Here’s a fun book craft: make book bricks to decorate your little library or garden for free! butler julie b. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, he is a calligrapher and artist. he started the little shelly drive free library #38509 several years ago as a joint venture with his neighbors. (He finds his library and many more on our world map!)
julie enjoys adding artistic touches to her small library and recently saw photos of books painted like bricks. she set out to recreate them and wrote a step-by-step tutorial showing how you can do it too.
You are reading: How to make brick books
Step 1: Start with clean, completely dry bricks. if your bricks are used, rub them with vinegar and water to clean them. if there are stubborn mineral deposits, try using a wire wheel disk attached to a drill to remove them.
Step 2: If your bricks will be laid outdoors, you must use exterior paint products. for interior use (eg bookends), interior or exterior paint is fine.
See Also: 50 Classic Children&039s Picture Books
Bricks should be primed and painted with spray paint or standard brush paint, such as exterior house paint. julie used a few coats of rustoleum all-in-one paint/primer in white with a satin finish. she doesn’t recommend using a gloss finish, as the artwork’s layer could slip and be more difficult to cover. white works well as it is the color of the pages and a good base for the other colors.
Step 3: You need to resize and scale the book covers to fit the tall, narrow bricks. there are a few ways to do this. You can find an image of each book cover you plan to recreate, either from the internet or from your own photos of your favorite books. you could then resize each book cover image using graphic design software and print the resized images.
Another option is to photocopy an actual book cover (resizing as needed) and use the photocopy as a guide. Or, you could draw the cover freehand! you’ll quickly see that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be recognizable.
Step 4: Now that you have a resized book cover as a guide, trace the design onto the brick! use carbon tracing paper sold at art supply stores. the brick is textured so the tracing is just a hint of where the elements go. you may prefer to draw in pencil.
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step 5: paint the design you just drew on the brick! julie used 2 oz. bottles of outdoor acrylic craft paint, available at craft stores. You can quickly cover large areas using a “wash” of one color that is slightly diluted with water. other areas will need the full strength paint to cover well. If you’re not happy with an item you’ve just painted, remove it immediately with a cotton swab or let it dry and paint over it.
julie did a very quick design on the sides of the brick. one long edge became the spine and he painted the other sides to look like pages. let your design dry for several hours before moving on to the next step.
step 6: julie kept the painting process fast and didn’t worry about being too detailed. For lettering or fine details, she recommends oil-based Sharpie pens in extra fine and fine sizes. let the paint pen dry for several hours to cure.
Step 7: For the last step, Julie applied several light coats of Rustoleum Clear Seal in a matte finish to protect the acrylic paint designs. he be careful not to apply a thick coat of sealer, which could drip and cause the paint pen to blur.
Looking for more ideas for free library activities? julie also wrote a tutorial on how to create a sandwich sign for your little library!
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