How to Make an Altered Book

How could anyone alter a book! Many people are horrified at the thought of someone doing strange things to something as precious as a book. So before we start, no one is suggesting that you take a perfectly good book and destroy it. Please only use books that have no apparent further useful life. With that out of the way, anything goes. Whether your aim is for something of exceptional beauty, a special gift for a friend, or a bizarre artistic statement, the sky is the limit. With several pages to a book, you can choose which page or the cover to have on display at any time.

Become a collector of bits and pieces. Old ribbons, chains, bus tickets, birthday candles, in fact anything that looks interesting or perhaps has a meaning to someone. You never know when things might just come together as a theme. With a box of memorabilia on hand you are always ready to start your next altered book project.

Here is a list of the basic materials you will need to create your masterpiece:

  • An old book - Hardcover books work best as they are easiest to handle. Old children's board books are ideal.
  • Paints and paintbrushes - Acrylic paints tend to work best as they have more covering power and dry quickly
  • White glue - for sticking things on with, and gluing pages together
  • Gesso - This is the stuff that artists use on canvas before applying paint. It is fairly cheap. The great thing with gesso is that is covers up mistakes, or print easily.

Optional extras

  • Acrylic mediums: glaze mediums, pumice gels or whatever seems appropriate for your project.
  • Gel pens
  • Marker pens
  • Glitter

Many people get the ideas for their altered books from the books themselves. Perhaps a word that stands out here and there and blends itself into a sort of poem. Those words can be left and the rest painted over. Once you have decided on your theme, divide the book up as seems right for you. Some altered books have 4 or 5 decorated pages to them, others just one or two. Gluing the unneeded pages together adds strength to the whole book.

After gluing the pages that you don't need together seal the edges with the gesso. This will prevent them splitting apart at a later date. If you are after a 3-D effect to your altered book, simply allow the glued pages to dry and then cut out the space you want to use inside - just like a shadow box.

The only thing left to do is use your imagination. Making a gift for someone? Why not fill the pages with special things about that person or the things they love? Planning is the most important part of creating your altered book, although with gesso you can change just about anything. Think about your cover design as well as any inside pages. Many people have gone on to sell their altered books as works of art; still others keep them as cherished keepsakes. Whatever your motive, the process is fairly simple; the creativity is your own!