Recycled Game Board Book

Materials:

old game board
50 pieces 15" x 7-1/4" paper *
10 pieces 17" x 7-1/4" paper *
black electrical tape
black bookbinding tape
craft knife
cutting mat
24" ruler
drill, awl, or hole punch
waxed linen
sewing needle
clamps

Steps:

1. Fold the 17" x 7-1/4" sheets so that they are still 7-1/4 inches wide and 8-1/2 inches long (figure A). Place these 10 folded sheets randomly among the 50 other sheets.

2. Cut game board in half along the fold line with a craft knife (figure B).

3. Cut off any rough edges on each of the cut halves of the game board. Use an emery board or a piece of fine sandpaper to smooth further if necessary.

4. Cut a length of black electrical tape the length of the cut edge and wrap it around the edge to cover it completely (figures C and D).

5. Measure and draw a line about 2 to 2-1/2 inches in from one edge at one end of one of the boards. Cut along this line so you have two pieces. Repeat on the other game board half (figure E).

6. Cut a 15-inch length of the bookbinding tape. It should be long enough to wrap completely around the board with about 1 inch overlap. Place vertically on work surface sticky side up (figure F).

7. Put both pieces of game board half back together, using black bookbinding tape to secure (figure G). Leave approximately 1/8 inch between the pieces of game board. This will allow the book to open easily (figure H).

8. Repeat on the second game board half.

9. Measure and mark an uneven number of stitch holes on one of the game board halves. Starting 1 inch in from one end and 1 inch up from the cut side, make your first mark. Repeat at the opposite end; then decide how many holes you want in between. We had three holes in between, making five holes in all. They each measured about 1-1/2 inch apart. Make two more holes at each corner 1/2 inch in from the ends and 1/2 inch up from the cut side (figure I). The white board in our photo shows what the placement was on our boards (figure J).

10. Drill or punch the holes using a hand drill or a screw punch (figure K). Punch them through both boards so they line up perfectly. You may also insert all of the pages between the covers, clamp everything together, and punch everything out at one time. Carol did the covers first, then lined up one sheet of paper on one of the covers and made matching holes. Then using the sheet of punched paper as a pattern, she clamped the papers together and punched the holes (figure L). Whichever method you choose, be sure that the papers are positioned 1/4 inch in from the side edges and that the end with the holes is butted up to the ends of the covers. This should leave 1/2 inch at the far end. Be sure to make holes large enough to accommodate your needle and several thicknesses of the waxed linen thread.

11. Thread about 1-1/2 yards of black waxed linen onto sewing needle.

12. Stitch as follows: Sew through the middle hole from the back to the front, leaving a tail of thread about 3 or 4 inches hanging loose. Do not knot. Bring the thread completely around the spine of the book and sew back through the same middle hole (figure M).

13. Sew into the next hole (on either side) from front to the back (figure N). Again, wrap thread completely around the spine of the book and stitch back through the same hole. This time your thread will end up at the back of your book (figure O).

14. Repeat this process for the next hole. You will end your stitch on the front cover of the book (figure P).

15. Stitch into the last hole (closest to the corner) (figure Q). Bring the thread completely around the spine of the book one again, and stitch into that same hole (figure R). This time bring the thread around the tail of the book and back into the same hole (figure S).

16. From the back of the book, bring your needle up through the fifth hole (figure T). Bring the thread around the tail of the book and back through the fifth hole (figure U).

17. Stitch into the fourth hole (figure V) and back up through the third hole.

18. Repeat steps 12 through 16 on the other side of the third hole for the top half of the book. You should end up with the thread at the back of the book at the second hole (figure W). Tie off the waxed linen thread at the third hole.

19. Decide how you want to use your book...as a game book to take along in the car that you fill with things like Tic Tac Toe (figure X) and Hangman, etc.; as a photo album; or maybe even that novel you always intended to write. You can use stickers on the cover for the title and to decorate any of the inside pages as well.