With more time on our hands at home, arts and crafts has had a big boom.So what do you do with all of the artwork once the fridge and the walls are full? Well, why not create your very own art book to pay tribute to all your children’s hard work?Create a beautiful cover for your arty journals and use one of these easy bookbinding methods. There are so many different ways you can log the artwork that your household is creating so we’ve compiled different creative ways you can bind a book to keep all the craftwork in one place! Treasury TagsAll you need for this easy method is a hole punch and some treasury tags. Treasury tags are simply pieces of string or yarn with two short pieces of plastic at each end. The reason these are such effective tools for binding books is that you can constantly add to the book rather than the binding being permanent. All you need to do for this method is hole punch all the pieces of artwork in the same place and thread the treasury tags through each hole to bind them together. This is so easy that your kids can definitely do it themselves.Book RingsThese clever little devices are very glamorous ways to bind your pages together. They are metal rings fitted with clips that are made for this exact purpose and are available in a lot of your local stationery outlets. They come in many different sizes, depending on how many pages you wish to bind together, and are super easy to use so can certainly be a bookbinding task for the kids. Again, all you need for this is a hole punch and the book rings and line all your pages up before hole punching them and adding your book rings. You can use one big book ring in the corner of each page and only use one hole of the hole punch or you can do a similar layout to the treasury tags and do two holes down the side and bind them with two rings. The benefit of these is that the rings allow the pages to be turned all the way around so you could use this as a clever way to display the art in your house and easily change which one is visible whenever you like.StaplesThis is another easy and permanent method of binding a handmade journal or booklet. This task is probably best for adults to do as the staples can be a bit sharp and therefore dangerous for young children. All you need for this method is a stapler and a thick piece of scrap cardboard and then follow these easy steps.For this method to work you need a clear middle point that you wish to bind so if you are working with artwork on A5 pieces of paper then you should stick them on pieces of A4 and fold them down the middle so you have a booklet of artwork.Place all the pages face down on the piece of cardboard with the middle crease distinctly folded so you can see the line.Extend the arms of your stapler so that you can use the top half of the stapler without having to place the bottom bit under the paper.Press the stapler down longways along the crease so that the staple will be going the same way at the line of the crease. You may not hear the distinctive click since you are only using the top half of the stapler.The pages might have slightly attached to the cardboard so be careful when you pull the pages up from the cardboard that you don’t rip the pages.The staples legs will probably be sticking upwards so you will need to push them down so that they don’t hurt anyone and there you have a perfectly bound booklet. Rubber BandsThis method is extremely effective and looks so professional. All you need is rubber bands, a stick of some kind and a hole punch.Punch two holes through all the pages, at the edge of the book.The rubber band needs to be able to stretch from one hole to the other - thread the end of the rubber band through the hole in the top and then the other end through the bottom hole.Then, at the back of the book, where the two small ends of the rubber band are, place the stick through each hole. This should be a very tight binding that looks very slick.Staples and Duct TapeThis is different from the other stapling method because you don’t need a fold in the book to staple these together. The idea of this is to staple all the pages together as normal down the edge of the book. Then use a piece of duct tape, the length of the book, and cover the staples on both sides by attaching half the piece of duct tape to the front of the book and folding it over to cover the other side of the staples. This will give it the effect that most notebooks have with a long black strip down the edge to bind them.Split PinsAnother super easy method to bookbinding is with split pins or brass fasteners which are nifty little stationary devices that allow you to push them through holes and then pull them apart at the back so they don’t fall out. Much like the treasury tags, this just requires you to punch holes through the pages and place the pins through. They are also not sharp so your kids can definitely do this one!SewingAn easy method for parents who can sew, although this may be a method used for a smaller amount of pages. This book binding requires a fold down the middle in which you sew a running stitch all the way down the spine. This can be a very elegant way of binding but will probably require some patience as it is quite different from sewing through fabric.Binding ClipsUsing the little things we always have lying around the house - binder clips are super useful for this task and make a very cool looking book. Simply gather up all your pages and clip them together - it’s that simple!
With more time on our hands at home, arts and crafts has had a big boom.
