Tiny 'Real' Book
If you like desktop publishing, computer crafts or scrapbooking, you'll have fun making this ornament. I belong to a group of women who've been meeting for bible study for over 10 years. This year I decided to make a book with each of their photos, and the history of the group, which another member wrote. This little book is 1.75" X 1.5", so I shrank the text to 5 pt. The photos are 1" tall. You can make your book any size you want. I just happen to like miniatures.
I started by creating each page with a photo and a little text and a small clip art or tiny photo of a Christmas object to put next to the photo using photo software. I also put in page numbers. What makes the ornament really look like a little book is that each page is printed on both sides. To do this, I off-set 8 pages with a wider margin on the left, then the other 8 pages with the wider margin on the right, numbering pages 1, 3, 5, and so on, on one page, and even numbers to go on the back. You have to leave some blank space where the pages go into the binding so the reader can see the whole page. I put a pale gray line around all 4 sides of each page so I could match up the fronts with the backs. This took a lot of fiddling, and I printed it in fast mode to save on ink. Each printing, I would hold the page up to the light to see if the lines were matched up. When they finally looked right, I printed in 'normal', not 'best' because the extra ink tried to ghost through. I used regular copy paper, and the same paper for the covers.
After I collated all the pages, I sewed them together down the binding edge on my sewing machine, but you could glue them, too. The stitching actually holds everything together without the bulk of glue, so I prefer it. Then, I cut some thin strips of holographic paper (red or green are fine, too) to cover the binding. I glued it on (with Elmer's school glue gel) and included a folded length of embroidery floss for a hanger/'bookmark'. Last, I added a little jewel to the front cover for more sparkle. Be sure to add your 'byline', and the year. Add the "ISBN" number, copyright dates, table of contents, if desired.