I enjoy reading, so I like to have at least some books
in my houses and roomboxes for the mini inhabitants to read. Here are three methods, for creating different types of books.
Method 1: Easy-to-make leather-bound fake books for filling a bookshelf.
Cut a strip of leather 6 to 10 mm wide (about 1/4" or 3/8"), spread glue on it and fold it so it's
half as wide. When dry, use the chopper (with a sharp new blade) to cut it in pieces; about 3 to 6 mm tall (1/8" to 1/4"). For a multi-volume encyclopedia or similar, glue
several "books" together, then decorate the spines with a gel roller pen. This method is excellent if you want to fill a shelf with books bound in leather, but the leather you have is rather
thick (from a mini point of view, that is - like 1 to 1.5 mm (1/32" to 3/64"). It's good if you're in a hurry, too. ;-)
Method 2: Neat books with gilt edges.
If you'd like to make individual books for display, cut white cardboard 0.5 to 1.5 mm thick (1/32" to 1/16") in strips, about
3 to 6 mm wide (1/8" to 1/4"). This is the height of the book. Cut paper or ultra-thin leather in strips that are the same width as the cardboard strips (or a hair wider, for
even more realism). Then cut the cardboard strips in pieces with the chopper, each piece should be 2 to 5 mm wide (3/32" to 3/16") (make one size books at a time, or you might
mix them up inadvertedly). These will be the "pages" of your books. Paint all edges (except the spine) gold if desired. Allow to dry. Glue one side of the "pages" piece to one end of a leather
strip (painted edge close to end of strip). Trim excess if needed. Spread glue on other side, and fold leather strip around the pages. Trim. Decorate spine (and maybe front) with gel roller
pen. They look very nice but it's quite time-consuming to make them (trust me - I filled 3 or 4 bookshelves in this way, before I came up with the other two methods...).
Method 3: Paperbacks, or leather-bound books
without gilt edges.
This combines the two methods above. Cut 2 to 5 mm (3/32" to 3/16") strips of cardboard. Glue one of them to a strip of paper or leather, leaving at
least 7 mm (1/4") along one edge. Trim along the other edge. Glue remaining leather (or paper) flap to the other side of your cardboard strip. Trim along the edge. Now you have one veeery tall
book. :-) Allow it to dry thoroughly. Cut in to 6 mm (1/8" to 1/4") pieces with chopper (with sharp new blade). Decorate spine (and front). This method works very well for
making paperback books. Using e.g. a picture from a magazine for covers gives you lots of different book covers with a minimum of work.
I enjoy reading, so I like to have at least some books
in my houses and roomboxes for the mini inhabitants to read. Here are three methods, for creating different types of books.
