A Handmade Book with a Cardboard Cover

Books can be made in a lot of different ways and with different materials. Here's a way to make a simple book with a cardboard cover that I've used with kids of all ages over the years.

Step 1 Gather Materials

The first thing we need to do is to gather up our supplies. You need: a right-angle, 18-inch ruler, pencil, x-acto knife, stapler, 5 sheets of white paper, a sheet of corrugated cardboard for your cover, and a cutting board.

The book I'll be showing you how to make here uses 5 sheets of 6 x 18 inch of white paper and a slightly larger sheet of corrugated cardboard, 6.5 x 18.5 inches. You can make your book any size by adjusting the size of the paper and cardboard, but following the same directions.

Tip: I collect sheets of corrugated cardboard from boxes I find at various businesses like grocery stores, furniture stores, and office supply stores. The best cardboard is 2-ply. I cut this cardboard up the size I need it using a mat knife or large paper cutter.

Comments

[bushra]

wow its  a kewl idea !!
thx alot i ll use it to make a book fo my best friend um riting a story fo her :D i ll rite it on da book :D

[Mplinnc]

cool

[mayhamdan]

oops.. Now I get it. the last slide made it clear

[mayhamdan]

this step is not clear. is the spine bent down the middle and stuck on the inside of the cover?

[kolowinter]

Wonderful use of basic materials. Not only do kids get introduced to bookmaking, they have a special book that they will have for a long, long time. Thank you for documenting so well. My goal for 2009 is to teach at least one craft session (kids, seniors) and this will certainly be among my selections.

[silviamira]

Really cool! I guess I'll make one with pieces of recycled paper (you know, I sometimes have papers which are half printed but are still usable.. With this instructable, I can put those pieces of paper together and get an awesome notebook!) Thanks! :)

[fancypenguin845]

haha if u should make one with a pizza box or sumthing great instructable!

[lulu D]

This is a great activity for kids of all ages! sometimes, a blank book scares some, especially those who aren't keen on writing! Get them to write a story - ANY story, or even favourite words to describe something they like - and then use that for the text pages. Make a grade/class mini library and have the others 'borrow' the books from each other from the 'library'. encourages reading and humour and sharing! this could be an ongoing project working on stories and poems with themes/colours/things they like/don't like! making books with kids is so rewarding!

[lawizeg]

nice! im gonna make one, i want a book just to write/ draw in but dont feel like getting one at the store. + 1 rating!

[craigr]

2-ply corrugated cardboard works best. This is commonly used for boxes of toilet paper and paper towels. If its any thicker, its hard to score, bend, and so on.

[lawizeg]

mine didnt exactly work out. i have to get better cardboard.

[Saint]

I'm wondering how durable this is. I think the cardboard would rip or break after a while of heavy use, but if you don't use it every day it's a very easy way to bind a small book without glueing or sewing. Good work on the instructable!

[craigr]

I've used these with 3rd-4th graders as sketchbooks and they've lasted through weeks of heavy use. Also, I still have some books that were made years ago.