Dollhouse Miniature Book Kit

Watch the video here.

Before I go any further I want to send another big thank you to Ann for the gift of this and the other wonderful kits she sent me. I love all them so much and can't wait to make them all.

You can find Ann's site here.

Now onto today's project. This book kit makes up a wonderful illustrated book that has fold out pages to amaze the children in your dollhouse.

Like all book kits the key (and I can't emphasize this enough) is to work carefully and slowly. This is not the project to start if you are rushed. Books are not difficult at all but do take precision and time.

As with all kits look at all the pieces that come in the package first and make sure you know exactly what everything is. Next read all the instructions and think about each step. On book kits I like to do a kind of “dress rehearsal” in my head of the steps so I can visualize each and every step. The more thinking you do at the beginning the smoother the project will go.

I like to score all the marked fold lines before I cut anything. That way it is easier to hold the pages still and you still have the small marking that are on the pages next to the cut lines.

Once scored cut out the strips of pages making sure to note the gluing tabs at the ends of two of the three strips. The next step and this one is very important is to pre-fold on all those score lines. This will help you to understand which way everything goes and you can make sure that your score lines are straight. Take your time and make sure each of these strips folds to a nice, neat straight stack. It should be starting to look a bit like a book.

At this point glue those separate strips together to form one long strip of pages using those little tabs at the ends of two of the strips. Allow to dry.

Now using a piece of scrap paper to protect your work surface use a glue stick to glue the page backs together. Make sure that the end papers are left free. At this point I like to insert some small pieces of wax paper between the pages so that they don't stick where I don't want them to.

Now clamp the pages again making sure that everything is lined up properly.

Run a bead of glue along the side of the pages that will be glued to the spine of the cover allow this all to dry.

Meanwhile you can make your “hard cover” for your book. Simply score the fold lines on the cover test fit the interfacing and glue in place. Again I like to clamp to make sure it makes a good tight bond. Try to get your corners a bit neater than I did on the video.

Once all to this is dry go ahead and glue the cover to the book along the spine and the the end pages.

Be very careful that you are gluing the cover on the book right side up. It only takes once of not making sure this step is correct to make you triple check it in the future. I do like to clamp the book and then allow it to completely dry.

Now your book is finished.

I chose not to make the book sleeve this time but it is included in the kit. I just have no use for it in my scene so I will save it for another use.