How to Turn a Magazine into an Altered Book

Altered books are a mixed-media art form that uses ordinary publications to create incredible art. Instead of using a full-sized book, you can use a magazine which is inexpensive and generally disposable. You can give the magazine new life by seriously altering it to fit your artistic needs. Follow this guide or ideas on how to turn an old magazine into an extraordinary piece of art. There is no one way to create an altered book because so much of it depends on how you want it to look, but here is a general outline of the process.

Things You'll Need

• Magazine
• Paint
• Text
• Pictures
• Art
• Scissors
• Glue, tape
• Decorative additions

Instructions

1. Select a magazine that you do not mind altering.

2. Separate the pages of your magazine with sheets of wax paper.

3. Recover the pages inside your magazine. You can do this by painting the pages or recovering with glued-down paper.

4. Determine the content for your page. This is the heart of your project. At this point you will need to know if you plan to handwrite or type out content, add pictures, create original art for the pages.

5. Going one page at a time, add your content. Here you add your text, pictures, original art, or anything else.

6. Get creative with decorative touches. Altered books are similar to scrapbooks in that you have to add your own touch to each and every page. Add pieces of lace, buttons, painted designed, beads—anything to give your pages artistic flair.

Tips & Warnings

• Don’t be afraid to cut your magazine apart. The more innovative your pages look, the more interesting the result will be.

• Art is generally an organic process, but it doesn’t hurt to make a mock up of the book you want to create so you have some direction on what you want to do with your magazine.