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Stumbling across Nik the Booksmith on YouTube has led me down the rabbit hole of making books with hidden compartments and secret pockets. Her 12-part video series “From Discarded to Regarded – Let’s Make a Lapbook” was a binge-worthy class from beginning to end.

I made a “Harry Potter” inspired book that includes pop-ups saved from a discarded and mostly broken version of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone… a Deluxe Pop-Up Book” (by J.K. Rowling, Illustrations by Jill Daniels, Paper Engineering by Roger Smith). My book also features 2 signatures, many pockets and loads of ephemera.

If you are looking for a really cool project to use up that paper and cardboard you’ve been hoarding, give Nik the Booksmith and her fabulous lapbooks a try.

Many of the vintage inspired pages are by Tim Holtz
Special thanks to Vintaj for the fabulous owl charm on the cover
Owl image from “Owl Babies” by Martin Waddell, Illustrated by Patrick Benson