• There are several options for binding books.albums photo image by Mermozine from Fotolia.com
  
  Numerous options are available for binding a wide variety of books; some use materials you may already have in your craft supply arsenal or that you can obtain inexpensively. The “About Bookbinding” website contains a wealth of information about book binding. In addition to detailed instructions for at-home book binding, it has links to other book binding websites, as well as information about the physical components of books and famous book binders from history.
  
  

Staple Binding

• One of the easiest ways to bind a book is to simply staple it. Make sure the stapler and staples used are heavy and large enough to go through all of the pages you are binding. Place three to five or more staples as close to the left edge of your book as possible in an even line.
  
  

Tied Binding

• Another simple way to bind papers into a book is to tie them with yarn, embroidery thread or other medium-weight string. With a hole puncher, punch five holes approximately 1/4 inch in from and evenly spaced along the left edge of the book with the cover in place. Use string approximately twice the length of the left side of your book plus 4 inches, and thread it from the front through the top hole to the back of the book. Thread it back up through the next hole, down through the middle hole and repeat until you’ve passed it through the bottom hole. Looping the string around the bottom of the book, thread it from the front of the book through the bottom hole to the back, then weave it back up as before. When you are done, you should have a couple of inches of string at the top of your book, both passed through the top hole, one sticking out the back and one sticking out the front. Tie these over the top of the book in a tight loop (but not so tight you tear the paper).
  
  

Sewn Binding

• Use a small hole punch to punch holes in an even line down the left side of the book 1/8 to 1/4 inch in from the left edge and 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart. Use a needle with embroidery floss or doubled regular thread to sew through the holes with whatever stitch you like to hold the pages securely. You can sew the book with the cover already on or just sew the middle pages, and then glue a slightly larger and heavier piece of paper to the spine to hide your stitches.
  
  

Perfect Binding

• Stack the inner sheets of your book in the proper order; hold them tightly with the left side facing up. Place craft sticks on each side of the book near to the left (now top) edge and secure with binder clips large enough to leave a space between the back of the binder clip and the edge of the book’s inner pages. Apply a thin layer of glue to the edge of the book pages you can reach. Attach two craft sticks and a binder clip as you did previously on either side of the middle (part of the craft stick can protrude beyond the edge of the book). Remove the middle craft sticks and clip; apply glue to the edge of the book pages you were unable to reach before. Reapply the middle craft sticks and binder clip. Once the glue dries, remove the craft sticks and binder clips. Cover with a slightly larger and heavier piece of paper by applying more glue to the spine, folding the cover around the inner pages and then securing with craft sticks and binder clips until dry.