Making four small watercolor books to travel with.
Instead of buying a small watercolor book that'll fit in my purse or car console, I decided to make my own DIY travel book! I honestly thought the book would fall apart when I finished this project, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the book holds strong.
Supplies and Stuff
These are the items I used to craft my DIY travel books:
Watercolor paper
Paper cutter
Decoupage glue
Paintbrush (applicator)
Heavy chipboard
Scrap pattern/decorative paper
The Paper
I already had a small travel sketchbook I carried in my purse along with a small watercolor travel paint set. Unfortunately, the sketchbook paper doesn't handle watercolor well. The pages frayed when it was saturated.
I pulled a few sheets from my Canson Watercolor paper pad. I initially cut the sheets with my paper cutter to match the size of the sketchbook's 4" x 3-3/4" pages. My first DIY travel book would have a total of twenty pages.
Later, I went ahead and cut more watercolor sheets to make three additional DIY travel books of varying sizes. I didn't pay attention to the sizes since I was experimenting with making these books.
Book Binding
With the pages of my DIY travel book held together, I placed binder clips on the ends closest to the edge I wanted as the book bind. I've learned from watching Sea Lemon's YouTube videos on book binding that the edge should be pressed together firmly before applying glue. She uses a DIY book press, but I opted for binder clips since this project was new to me.
I used a paintbrush to apply several coats of Mod Podge (decoupage glue) to the book bind. I specifically used Mod Podge Paper for its flexibility after it's fully dried. Hard, brittle glue would crack and break with use. I wanted my DIY travel book to be sturdy when I painted on the pages and stored it in my purse.
In fact, I applied over four coats of the glue - one coat every half hour - to the book bind. I lost count of the actual number of coats at some point.
After I applied the last coat of glue to the book binds, I left them to dry for a couple hours.
Creating Covers
The glue yellowed as it dried. It didn't bother me because I planned to cover cover. It was still a little tacky after a couple hours, but I figured it would only help with adhering the cover.
I only had a single sheet of heavy chipboard to use, so I couldn't create four fully hardcover books. Fortunately, the single sheet was just enough to become the back covers of each book.
I used my paper cutter to cut the heavy chipboard sheet to match the varying book sizes. It was easy to cut the heavy chipboard with the paper cutter but doing so seemed to dull the blade quickly.
I ran my permanent double-sided tape runner towards an edge of the cut chipboard that I wanted aligned with the book bind. I placed the book over the cut chipboard and pressed down firmly. After I added heavy chipboard as a hard back for each book, I selected some scrap pattern paper to use as a thin flip cover for the books.
I cut the paper to match the lengths of their respective books. I then made two score lines for clean folds making sure the space between the two score lines matched the width of the book bind.
Once I had the paper cut to size, I ran tape on the flap and space in-between the two score lines. I pressed the space between the two score lines firmly against the book bind. I pressed the flap part firmly against the chipboard (a.k.a. back of the book).
My Thoughts
I honestly thought the books would fall apart at the end. I wasn't familiar with creating my own books and assumed my first attempt would be a bust. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the books held well. The heavy chipboard made sturdy back covers.
The watercolor pages made for some thick pages. Even a few of the scrap pattern paper made decent front flip covers. I wouldn't be surprised if the donut sprinkle cover would wrinkle and tear over time because it was the thinnest paper I used.
It took effort to tear one of the pages out of a book. I apparently got glue on the corners that held the pages together tightly. Maybe with use the glue would weaken, but as of now it's strong and sturdy.
What's Next?
I hope to have some resin crafts to share with you soon, but it's taking days to complete these craft projects. If I don't have a resin craft to share with you on Thursday, I promise I'll have something artsy crafty for you to enjoy!
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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