Binding children's drawings with Japanese binding

Once your JAMU picture frame reaches its capacity of more than 100 pictures, there's a wonderful way to preserve your children's artwork: Japanese binding. In this blog post, we'll show you how to easily bind your child's drawings into a book using this traditional technique—a creative and practical solution when your frame is full.

The JAMU picture frame is perfect for stylishly storing and displaying children's drawings. But what happens when the frame fills up after more than 100 drawings? Of course, you could simply buy another JAMU frame, but there's an equally creative and sustainable alternative: Japanese binding. Using this simple technique, you can bind your child's best drawings into a book, creating a lasting memory.

What is the Japanese binding?

Japanese binding is a traditional method of binding sheets of paper into a book. It's ideal for organizing loose paper, such as children's drawings, and transforming them into a handmade art book. This technique is simple yet effective, and you only need a few materials to create your own.

How to bind children's drawings with Japanese binding

Once the JAMU frame is full, you can compile the drawings into a book at the end of the year. Here's how:

Sort drawings: It is best to organize the children's drawings that you want to bind chronologically so that you have a nice overview of the year.

Prepare materials

For the Japanese binding you need:

• Hole punch tool or hole punch
• Thread (e.g. cotton or leather thread)
• needle
• Cardboard or thick paper for the cover
• Ruler and pencil for measuring the holes

Drill holes : Use a hole punch or hole punch tool to drill holes along the edges of the drawings (1.5cm apart). The number of holes can vary, but 5 to 7 holes are ideal for a strong binding.

Threading: The following image shows how the binding principle works. In the example, only three holes are shown to make it easier to see, but the principle remains the same regardless of how many holes you use. Start in the middle of the pages and thread the thread through the first hole (number 1). Continue threading the thread through all the holes as shown until the book is bound.

Tie the ends: Finally, tie the two ends of the thread together inside the book and trim any excess threads. Your memory book is now finished!

Design the cover: Finally, you can design a custom cover for your hardcover book. Use thick cardstock or colored paper and decorate it with your child's name and the year the artwork was collected.