One thing I have always wanted to try my hand at was making books by hand. I own oodles of books on the subject of bookbinding. I have studied the subject extensively. I have never tried actually making a book. I’m sure you know how it is … always some excuse or the other. Bottom line, it was really a fear of failure. Silly, I know, but I hate trying new things unless I have personally had someone show me how to do it and walk me through the process. I suck at following written instructions.

Last night, I’d decided I was finally going to try making a book from scratch. What’s the worst that could happen? A book that was less than awesome, and probably some damaged pride, since you know I always like to be perfect at everything the first time I do them. But I’ve been pretty miserable and stressed out lately, so my mood could hardly be made worse by spending a few hours making a less than awesome book. Might as well go for it!

The end result? A book. Considering it is made out of a cereal box, printer paper, and hemp twine normally used for making macramé jewelry, it’s not half bad. In fact, aside from a couple of errors probably made by every person who has ever had a first time making a book by hand, it’s sort of an awesome book. I mean, I think it’s REALLY AWESOME! I made a book out of stuff lying around the house! And it doesn’t suck! YIPPEE!!!

The best thing about today’s project is that I learned a lot about making books by actually making one. The biggest lesson learned? Having the proper tools and proper materials would make the whole process much easier and the end products much better, and now that I know I am capable of making a book out of crap with almost no tools at all, I’m feeling fairly certain I’ll be investing in proper tools and materials soon. I want to make more books!