handmade books from scraps

I've been meaning to make a stack of little books for my kiddos to fill whenever they feel so inclined, like the ones here and here, so we finally got around to doing it a few weekends ago.

I got to use my Japanese Screw Punch for the first time, and the old stationery from the firm my husband worked for way back when we were engaged.  I felt guilty about recycling it all since it was a lot of nice quality paper, and was perfectly usable except for the letterhead.  So, it came with us when we moved.  But it's time to start getting rid of it!

The book covers are just scraps of cardstock left over from other projects, so some of the books are about 5" x 4", others are long and narrow, others are teeny tiny, about an inch.

A true scrap project, I even used some of Jessie's birthday cards for the covers.  They always pile up and it seems such a shame to throw recycle away the sweet sentiments, and now I won't have to.  Rebecca really helped with this project, while Jessie occupied herself with sticking stickers on the covers.  I used a Chip Clip to hold the papers and cover together, did the  hole punching myself, and Rebecca used a dental floss threader to sew the book together.  I love that floss threader trick, it really mimics a needle and helps her learn how to hold everything together so that the thread doesn't keep coming out of the eye (though it still does a lot but at least she's getting the concept). 

So putting it all together was a fun morning-long activity, but the best part is peeking to see what she fills up her books with.

Comments

[Christina]

What a wonderful project, I like how you got the girls involved, too! I will have to make some of these up some day soon and save them for little hands to fill.

[dottycookie]

I've made some of these with scrapbook paper covers eofre but the birthday cardsa re genius! I hate throwing them away. They would be great with recycled Christmas cards too.

[Jhoanna]

I defintely, definitely need to make some of these with the girls! Thanks for posting this up. I LOVE the idea of using old birthday cards - brilliant!

Wonderful to read you had a great Mamas Day too :-)