Book Making with Cyril and Augustus

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Crafts

 

Augustus Wild Boar and Cyril Dragon are sitting on a daybed in a cozy room, each holding a handmade book. Augustus’s book is titled ‘MY SANDWICH GIFTING JOURNAL’ and Cyril’s is titled ‘Journeys & Musings’

When Cyril Dragon arrived at Hazel Village, he brought along a special journal full of musings on his various adventures. The other animals were quite intrigued by this magical-looking book.

“What a neat binding!” Oliver Mouse observed. “Did you make it yourself?”

“Indeed!” Cyril replied proudly.

“Very well done,” said Lucy Owl. “If you’d show us your method, I will catalogue it for the Village archive.”

“I think I would like to have a journal,” mused Augustus Wild Boar. “It would be the perfect place to develop my sandwich recipes.”

“That is a worthy use for a journal,” said Cyril, nodding his approval. “I will teach you how to make one just like mine.”

“What, right now?” asked Augustus, so surprised that he almost dropped the sandwich he was munching on.

“No time like the present!” Cyril declared. “Besides, bookbinding always makes me work up an appetite, so maybe afterwards you could show me how to make your favorite sandwich.”

“I would love to!” Augustus replied, wiggling excitedly. “Although I could never choose just ONE favorite sandwich. You’ll have to tell me if you prefer sourdough or rye, butter or mustard, sweet pickles or sour…”

Chatting happily about sandwiches and books, the friends settled down to craft.

Augustus Wild Boar is wearing a red bonnet and a cozy white sweater. He is looking at the first page of his handmade sandwich gifting journal, which has a pretty green leafy paper lining on the inside cover.

This blog post comes to you in two parts! In part one, we will show you how to make an easy printable DIY version of Cyril Dragon’s journal, Journeys & Musings. In part two, you will see how Cyril taught Augustus to make his own hand-bound journal using the old-fashioned coptic binding method. Huzzah!

 

Part One: Journeys & Musings DIY printable craft
A hand-bound brown paper copy of Cyril’s book Journeys & Musings sits next to a printed out stapled paper version which has been colored with brown pencil.
Cyril Dragon next to the printed out pages of our free download version of his journal

We created a printable version of Cyril’s journal so that you can easily make it at home. This version doesn’t require fancy bookbinding, and is therefore much faster and easier to put together. Here is what you will need:

First, print the PDF and cut out all the pages. Fold each piece in half as indicated. The cover page will need to be folded in 2 spots to accommodate the spine of the book.

Wooden tabletop with not yet assembled pieces of the paper printout of Cyril’s journal, with each 2-page spread folded in half and arranged in order.

The first five pieces are labeled with pages 1-10. Making sure they are in order, work your way through the stack and glue each blank side together. You will be glueing page 2 to page 3; page 4 to page 5; page 6 to page 7; and page 8 to page 9. 

A glue stick glueing the blank backs of pages 2 and 3 to each other
Wooden tabletop with glued together book showing pages 1-4, and pages 5—6 next to it not yet glued

Once the illustrated pages are glued, place them on top of the folded blank pieces and staple the stack together. Make sure you are stapling very close to the spine, like this: 

Wooden tabletop with the assembled paper book on it, showing three staples along the spine as close to the edge as possible.

Lastly, glue the cover on top, fitting it around the spine, front, and back of the book. 

Wooden tabletop with the completed paper printable book, the cover has now been glued on and is colored in brown colored pencil.

We just used a colored pencil to make the cover brown like Cyril's original journal, but you can get creative with coloring your version if you'd like. The illustrated pages even make it a little bit like a tiny coloring book! 

Cyril Dragon on a wooden tabletop beside the printout version of his journal, which is open to a page with a black ink self portrait and the words ‘Tis I, Cyril Dragon!’

      

     Part Two: Making a Hand-Bound Book
    Overhead of Augustus Wild Boar on an ivory backdrop with his Sandwich Gifting Journal hand-bound book beside him.
    Detail photo of the hand-bound spine on Augustus’s book. The front and back cover are beige, the paper inside is ivory, and the binding thread is ivory.

    Here is what you will need to craft this book: 

    • Cardboard
    • Paper 
    • A pencil
    • A ruler
    • Scissors
    • Glue
    • An awl (or a pushpin) 
    • An embroidery needle 
    • Cord/string
    • Beeswax (optional)

    Bookbinding kits are available online and likely at your local craft store if you would like to purchase one, but it is not essential.

    Over Augustus’s shoulder, we see the him looking at the first page of his open book. It reads ‘FOR REGINALD – winter squash, garden greens, sourdough, salted butter’ and has a drawing of a squash.

    To get started, gather your materials. For the cover boards, look in your recycle bin for a piece of thin cardboard. For the pages, outer cover, and lining, you can use any paper you would like. We selected an antique-looking parchment for the pages and a similar paper in a green-brown tone for the outer cover. For the cover lining, we used some leftover scraps of decorative paper. 

    Using your ruler and pencil, measure out all the pieces as seen below. Cut out each piece with your scissors.

      Rustic wooden tabletop with book making materials on top of it. 2 beige outer paper covers which measure 3x3.5 inches each. 2 cardboard cover boards which measure  2.5x3 inches each. 5 (or more) inner paper pages which measure 3x5 inches each. 2 decorative cover lining papers which measure 2.75x2.25 inches each.

      TOP LEFT: Outer Cover, 3x3.5”, cut 2

      TOP RIGHT: Cover Board, 2.5x3", cut 2  

      BOTTOM LEFT: Pages, 3x5", cut 5 (or more)

      BOTTOM RIGHT: Cover Lining,  2.75x2.25", cut 2 

      Place one cover board on top of its outer cover paper, and trace around it. Trim each corner of the paper at an angle. Glue the cover board to the paper, wrapping the edges around as seen below. 

      Rustic wooden tabletop with mid-assembly front and back book covers.

      Repeat with the second cover. Glue the lining papers onto each piece to hide the cardboard. 

      Rustic wooden tabletop with 2 fully assembled book covers, their decorative paper linings facing up.

      When making the binding holes, it is important to keep them evenly spaced. We recommend creating a little spacer from a scrap piece of cardboard. This piece should be the same height as your book (3 inches). 

      Mark 4 holes in a line on your spacer, and use an awl or a push pin to poke through each one. 

      Rustic wooden tabletop with 1 fully assembled book cover facing lining-up, the other facing cover-up. There is also a needle tool and a cardboard spacer which measures the same height as each cardboard cover, and which has 4 evenly spaced holes poked in a vertical line down the center.

      Using your spacer as a guide, poke holes through one side of each cover. These holes should be placed slightly indented from the edge, as seen below. 

      A hand holding the needle tool and using the cardboard spacer as a guide to poke 4 even holes along the long edge of each book cover.

      Next, fold each paper page in half. Bookbinding fact: a folded page unit is called a signature. This book has 5 signatures!

      Using your spacer again, poke 4 holes through the crease of each signature. 

      A hand holding the needle tool and using the cardboard spacer as a guide to poke 4 even holes down the center crease of each folded paper page.

       Now all your book pieces are ready for binding!

      A hand holding up 5 pieces of ivory paper, each folded in half, each with 4 holes poked along the fold.

      You can technically use any string or yarn for this, but waxed cord will work the best. If you happen to have a beeswax candle, you can run the cord along the wax a few times to prepare it for stitching. If you don't have any wax, that is also ok.  

      The length of cord we used to stitch this book was about 44", including a buffer for tying knots. Here is the helpful video we watched to determine this length: How to Measure Binding Thread

      A hand holding a partially-bound journal and a needle threaded with ivory cord.

      We found that the coptic bookbinding method was far easier to learn from a video than from photos, so we will not create confusion by attempting instruction here. Instead, we will direct you to this excellent video tutorial: DIY Step-by-Step Coptic Bookbinding. 

      While we're at it, let us take this moment to appreciate all the marvelous crafting resources that the internet has to offer. Crafting stewards near and far, you have our heartfelt gratitude!

      Detail photo of the hand-bound spine on Augustus’s book. The front and back cover are beige, the paper inside is ivory, and the binding thread is ivory.

      When you have finished stitching the binding, the only step that remains is filling your book with words and pictures. Augustus Wild Boar has been spending a lot of time thinking up sandwich recipes for each of his friends, so naturally he dedicated his handmade journal to the sandwich gifting practice. 

      Finished book resting on an ivory background. The beige cover reads ‘MY SANDWICH GIFTING JOURNAL BY AUGUSTUS W.B.’ and has 4 little hand-drawn herbs.

      Augustus is planning to give each of his friends their special sandwich as a holiday gift on the longest night of the year, when the animals stay up all night long in the Lodge, drinking cocoa and singing songs. What a fine present! 

      The open journal shows the decorative green floral inside cover. The second interior page is visible, and reads ‘FOR ANNICKE – ACORN BREAD, WALNUTS (CHOPPED AND TOASTED), BLACKBERRY JAM. It has a drawing of two little acorns.

      Thank you for reading, friend! Did you make this craft at home? Send us a photo or tag us on social media @hazelvillage! For any questions, please email us at hello@hazelvillage.com. 

      Cyril Dragon and Augustus Wild Boar are limited-edition animals! Shop these friends now before they depart the Village for their next adventures elsewhere. 

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      The Animals' Holidays and Festivities

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