A UHU Glue Board Book

For the month of August, UHU Glue is featuring the The Original UHU Glue Stic. It is acid free and non-toxic, so it's safe for crafters with small children. If you like this project and want to try it, be sure to check out the UHU website and find out how you can receive your very own stick of UHU glue. And come back later this month for a giveaway on this blog to see how you can win a basket of UHU glue products valued at around $30.00!

As a design team member, I was asked to create a project using the UHU Original Glue Stic. Now glue sticks and I have never gotten along that well, since I have trouble keeping things attached. But I have found that UHU makes the best glue stick around and I have found a way to keep things I glue from coming apart. So, with that in mind, I created this board book for a dear friend's birthday. I hope you will try one, too.

Materials you will need for this project:


A board book
UHU Original Glue Stic
UHU Twist & Glue
UHU Tac
Craft knife or X-acto
Self-healing mat
Metal ruler with cork backing
Sanding block
Tack cloth (found in home improvement stores) or a lint-free rag
Gesso (optional)
Fabric backed with Wonder Under (optional)
Sewing machine (optional)
Iron (optional)
Craft sheet
Pressing cloth
Various ephemera, including magazine images
Various embellishments
Various charms
Various beads
Various rubber stamps
Staz-on solvent based ink
Various hand painted or scrapbook papers
Krylon Gold Leafing pen
Clear sealer (optional)


To get started, if the board book had a lot of pages like this one, glue two pages together using Twist & Glue. Dry flat at least 24 hours with something heavy on top of the board book.

Now that the pages are dry, use a sanding block to remove the shiny coating indicative of the board book.


Be sure to sand everywhere you want to glue something, since even UHU needs tooth to stick.

Using a tack cloth or a lint-free rag, wipe each page to remove the sanding dust.

This was my first board book, so I wanted to be sure the papers adhered properly. So I gessoed the front and back inside covers, then realized I really didn't have to do that since I had sanded well. However, if you don't have a sanding block (or sandpaper), you can gesso the pages. You don't have to do both, though.

Get your paper ready and begin covering the inside front cover using UHU Glue Stic.

You'll know if you missed a spot because the glue comes out purple, but dries clear.

Once you have good coverage,

adhere the front inside cover. I used black card stock. Now, to be sure I have good adhesion, I turn the glue stick over and use it like a brayer. It works wonderfully and I don't have to use an added tool. If you have the grip, you can always press it with your hands, but I have trouble with that, so have found the glue stick does the trick.

Add your remaining backgrounds using UHU glue stic. Trim the excess and press flat to allow the glue to dry. Although stick glue dries fairly quickly, I still allowed the pages to sit overnight to make sure they were completely dry.

TIP: Don't use dimensional paper or paper with texture (as I did) or your book will not close properly. Board books, unlike altered books need to close, so your choice of embellishments are limited to 2-D items.

Adhere a head from a magazine to the top part of the inside front cover using UHU Glue Stic.

For now, your front inside cover is complete. Find a similarly sized image or rubber stamp and repeat the process for the back inside cover.

Place some UHU Tac on your ruler. Even though this one has cork, the UHU Tac will keep the ruler from slipping.

Measure the head of the image on the inside cover, then measure that distance on the opposing page.

It is best to measure at both ends of the page, so your cut is parallel to the width of the book.

Cut the page width-wise. This won't be quick or easy, so that is why my friend Dana came by to help. You will need to make several passes on each page. It didn't help that I had glued two pages together, either.

Keep cutting. You will eventually get through the page.

Yes, she made many cuts across the page until she finally had it cut.

Cut the top away from the spine, being extra careful to not cut into the spine. Repeat for all the pages. You have now completed the most difficult part of the book and are ready to decorate to your heart's content.

For the left side, I added a skirt and bow images from Paper Whimsey. For the right side, I glued a magazine image dress and shoes over a background of turpentine paper. All images in the book, including the backgrounds were attached using UHU Glue Stic, unless noted. All page edges were decorated with a Krylon Gold Leafing pen.

When I attached the rosin paper painted background to these two pages, I had made it very dimensional. The book wouldn't close, so I had to take sandpaper and sand down as much of the dimension as I could before proceeding. I don't think I ever heard or read before that you needed to keep everything flat. If you click on the image, you'll see all the dimension on the page that I was unable to sand flat.

On the left is a magazine image and some punched hands made from rubbing alcohol and solvent ink papers. The right side boasts a tiny bingo card, a magazine image (shoe and foot) and a tiny hand charm. This (the right side) is one of my favorite pages. Note how well the magazine images adhere to the background without warping. This is due to the UHU Glue Stic being a dry glue that is compatible with these glossy slick magazine images.

The left background is from a magazine and the images are from Paper Whimsey, except for the star, which I cut from a magazine. The right background is some of my bubble background paper, over which I stamped a fish image (from River City Rubber) and two keys (from Stampin' Up). My friend who received the book said both these spreads were two of her favorites.

I simply scribbled Kryon Gold Leafing pen over the left page, purposely leaving some of the background to show through. If you click to enlarge, you will see the subtle colors on the page. To decorate it, I used a tiny playing card and hands and feet from a Paper Whimsey sheet.

For the right side, I used some of my rubbing alcohol and solvent ink background paper, over which I glued some old transportation tickets, a portion of a plastic wrist band, and two tiny circle tags. I liked how each of the pieces were either circles or had circles in them.

The background for these two pages was more of my hand painted rosin paper, but this time I made sure there was no added texture. The left side was a rubber stamped image I received in a swap, that I colored to sort of match the background. For the right image, I used a white Goodwill tag that I painted for the body, then various tags I cut from Sizzix dies. They are held together with black dimensional paint because brads were too thick for the book.

The background for the left side was shaving cream paper on a book page. The image was from a magazine (possibly Elle) and the "gloves" are actually a funky stamp that is unmounted, so I have no idea where it's from. The right side sports more of my soap bubble paper, and another dress from the same magazine. I draped sheer ribbon under the dress (and yes, I attached the ribbon using UHU Glue Stic), then layered the dominoes and punched hands (this time from sandpaper). The person who received this book loves pink, so I tried to use it a lot, even though it's not a favorite color of mine.

Speaking of pink, these pages were the other two of the recipient's favorites. I think it was mainly due to the fact the bulk of the spreads were pink. It's really hard to see the woman's image on the scanner. She was stamped in gold,then embossed, and doesn't show up like the man's face does. Rubber stamps with a Hawaii flare grace the alcohol and solvent ink background on the left, while the die cut images were cut from the same background. Silk flowers and punched hands complete the spread. The "call" was made using Elmers glue that I spread on a faux credit card with an 800 number. When dry, I peeled it off the plastic card, rubbed some color onto it, and adhered it using Twist & Glue. It's the only thing I didn't try to attach using UHU Glue Stic.


When all the art dolls were created, I took the book outside and sprayed it using a clear sealer.


Although this is an optional step, I feel it is important if you want to preserve the piece. Spread the piece in an upright position and allow to dry.

It's now time to create the cover of your book. Assemble decorative papers or book pages in a pleasing manner and, using UHU Glue Stic, tack them to the Wonder Under backed fabric before sewing. The glue will hold the papers in place while you are sewing and the papers won't get any holes in them from unwanted straight pins. I used some of my hand dyed fabric, but you can use any fabric you have on hand. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can glue the papers to the fabric and use an ink pen to simulate stitches.

Don't place any 3-D items on your fabric at this time. Also, don't use any product such as hot glue or embossing powder prior to ironing the fabric in place, since the iron will melt them.

It is now time to adhere your cover to your book. Using a craft sheet to protect your work surface, drape the fabric around the book, place a pressing cloth on top of the fabric, and iron the fabric to the book cover.

Once the fabric has cooled, trim any excess away. Decorate using embellishments, charms, and beads of your choice.

I used various materials on the cover, including an eye glass blank, a feather that I sewed in place prior to ironing the cover in place, a die cut, charms, beads, buttons, a rubber stamp, a puzzle piece, and a Paper Whimsey image.

I outlined the fabric and the eyeglass using a Krylon Gold Leafing pen. I used more paper in the spine area to reinforce it due to the fact that I was worried that it might not hold up well from the cutting of the page tops.

Note the "June" is not only a month, but my friend and recipient's middle name.

I hope you will try one of these books. I'm sure many of you have used a board book before, but this is my first ever and I learned a lot while making this belated birthday gift for a dear friend.