Edgar Allen Poe Mini Books... an AMAZING Tutorial by Isabel Villarreal

Hi there! This is Isabel and in the next few steps I'll show you how easy it is to make your own mini books using Amazing Crafting Products, some fabric and a little imagination.

This month I'm focusing on creative things to do with old books and book pages. In continuing with my obsession for all things Poe, I'm making as many things as possible with my old tattered Edgar Allan Poe story collection. These mini books stand as individual art pieces as well as making unique jewelry pieces. As an added treat they each have their own hidden secrets inside.

  

To begin, I took some old flyers and cut them down to the size and shape I wanted for the books. I made two stacks: one thick stack for the body of the book and another thin stack for the cover. Each stack was glued together using craft glue between each layer. Once the glue dried, I used an exacto knife to hollow out the centers of both books, leaving the "covers" intact.

  

I will be creating a whole "set" of 6 books, so instead of spending hours making individual paper books, I used Amazing Mold Putty to create a mold that would yield multiple copies in minutes. I wasn't sure if the Mold Putty would stick to the paper so to avoid a set back, I coated the paper "books" with a protective layer of Mod Podge®. Mixing equal parts of "A" & "B", I made a small amount of Amazing Mold Putty to fill the hollow areas first. Leaving the set putty in the center, I then mixed enough putty to cover the rest of the book, with the hollowed out part facing down. The Amazing Mold Putty set in about 10 minutes leaving 2 perfect molds that I could use over and over again. Perfect!!

  

If you've never used Amazing Casting Resin, you have got to try this stuff! I measured equal parts of "A" & "B" and mixed them together in a small paper cup until the mixture was clear. Once it was clear, I immediately poured the mixture into my molds and allowed it to set for 10 minutes. I repeated the process for each of the books I'm making. As you can see, I'm working with 2 different book sizes. In about 30 minutes I had a complete set of 6 molded and cast mini books ready for decoration.

  

I prepared some Sculpey clay, and I cut pages out of my Poe story collection ( I used 6 different stories) and fabric pieces to size and prepared to get creative. Using the Sculpey clay, I sculpted small pieces fitting each story theme to place inside the mini books. When the clay was ready I painted the hollowed out centers of the books and painted and glued the sculpted pieces. The next step was to coat the cast mini books with craft glue and paste the cut book pages in place. For the hollowed parts I glued the paper pages in place and when they were dry I used an exacto to carefully cut out the centers.

Use craft glue to coat the outside of the mini books and press the fabric into place. Be sure to pay special attention to the "spine" of the book. The fabric will act as the binding to hold the two book pieces together and allow it to open and close easily. Now glue the cover image and you've got a mini book! As a final step I used Amazing Clear Cast Resin to seal the inside and front cover of the book. Along the white resin edges, I used Alumilite Bronze metallic powder mixed with Acrylic Gloss Medium to give the "pages" a gilded look. I made 2 sets of these - one as a complete set for shelf display and on the other set I attached bails to use them as one-of-a-kind wearable art pendants.

You can use this idea to make a keepsake box for a lock of hair, a first tooth or any other precious memento. Make your mini book personal by replacing the cover image with a baby's photo, an image of a loved one or any snap shot of a special moment.

What secrets will your mini book hold?

I'd love to see what you create! Please upload and share your creations to the NEW
user GALLERY on the Amazing Mold Putty Website for all the world to see.

~ Isabel Villarreal

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