To create your own tiny book, all you need is a single sheet of paper, a pair of scissors, and your brain!
A tiny book can be filled with anything — drawings, stories, comics, daily gratitude, made-up inventions, or just random thoughts — the possibilities are endless. Which is why tiny books can sometimes turn into tiny libraries.
Thank you to artist and filmmaker, Andrea Dorfman, for sharing this project with us.
Gather your supplies:
One piece of printer paper (8 1/2 x 11)
A pair of scissors
(Optional) If you’d like to fancy up your journal, you can add a cover using a folded photograph, wrapping paper, a picture cut from a magazine, some decorative paper, or even fabric. To add a cover you will need either a stapler or glue.
No glue in the house? Try this simple glue recipe!
To guide you through the making of your tiny book, here is a video by tiny book creator, Andrea Dorfman, and another video by Red Tent Art that goes through the steps a bit more slowly:
Once you have your tiny book made, you can design the cover with a drawing, stickers, or pictures cut from a magazine.
You can also create your own cover like this:
Find a photograph, magazine picture, or some nice paper or wrapping paper you like…
Turn the paper over so you are looking at the backside of the picture or paper you want to use as your cover.
Now open the journal you made and lay it on top of your paper.
With a pencil, trace your journal, leaving about 1/4″ on one side (when you fold the cover over your journal, you’ll need this extra paper)
Cut your cover out along the lines and fold it in half.
Now, brush a very thin layer of whatever glue you have on the backside of your cover.
Line up the back of your journal so the fold of the journal lines up with the center fold of the cover and the ends line up.
Lift up the front of the cover and smooth it over the front of your journal.
If you want to, you can also add stickers, or cut out pictures and words.
If you’d like to make another kind of tiny book that’s a little larger than this one and includes more pages, you might like our “Try a New Attitude: Gratitude” project. For that one, you’ll need a photo, a few extra pieces of paper, a pair of scissors, and a stapler.
Now that you have a tiny book or two…. or three…or eight…here are some things you can do with them:
Make a list of everything you are grateful for—add one new idea every day.
Write a story or comic book.
Walk around your house or neighborhood and look for interesting things to draw.
Create a tiny book of things you love — for example, a book of dog drawings or cake drawings.
What about a book of gadget inventions? Or fashion designs? Or drawings of your friends?
Or…try them all! The good thing about tiny books is that you can always make more.
Want to add your tiny books to our gallery? We can’t wait to see them!