Montage Cover, Cooking Book

Decoupage is a great way to make books, boxes, birthday cards, etc. more personal. All it takes is a stack of magazines (that you are done reading), or some pictures or cute napkins. As a child I enjoyed looking through magazines that my grandparents had read, and then cut out all of the best pictures. It’s approximately 10 years since I did this, but I kept all the pictures, and that’s what I’m using for this project.

This project is a birthday presents for one of my friends. She loves cooking and especially baking. Often when we are out visiting other people, she asks for the recipe if they cooked something delicious. This is an awesome thing to do, but it can be a mess to keep all of the recipes, as they are often written down by hand on an empty envelope or a napkin. So I decided to make this little book for her, to glue/tape in all of the recipes that she found over the years.

Materials:

- Pictures from magazines

- Scissors

- Mod podge

- Paintbrush

- Paper to glue on

- A book

First I made a loose design, figuring out a design without cutting or gluing anything. When the pictures fitted together in a design I liked, I took a picture of it. The picture is important; as it helps you remember your design later on in the process. After taking the picture I removed everything from the surface of the book, and started cutting the bottom pieces to fit. Then I glued them on, creating the first layer. I like the decoupage to cover everything, so that you cannot see the original book cover at all. This can be quite the puzzle, but take your time to make a design – it will be worth it.

When the bottom layer is done, look at the picture you took, and start arranging the top layer on the book. One by one glue the pieces on, and make sure that they overlap a bit – it looks good.

After you glued all the pieces on, take your mod podge and paint a thin layer on top of the pictures. This will give it a very nice finish, and make it less vulnerable to the mess of a busy kitchen. Let the layer of mod podge dry until it is clear and non-sticky. (30 min to 1 hour)

After the mod podge has dried, you can go ahead and make the back of the book too. It is the same process as the front.

As the back of the book was drying, I began making some recipes to put in the book. I cut some pieces of pink craft paper and wrote some of my mum’s best recipes on them. I also added some pictures, to give the recipes a more finished look. Then I taped them in the book with double sided tape, and wrote a personal message for my friend on the inside of the book cover.

To finish the gift I paired it with a bottle of Spanish wine and a card. For a food and cooking lover this was a very personal gift. As both of us are students on a budget, we try to give each other homemade gifts, as we cannot afford expensive stuff. However it often turns out great, because when it comes to presents, it is the thought that counts! J