The utterly wonderful Ann, a DIY Bride, has graciously shared her lovely DIY guest book project with us. Originally inspired by a Martha project, Ann has developed a simplified version that costs about $8.00 to make.
Directions after the jump.
- Take a blank sketch book, hard-bound. Make sure you “crack the spine” of the book by opening it all the way and bending the spine back a little so it will sit open nicely on a guest book table.
- I glued a place-marker ribbon onto the spine that can be moved throughout the sketchbook.
- Glue on thin felt batting. When you glue, cut out rectangles in the middle that will sit where the spine is. Be strategic with the glue only adding a line to the spine, then the inside covers, stretching the material. This will insure the book can open unrestricted.
- When gluing the inside covers, pull the long end first so it is taught and can close. Then I mitered the fabric corners to keep from too much fabric building up which would restrict the closing of the book.
- I used the same process to glue down the seersucker on top of the batting
- I glued the wider ribbon to tie the book shut.
- Using scrapbook craft paper or wrapping paper, I cut rectangles to hide the glued fabric on the inside cover. I just glued that into place and the total project took me about 25 minutes!
I’m still not sure if I fully understand how this is done…
Is there anywhere I can get more detailed instructions, possible with pictures showing each step?
This is exactly what I want to do because I can’t find a white book with blank pages (which is what I want my guestbook to be) and all the sketch books I’ve seen are black!
Thanks – send me an email if you can
Erin
Hi,
I would like detailed instructions as well.
Thanks!