Altered book as graduation gift

Our young friend was graduating high school. We wanted to give him a unique gift. The solution was this altered book.

Altered books are a form of art / craft. You take a book -- probably an old, remaindered one -- and change it. Most such books are quite fancy affairs, with a lot of decoration and collage, even painting and cut-outs. This one was simple, and with a little patience, anyone could make one like it.

The book we used was a 1979 copy of Strunk + White's "The Elements of Style". It seemed like the perfect choice, as it is STILL being recommended to students.

Supplies
Here's what I used, but you could substitute with abandon here.

1  book that can be ruined without guilt
some nice paper to type or print out your nuggets
some images -- I made some on the computer, but you could certainly use photos or ink stamps
craft glue / tape to stick the images and pages in without causing wrinkling
Dymo tape

Step 1: Create witty thoughts and ideas

A bottle of wine and some good yakking with a buddy helps a lot with this step.
My husband and I talked and took a bunch of notes about what we wanted to say.

The plan here is for nuggets of wisdom that are also kind of funny.

For example, one of my husband's best was this:
"It's pretty easy to get 80% in high school. It's even easier to get 60% in university"

We also included "household tips" such as this one:
"If you want girls to visit your apartment, you need to ensure you have basic supplies. e.g. toilet paper"

Once you have about 20 or so nuggets of this type, you are ready for the next step.

Comments

[Miscelinious]

I love making altered books. Unfortunately, my friend who i was supporting this year for graduation 2011 really loves books. When i was showing him some of the altered books i had made with our highschool's discarded books (books that are "too old" or damaged) he was slightly aghast to see that the book i had used for one altered book was a book he had loved to read over the years, but had never seen it again when it was considered "discarded".

I had felt bad for him because of that. So i think that altered books for the book-lover should be considered carefully! In my case, my friend would have much rather read the book on what he found most interesting (a book on Languages, by Mario Pei).

Good ideas with your instructable. I never thought of using really thin paper for images and what effects that could have (layering, etc). :)

[sabbott]

Yes, people can get that way about books. however, the book you used was probably headed for either paper recycling or landfill.

Glad you enjoyed the instructable!

[poza]

very creative. although i think i would have used a hardback since this will very likely become a keepsake, and hardbacks are sturdier.

[sabbott]

Yes, a hardback is definitely a better choice.

I have made altered books before from hardcovers.
Here's an example of one with a lot of painting and mixed-media incorporated: http://www.customercrossroads.com/sideart/2005/08/post.html
You will find many examples online, as well as a lot of instruction on various methods of preparing the book.