Classes" type class for my major. It was by far one of the best classes I've ever had. I learned so much from my awesome professor and his wife, and I still use what they taught me, including this DIY.
This project is super easy and tons of fun...it also doesn't require much! The couple of examples that I am showing in this post are from my art class (types of photography) and one I recently made my boyfriend (coupon book). Hope you enjoy!!

Mini book instructions



Materials-
scissors
Velcro
cardstock/watercolor paper/thick construction paper
ruler
white typing paper/construction paper/scrapbook paper

**materials not pictured include:
masking tape/or other decorative ways to create writing in your book
markers (if you'd like)
stapler

Now for the steps!
1. cut your cardstock/watercolor paper (or whatever you want to use...I used watercolor paper) 12 inches long and 4 and a half inches wide:



2. Measure one inch from one end of the watercolor paper.


3. fold in that one inch from the end of the paper



4. after folding that 1 inch in, fold the rest (now 11 inches) of the paper in half



5. now it's time to use some paper for the inside. you can pick regular construction or white printer paper, or you can use scrapbook paper to make it really decorative. your call!
When you cut your paper to fit the inside (remember to leave enough room on the top, bottom, and right side (see below) staple the right side down (about 2-3 times) to ensure the placement of the paper. the measurements i used for my "loose leaf paper" were 5 inches by 4 inches.



6. now its time to really make your pages pretty! i used masking tape and sharpies



-since I made this a coupon book for my boyfriend, I used the masking tape to write on and the sharpies to print on. some things i put in the book were "you win this fight", "foot massage", and "you get the remote tonight". i also used a pen and wrote a description on the back of the pages (including the limit of times each coupon could be used).


7. Last and final step: put velcro on that one inch flap we made


Ta-da. you now have a mini book to do whatever you'd like with. if you make one, i'd love to see what you did, so please post in the comment section a link to your creation!!!!

I also made a video tutorial to help illustrate..... i'll just go ahead and apologize for the bad lighting, my dorkiness and bad hair/make-up day too!!!


xoxo
kel

9 comments:

♥B said...

I'm glad your version of this course was worthwhile.. mine was a complete waste of time.

"Highlights" include:
*sketching my prof while she "modeled" for us by standing on a table
*spending loads of $$$ on supplies like oil pastels that we conveniently never used

ugh! lol

Anonymous said...

love it! i adore your sharpie collection :)

Juli said...

Thanks so much for your sweet comment on my blog! That coupon book idea is cute - and I love the Sharpie collection!!! Off to search for those literature shirts that you have in your previous post - so awesome! I'm such a book nerd... lol! :-)

Amy said...

i loved taking that class too! I learned so many useful things! You should check out the big book of books and activities by Dinah Zike. I've only taught Kindergarten and we used it in centers and for a plant journal (though my room parents created it for them because it was too difficult to have them do the actual folding). I am teaching 2nd grade this year and I plan to use these foldable more often!

peata said...

cute little book :}

Anonymous said...

Coupon books are great gifts. I've never made one as cool as this one but now I WILL.
Thanks!
www.funfitchic.net

Anonymous said...

Coupon books are great gifts. I've never made one as cool as this one but now I WILL.
Thanks!
www.funfitchic.net

Anonymous said...

Coupon books are great gifts. I've never made one as cool as this one but now I WILL.
Thanks!
www.funfitchic.net

Anonymous said...

Omg. did i really just do that three times. Sorry! My computer is being a pain. lol