How To Make A Concertina Book or Accordion Style Book

I've been commissioned or had to make quite a few Concertina Books (also known as Accordion Style Books) lately and thought it was about time I shared with others how easy and effective these books can be made. Their uses are wide and varied and are a useful addition to your crafting repertoire.

So here goes.......

Firstly create your art on a long, thin strip of paper

Then fold the strip in half and then each half in half again.

You will need a minimum of 4 pages...ie - In half and half again.

This book is actually 8 pages, but you can make it as long as you want with as many equal pages as you want, as long as the number is an EVEN one.

Face on, your concertina will look like this

Fold the concertina and measure the size of the pages. You will then need to cut 2 pieces of card (cereal box or similar is good) and make the boards 1cm higher and 1cm wider than the folded book.

Then you need to cut your cover paper

about 1.5cm larger all round and a long piece of ribbon.

Stick the card to the cover paper and then cut the corners at a 45 degree angle, then glue each long edge to the board first

and then the glue the short edges.

Fold the length of ribbon in half and glue it to the middle of one of your boards (this is the BACK)

You can decorate the front board either now or later....

Then glue the last page of the concertina book to the back cover leaving a 0.5cm border all round and press heavily.

Then glue the top cover onto the front page lining up

with the back cover underneath.
And there you have it.....far simpler than the instructions seem

Here are 2 Astrology Concertinas made as Baby Birth Celebrations....


And a Birthday Concertina

If you have any questions or are not sure about something please leave a comment and I'll answer ASAP.

Hand Made Wedding Card - Concertina Wedding Card Gift Idea

This is a simple Wedding Card for Nathan and Alexis. The brief was Sage Greens and Silver.

Left Side ease Click To Enlarge
Right Side Detail: Click To Enlarge

Of all the jobs I get at the studio, concertina or accordian style card/Books are the most common. Possibly becasue of their novel construction. The long thin horizontal construction make for an interesting layout.