This month’s technique is not only fun to do, but it’s fun to say: Danglies! Anything that hangs or dangles off the page is a danglie and it’s a fun way to add dimensional objects to a book without having to place them in between pages.
You’ve seen some in previous Altered Books 101 articles. A lot of times, I’ll simply create a “bookmark” out of some fibers and thread beads and charms onto the ends. The top of the fibers can be stuffed into the top of the book’s spine and held in place with a little tacky glue.
Another fabulous use for fibers, beads, charms and other danglies is to attach them to the spine of the book. This is demonstrated in this photo. Another artist I know, Terry Ross, covered her book spine with leather, punched holes in it and reinforced them with grommets. She then threaded fibers through the holes. Each set of fibers has an altered puzzle piece attached to it. It’s such a luxurious and lovely way to dangle items from a book!
This first project utilizes my favorite and easiest method of making danglies – just use the beaded trim you can find at any fabric store! I attached it to the tops and bottoms of the page spread. As a bonus, I threaded fibers through a flap on the page and left the excess hanging in order to attach beads and charms.
And your danglies don’t have to stay outside the book! You can dangle less bulky elements within your pages as well. The next project entails hanging handmade wire embellishments from a tab cut from a stack of pages. Use jump rings to attach the embellishments and allow them to swing more freely.
Board books offer a good opportunity for danglies. Here, I used a tiny eye screw to attach copper rings and tiny cowbells to the bottom of the book’s front cover. What fun!
In the final project, a simple ribbon lain across the page spread and hanging off the sides of the pages creates a great place to add some dangling poetry word beads.
And don’t stop there! Dangle short fibers from the sides of pages. Use a hole punch on the page and hang charms inside that hole. Beads, charms, tags, shrink plastic, found items, dominoes and more can all be fun to dangle from your pages.
