Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Tiny Books and Secret Diaries

Tiny Books from HingesGrace fell in love with this craft and had great fun with Paige creating tiny hinged diaries for all her poetic needs.

Step One: Dig through the garage to find large unused hinges (though the shiny new brass ones are the prettiest).

Step Two: Cover the outside with a bit of contact paper or paint if you wish.

Step Three: Fold some paper accordion-style, gluing the first and last pages to the cover or securing it by folding the contact paper over it on the inside flap (as Grace did in the photo above).

Easy to make and fun to have. A great treat for those who have secrets to keep and secrets to share.

Check in with Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday for other good tips.

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Have you entered this month's Write-Away Contest? Today is the deadline and the theme is Adventure.


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23 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a cute little diary! Liz would love to make that!

P said...

I saw some like that at the gun show. Without the hinges, though. Those are lovely...they would make good birthday presents for my SILs. And lord knows we've hinges to spare!

Anonymous said...

Is it me, or are there not enough directions on this one??? Tizzy

Deb said...

I was baffled at first and I think I see Anonymous/Tizzy's confusion. These are about the size of a 3x5 card aren't they? Without a scale clue the brain interprets the image as a full-sized diary (6x9).

These have an advantage over their larger but softer counterparts in that when thrown at snoopers one can inflict real pain.

Definitely cute and a quiet project.

Daisy said...

Cute! I've made mini-books with my classes before, but I didn't use the hinges. I think the kids would like that.

Jenn in Holland said...

another great idea. Can I come over to your garage to forage for parts?

Thanks for the reminder about write away. I put my permalink at that spot.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love it!

This makes me want to be a little girl-child again. Sweet.

Michelle Constantinescu said...

What a cool, cool idea! I'm the journal queen. I have a box that I put them in after they're filled. The first one is from the 2nd grade! I'd love to make my own. How does it attach to the hinge?

Scribbit said...

Tizzy and G's Cottage:

The hinges are tiny, the size of large door hinges, maybe one inch by two inches.

Sorry there aren't enough directions, I saw this project as a picture in an old Family Fun magazine without any directions and we just made it from the picture so I thought (incorrectly) that the picture and steps would be fine.

I should have shown Grace holding hers or something.

Michelle Constantinescu said...

Ah, I get it now! That is tiny! Definitely a nice idea for a homemade gift to give a little girl. I don't think I can write so small. Thanks! (But this still inspires me to make my own journals.)

Deb said...

Scribbit wrote "hinges are tiny..." Oh right I was thinking way older house with larger hinges; my bad. I think there are plenty of directions now that I have corrected my perception of the actual size.

Anonymous said...

Cuteness. And so personal when finished.

My Trendy Tykes said...

How cute!

Linda

Anonymous said...

That's an adorable craft. You have old hinges lying around in your garage?????

Unknown said...

Thanks for this diary info. I love to keep a journal, but it's not nearly so beautiful to look at as this one. Oh well, it serves the same purpose. Gets me off to sleep at night because my worries get unloaded into the journal.

Anonymous said...

This looks like so much fun! I want to try it but I'm 99% sure we have no large hinges in the garage. Time to go to Home Depot!

Anonymous said...

What an awesome idea! Wow, I'm definitely going to have to try that.

Heffalump said...

I think they would make a great stocking stuffer!

SusieJ said...

AHhhh life with girls?!

Anonymous said...

What wonderful little gifts for treasure thoughts.

Blondie said...

I love this!!! It is so cute.

Heather said...

LOVE IT! I'm passing this on to the lady who runs our Park and Rec. program. She'll run wild with this!

Unknown said...

This is a great idea! My kids are older, my daughter is 12, and my son is 16, but I think they will really love this. I'm always on the look out for good crafts during winter months when it's so cold.