I know, I know, I haven’t posted many tutorials for a while. I am in the process of publishing my first novel, Heartstrings, which will be available August 31st. It’s very exciting, but doesn’t leave a lot of time for crafting. However, keeping with the bookish spirit, here is a simple way to show your books some love when they are looking a little run down.

 

Shout out to my wonderful mother-in-law for designing and painting this beautiful cover.

 

I love to frequent the Little Free Lending Libraries in my area. There are three within a few blocks of my house and I am no stranger to them. Many of the books I find have seen better days. Like any book-lover, sad books make me sad. But there are some easy fixes that can have your books looking like new.

 

 

Supplies:

  • Sad book
  • Glue
  • Paper towel/napkin/rag/wiping utensil of some sort

 

Sad book

 

For this tutorial, I used a book whose pages had pretty much completely fallen out of its cover. You can apply the same process to pages that are starting to fall out to prevent this kind of damage from getting worse. This process works for paperback books with pages glued into them rather than sewn books.

 

So sad

 

1. Carefully, put a thin line of glue along the damaged spine of the book. Do not overglue, a little goes a long way.

 

Do this all along the damaged area.

 

2. Press the pages so that they meet up with the spine, putting pressure on them.

 

3. Wipe away any excess glue that spilled out from the creases. This is a very important step to ensure that the pages do not stick more than you want them to.

 

Ta-dah! Happy patient. Now back to the Lending Library to be enjoyed by someone else.