DIY Booklet Binding Tutorial

Hey there!

Looking for a simple DIY guide on how to print and bind your custom coloring book in booklet form?  

You've come to the right place!  Below I have outlined a few simple steps on how to DIY bind a booklet! A booklet is essentially a standard 8.5" x 11" piece of paper folded in half.  One sheet of standard paper makes 4 "booklet" pages, so the number of pages in your booklet should be divisible by 4!  

For the sake of the example below, I've printed my cover page on it's own heavier card stock page (gray), and printed 8 "interior" pages on standard printer paper (2 standard sheets of paper folded in half to make 8 pages).  It's perfectly fine to use standard printer paper, but many people like a thicker stock paper for coloring.  Try 70lb or 80lb paper for the interior, and 100lb paper for the cover.  Matte is generally better than gloss, since gloss can be difficult to color on. 

When printing your booklet, you should print each page double sided, and try to print "full bleed," so that your art extends all the way to the edge of the printer.  To do that, follow these steps:

Printing Step 1

Double-click the PDF document to open it in the default program, usually Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat Pro. Open the “File” menu and click “Print” to open the Print dialog box.

Printing Step 2

Select your printer from the “Printer” drop-down menu and select “Actual size” under “Size Options.” Click the “Page Setup” button. If your printer supports borderless printing, the Margins section of the dialog box will be editable; change each margin setting to “0” and click “OK.”

Printing Step 3

Change any additional settings, such as number of copies and which pages of the PDF to print. When ready, click the “Print” button to print your PDF document without margins.

Now that you have your printed pages, let's move on to binding!

For binding you will need:

• Cover Paper

• Interior Paper (if different)

• Ribbon/Twine

• Scissors

• Hole Punch

Step 1:

Fold all your pages in half, then insert the interior pages inside the cover page! 

*You can stop at this step if you like!  But, if you prefer a sturdier bind, move on to step 2 below!

Step 2:

On the folded line, punch 2 holes!

Step 3:

Insert the ribbon through the holes. Then tie the ribbon in a bow!

 And that's it!  Easy peasy!

Custom Wedding Coloring Books

Hey there!

Two years ago, almost to the day, I married the love of my life, and learned just how hard it is to find venues, florists, caterers etc. that were going to give me more than just "cookie cutter" options.  And I don't know about you, but the idea of my wedding being the same as the next really irked me. I'm definitely not a status quo kinda gal ;-)

When I was planning my wedding, the most rewarding part was picking out a few unique details that would make our wedding day feel special and express exactly who we are. That's when I decided to put my artistic talents to the test and created a coloring book featuring pictures of me and my fiancé from our engagement shoot, vacations, as well as family and friends (pets are great too!).

We were already planning on spending a few hundred bucks on wedding favors and decided just to turn the coloring book into the wedding favor, and our guests LOVED IT!  Just think, people are used to getting glasses, luggage tags, bags of candy, bubbles . . . but a custom coloring book celebrating all your favorite moments?  That really stands out as something special.

Custom coloring books can be used for a variety of purposes, including:

Wedding Favor for Guests

Activity for Kids at the Wedding

Fun Bridal Shower Activity

Wedding Welcome Book

Relaxing Activity at the Rehearsal Dinner

Fun Addition to the Engagement Party

Wedding Welcome Book

So, I decided to start sharing the custom coloring book fun with other cool couples that were looking for a different way to express their love and honor their families on their big day. Since then I've worked with couples from all over the world and am currently featured in the Fall 2016 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings! 

Woman holding one of my custom coloring books.

If you're interested in having a custom coloring book created just for you, please email me at monica@curiouscustom.com and I can get you all setup!  It's super simple and all I really need from you are the images you would like me to draw and the desire to stand out from the crowd.

I look forward to working with you!

5 Ways to Use Custom Coloring Books

It's no surprise that businesses and brands are clamoring to get their hands on custom coloring books. It's very clear that the coloring book "trend" is here to stay and that people truly enjoy the art of coloring. 

So why no jump on the coloring bandwagon and engage with your customers, clients and prospects through the joy of coloring? 

Here are 5 ways to use custom coloring books to help your business: 

1. Promotional Products - Custom coloring books make the perfect, premium promotional product! It can be very expensive to have a product custom made for you, and often the solution comes down to slapping your logo on a water bottle, or tote bag. Boring! Why would you pay $2-$5 for a product like that when you could create a premium promotional product that is 100% hand-drawn and custom made for your company? With our custom coloring books you can choose to include as many custom pages as you like to help express your brand message, display fun characteristics of your business, and engage with your customers! Plus, when you work with me, you're also supporting a local artist!

2. They are great for schools! Think about it, kids, teenagers and even adults LOVE to color! So, why not create a custom coloring book for your alum events, graduation, open houses or prom even? You can feature as many students, faculty or facilities as you like!

3. Gifts! You could be the most popular secret santa in the office if you gave your "giftee" a custom coloring page! People LOVE personal gifts, and what's more personal that having an artist hand-draw a portrait of someone? These are also great for birthdays!

4. Bridal Showers and Weddings! If you're looking for the perfect way to add a touch of personalization to the big day, have your guests color, or better yet take home, a custom coloring book! We've created literally hundreds of coloring pages for brides and grooms, and let me tell you, they're a smash hit with guests of all ages!

5. Celebrations! Nothing brightens up a celebration like a custom hand-drawn coloring book! You can personalize a book for anyone for any occasion! We've done coloring books for weddings, Bar Mitvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, birthdays, bridal showers, and even Halloween! 

There are a million reasons to create a custom coloring book, so get started today!

A Brief History of Coloring: How the Craze Came to Be!

The adult coloring "trend" caught fire in 2015 with an estimated 12 million adult coloring books sold in the United States. There are coloring books for every niche and interest, even drag queens and hipsters! This coloring book craze even prompted a global colored pencil shortage for a short period of time in 2016!

So, what caused this incredible adult coloring book boom? 

First let's examine the interesting origins of the coloring book, which all started back in 1612 when the poem Poly-Olbion by Michael Drayton was published. The poem cameprinted with a map engraved with fantastical creatures and it became quite fashionable to color in the map yourself. These outline books and others like it became very useful for artists of the 17th Century and taught people how to paint with watercolor.

And these books were all aimed at adults. ​​

But coloring books didn't rise in popularity until the mid 1800's when lithography was invented and books with detailed illustrations become possible to mass produce. This, along with the rise in early childhood education in the early 1900's, saw the rise in popularity of coloring books among children. 

Keen to influence children and advertise their products, companies started creating branded coloring books to advertise their products in a fun new way.

Companies like the National Lead Company, which made lead paints, created a number of painting books as part of their Dutch Boy campaign in the 1920s.  Also jumping on board was the Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation with their 1965 Coloring Book.  And the Post even reported on a coloring book being created for a Doctor to use as a diagnostic tool for psychological disorders.​

And originally, watercolors were the coloring method of choice since wax crayons weren't invented until the 20th century! As the century progressed, coloring became synonymous with childhood. By the 1960's child coloring books became a major part of American life and the adult counterpart became more popular with satirical and dark versions. Similar to the books we've been seeing lately!

And for those who say adult coloring is a trend or a flash in the pan...let me refer you to a 1962 New York Times trend piece all about the trend of adult coloring! Looks like the trend is going on nearly 50 years now and being used by everyone from pre-schoolers, to advertisers and even doctors!

So if you're interested in a custom coloring book that will showcase your products, services or story, click here!

Using Crayola crayons to color at wedding.

5 Reasons Why Coloring Books Are Great For Your Mental Health

Gone are the days when coloring was considered a kids activity to keep them calm and busy. Adult coloring books have definitely grown in popularity in the recent years. Today, millions of adult coloring books have been sold worldwide leaving many puzzled about their appeal.  What's the big deal?

Coloring books are not only packed with cool designs featuring mandalas, flowers and landscapes, some coloring book book users believe the activity also has numerous mental health benefits.  

Here are 5 mental health benefits of coloring for adults:

1. Disconnect.

We spend hours staring at our phones which is not only bad for our eyesight, it can hinder our creative abilities. Getting those creative juices flowing is extremely liberating and can ease stress. Take some time to unplug and pick up a colored pencil. 

2. Noncommittal

Adult color book owners reap the benefits of therapy, without actually going. It's a quick escape from the stress of the day in a very easy, non-demanding way. How comforting!

3.No pressure

There is no "right" way to color. Everything is up to you. In this digital age image is everything and everything is altered to look "perfect". Coloring allows perfection to take a back seat for a while.

4. Family Bonding

Looking for a fun way to get the family together? Take out a coloring book. There are many coloring book groups around the world that mix and mingle monthly or weekly to showcase their recent work. Bringing that fun home could also be a great way to get the kids away from screens.

5. Just for you!

Rarely do we take time for our own self-care. We work long hours, family demands take priority, what's left for us? Coloring offers something just for you to enjoy.