How-Tuesday: Flag Book Cookbook

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Story by Julie Schneider

Published on Aug 24, 2010 in Make

Truly, three of my favorite things in life include making books, eating food, and sharing recipes. The project for this week’s How-Tuesday is a delicious concoction composed of all three of these elements.

I’m happy to welcome artist, author, and collector of postcards Esther K. Smith back to the blog with a tutorial from her latest book, The Paper Bride.  Esther will also be joining us in person at Craft Night on Monday, September 13 for a real life bookbinding lesson and potluck at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn, NY.

Bookbinder Hedi Kyle invented this amazing and very easy structure in the 1970s for a Center for Book Arts exhibit at the Elaine Benson Gallery in South Hampton, Long Island. Gary Frost, a bookbinder/historian named it the flag book. I sometimes call it “flip flap” after its lively sound and action.

The cookbook potluck bridal shower can be fun for people who cook — or people who can do creative things with the idea of recipes. A community cookbook we contributed to had a joke recipe for BBQ Elephant to serve 500 — ingredients: 1 elephant, 200 gallons of BBQ sauce.

Your shower invitation might advise guests to cook their favorite secret family recipe for the potluck. They can bring the food in kitchen items that will serve as gifts. If the bride needs a set of dishes — particularly a set of vintage dishes — those could even be used for the potluck.

Include a card for the recipe when you send the invitation, and perhaps a few extras in case someone makes a mistake. Tell guests to only write on one side, or make a clear margin so that they don’t write where you will need to attach the card to the book. You can do this with a piece of peel ’n’ stick double-stick tape. 

 

You can purchase The Paper Bride right here on Etsy!


Materials:
Recipe cards — use index cards or cut your own from card stock
Heavy, foldable paper
Cover — raw book-binding board or museum board, or recycle old book covers, boxes, etc.
Double-stick tape or bookbinding paste or glue
Bone folder
Scissors
Decorative end papers (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Think about how many cards you will be including in this book before you begin — try making a quick dummy book from scrap paper to learn the form and try out some sizes and ideas. Your book will need an extra fold in the front and one in the back to attach to the cover.

2. Fold a narrow accordion from heavy, foldable paper. Make it tall enough to accommodate two to three recipe cards.

 

 

 

3. Make covers from plain board, or cover the board with book cloth or paper. If you are recycling, a cut-up box can continue the theme. Cut your cover boards big enough to accommodate the height of the narrow accordion plus the width of your cards (once they are attached).

4. Lay out your finished recipe cards on the accordion so that they look interesting and don’t bump when opened, alternating sides of the accordion and glue as shown.

5. Glue the accordion to the covers, burnishing well (as always!).

6. Cut decorative end sheets a bit smaller than the covered board and glue to hide bare board and raw edges of cloth.

7. Weight carefully and let dry overnight. If you are using a wet glue or paste, change waste sheets as necessary to absorb moisture.

Thank you to Esther K. Smith and the good folks at Potter Craft for sharing this project with us.
For more paper and wedding inspiration, check out The Paper Bride.

 

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