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How to Make an Altered Book

November 12, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 16 Comments

How to make an altered book

I know it’s sinful to deface a book. But, if you think about it, an altered book is recycling a volume that no longer has value to a reader. And yes, there are out-of-date books no longer read such as Encyclopedias or textbooks on antiquated subjects.

This was my first attempt at making an altered book. I am in no way an artist or paper crafter. (Yes, a disclaimer.) I forged straight into the project with minimal research to see where my mind would take me without prompting. As the basis for my altered book, I used an old Better Homes and Garden binder purchased at a flea market. The original book was filled with loose-leaf pages about landscaping and gardening which tied into my Grace Grits and Gardening theme (not that the original book needs a tie-in). My goal was to update the original book, allowing a portion of the old to blend with the new.
My supplies included a few pieces of scrapbook paper, four dated magazines, Mod Podge, Gesso and scissors.

Here is the before picture of the original book.

Altered book project - before
Original book

Here are a few of the ‘before’ pages from the book.

altered book project - before pages

I added Gesso which makes the individual pages stronger and ready for embellishment.

Altered book project - adding Gesso
For this page, I cut a heart shape into about twenty pages, then glued the pages together to make one thick page. I coated the front and back in Mod Podge to stiffen, added words and paint, then added a picture to the back so that it showed through the heart cutout. A 3-D page…
Altered Book Project - 3D page
glue individual pages together
Altered book project - 3 -D page
add words and paint
Altered book project - 3D page
3-D heart page
Several of my pages drying…
Altered book project - pages drying

The after cover.  Some of the original artwork and lettering still peeps through.

Altered book project - After
After
Over time, I plan to add many more pages, including blank pages for journaling and additional decoration such as buttons, pictures, fabric. This is definitely a work in process. Maybe I’ll post more on this project later.

Have you ever made an altered book or art journal?

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With: altered book, Craft Project, vision board

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Comments

  1. Gayle Glass says

    November 12, 2013 at 6:34 am

    Talya, I’ve done this also with Garden books, as well as Cook books. It’s a great way to recycle a worn and damaged one…so you don’t have to just toss it. I’ve also used this to combine several that were each too damaged to retain. Yours is gorgeous…and lends itself beautifully to the Grace/Grits/Garden theme!

    Reply
    • Gayle Glass says

      November 12, 2013 at 6:35 am

      Oh…but yours is prettier than any of my efforts. I have the crafting ability of a 5-year old! It’s still fun to try them, though!

      Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 12, 2013 at 10:43 am

      Thanks! I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done with it so far. Looking forward to adding more pages soon. Would love to see yours. Great idea about combining them.

      Reply
  2. Patricia A. Laster says

    November 12, 2013 at 7:08 am

    Never heard of such.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 12, 2013 at 10:42 am

      I’ve only recently learned of this myself.

      Reply
  3. Pristine says

    November 12, 2013 at 11:00 am

    So cute! I never would have thought to do this myself, but might have to be brave now and try it.

    Pristine
    newkidontheloch.com

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 12, 2013 at 7:23 pm

      You should!

      Reply
  4. Bryan Jones says

    November 12, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    Whew, at first I thought you were going to re-write a book like the Jane Austen for Zombies! Great idea! I would like to take one of the old textbooks for animal husbandry or shop practices and update them!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 12, 2013 at 7:24 pm

      No I don’t think I’ll be re-writing a book. I have my hands full with my own. Thanks!

      Reply
  5. Taylor Bradford says

    November 12, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    I love this!! It is so fun and creative!

    Reply
  6. Dorothy Johnson says

    November 13, 2013 at 5:57 am

    Terry and I love it. He complimented you on your artistic composition. He doesn’t hand those out willy-nilly. I think I must attempt one myself. I’m not an artist in the formal sense, but I love to craft. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  7. Michelle F. says

    November 13, 2013 at 11:45 am

    Never tried this but LOVE it. Definitely going to give it a go. Thank you for all your awesome posts!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 13, 2013 at 11:46 am

      Thanks Michelle!

      Reply
  8. Kathy says

    November 13, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    This is so cool! This reminds me a lot of the scrapbooks my mother made as a child. She would cut pictures out of magazines and paste them into an old discarded book no one wanted making her own treasured picture books. ♥

    Reply
  9. Jamie H says

    November 18, 2013 at 7:53 am

    I’ve never heard of Gesso, I’ll have to see if I can find some. I’m also a novice paper crafter, but I find it quite fun!
    Jamie @ Coffee With Us 3

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How to Make an Altered Book (part two) - grace grits and gardening says:
    February 1, 2014 at 8:06 am

    […] started working on an altered book several months ago. You can read about it HERE. Since then, I work on it sporadically, often clipping out pictures or jotting down ideas for […]

    Reply

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Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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