Tutorial - Hinged Canvas Book

This is an easy project where you hinge two artist canvases together to create a book with inside niches.  

You’ll need two canvases the same size.  The number and size of the hinges you need depends on the size of the canvases you choose.  In this example, my canvases are 6” x 6” so I used one hinge.  You can use more hinges for esthetic purposes.

• Before you attach the hinge or hinges decorate your canvases on all sides, inside and out.  In the example, I painted, crackled, collaged, and embossed the canvases. Wait to add chunky embellishments until you have attached the hinge or hinges.
• Make sure you use screws not nails to attach the hinge as nails will not hold over time.
• Hold the two canvases together with the niches facing each other.  You can see in the example photo below there is a gap between the canvases.  The bulk of the inside canvases and any decorating you do causes a slight cap.  That’s ok, without the slight gap the canvases won’t close properly. Mark the placement of the hinge or hinges by making marks in the holes then attach the hinge or hinges.
• Now you can add chunky embellishments to the outside and to the inside niches.

Click here to download a PDF version of this tutorial.