Sometimes I wish it were acceptable to carry a book everywhere I go, especially when I’m out at night. But let’s be honest, carrying a book to a bar isn’t exactly considered acceptable behavior. That is, unless your book is also somehow your ridiculously cute clutch purse. After a great DIY tutorial from Runway DIY (originally from Olympia Le-Tan), now you can have the best of both worlds.
For this craft, you will need:
- An old-fashioned book with a hard cover (this is probably the best part of the craft in my opinion -- finding a really cool looking old book that fits your personality perfectly) Runway DIY suggests using one of the reprinted classics books from Barnes & Noble.
- A clasp
- Glue
- A thick brush (paintbrushes work, or one of the foam brushes work too)
- A ruler
- An X-Acto knife
To start, open your book and begin to brush glue on the sides of the pages. You will leave the cover page and start with the pages after that. As it is drying, you should weigh it down with other books to avoid the pages wrinkling and so that they will dry together in a sturdy manner. Once dry, open to the first page, and mark a rectangle about ¾ inch from the edge. You could probably also do about an inch depending on how big your book is. Then use your X-Acto knife to cut along these lines. You will only cut a few pages at a time. Once you cut your full rectangle, you will continue this cutting process until you reach the end of the book. Brush more glue in the inside as well as the outside of your soon-to-be-clutch.
After this step, you will weigh your book down completely again until it is dry. Once dry, cut an “X” shape on your cover page that you just glued down to the rest of your book. Peel back each section of the “x” and glue them to the hole of the book that you just made. Last but not least, attach your clasp with glue. Once this is dry, you’re ready to go out with your book clutch!
Now it may actually be acceptable to go out while holding a book!
If you have any questions or comments about this craft, e-mail me at fbreisbl@asu.edu.
