Collect your Wisdoms in your own one-of-a-kind Wisdom book!
Growing in Wisdom is the heart of being a fairy godmother in-the-making. Everything you do—both at the Fairy Godmother Academy and in your daily life—can bring you Wisdom if you’re really looking. As you find these treasures, honor them and keep them safe in your own beautiful handmade book. Here’s how:
Step 1. Choose a small blank book to decorate.
The perfect little book could be out there waiting for you—look around! 5 inches x 7 inches or smaller works well for Wisdoms. If you find a great book, skip down to Step 2.
Or…make your own book!
If you’d rather make your own Wisdom book, try this:
Materials:
- A stack of printer paper or sketchbook paper (try several colors!)
- 2 pieces of cardboard, mat board, foam core, paper bags or heavy art paper
- Optional: 2 large sheets of pretty art paper
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Glue stick
- Hole punch
- 3 lengths of yarn, twine, leather cord or ribbon
Make pages.
Find some pretty paper (bonus points for recycled paper!) and decide on a size. One easy way to make pages is to fold printer-size paper into quarters and then cut along the folds. Important: you’ll need an inch on the left side to bind your book. Remember that you won’t be able to write or draw in this space.
Fold and cut at least 5 pages and stack them all together. Try mixing different colors of paper, too!
20 pages makes a nice book
Mark 3 dots along one the left side of the top page:
¼ inch over and down from the top of the page
¼ inch in from the center (fold a test page in half to find the center)
¼ inch over and up from the bottom of the page
If your book is really small, it’s OK to just mark 2 holes.
Use a hole punch to make holes in the top page, and then use it as a guide for making holes in the rest of your pages.
mark and punch holes along the left side
Create a cover.
Paperback style: Use sturdy paper that’s still a little bendy. Try file folders, heavy watercolor paper or paper bags. Cut out 2 covers that are the same size as your inside pages.
cut and hole-punch 2 covers
Hardback style: This cover has a bend along the bound side that makes it easy to open your book flat. You can use heavier paper like cardboard, mat board or foam core board. Cut out 2 pieces the same size as your inside pages. Then cut a 1” strip lengthwise (vertically) from each cover. For each cover, glue the 2 pieces about ¼ inch apart onto a big piece of pretty paper or fabric that is 2 or 3 inches wider all around than the cover piece. Once the glue dries, wrap the covers with the paper/fabric just like you would wrap a present and glue it down. Then glue a different color page on the inside of each cover.
a hardback cover can bend to make it easier to write or draw.
paste in an endpage and punch holes to match the inside pages.
the finished covers
Bind your book.
Place the inside pages on the cover so it lines up the way you’d like. Use the inside pages as a guide to mark where the matching holes should be on each cover. Use a hole punch to cut out the cover holes on both covers. Put the covers on the outside of your pages, line everything up, and fasten with a binder clip. Tie your book together using yarn, twine, leather cord or fabric strips. Place a dot of glue on each knot to help it stay tied.
pull string or ribbon through each hole.
a finished book, ready to decorate.
Step 2. Design your cover
Draw, paint, or collage a beautiful cover. Don’t forget the back of the book and even the inside pages. Use these suggestions or find your own cool supplies.
- Photos
- Magazine pictures
- A special postcard
- Birdie or Kerka’s Wisdom Card
- Art paper, fabric or felt
- Leaves or flowers to trace
- Pens, pencils, paint or markers
- Glitter, stickers or stamps
- Glue (a glue stick works well)
Step 3. Add your first Wisdom!
Wisdoms guide our hearts and blossom as we grow.
You could write this Wisdom on your first page, or come up with your own – maybe it’s from a Wisdom card you like, or something meaningful you’ve learned from a friend or family member. Best of all, maybe this is the place where you start finding your own internal Wisdom—whether it comes to you as words, drawings, or even music.
Once you’re book is finished, tell Birdie about it and send her a picture!
send Birdie a message | learn more about Wisdom | see more Wisdom Cards
when i was younger i bought Birdie’s book, and Kerka’s book. i loved them both. eager to find the website, i searched it up. you cold design clothes, make virtual crafts, write, take pictures, and all sorts of things with your free membership. i miss those days. even though i just turned 14 a few days ago i still love faeries. Mother earth and creating and celebrating every scrap of wisdom that has been passed down from friends, family, and the joyous or unfortunate happenings in my life. i hope, in a few years all the 8-11 year olds still reyoice their life to the fullest. I miss how this sight used to be…
It is GREAT!
Now I get what “wisdoms” are!
cool idea.
I love making books, so this is a very good wisdom act for me!
Hey guys I kinda wish I could see fairy’s but they are all around me!! I always smell lilacs
Great idea. I think I’m gonna buy a small book and customize it! (:
This is such a great idea! I am gonna buy a little book and decorate it.
Can’t wait to start!
I love my wisdom book I think I might put some wisdom card pictures on here…..
Darn it will not let me but I have one wisdom card and it says…. My courage makes me fly
I can’t wait to make my own book!! I’m thinking of taking an old unused hardcover book and replacing the pages with new ones. I’ll definetly use some of the pages of the book to decorate my wisdom book. I think I’ll just save the leftover book pages for other crafts, or recycle them. Good luck to everyone else!!
Oh, and to Miriam, I love making books too! This will be fun!
I am making one now. It is fun and easy, but not boring. GOOD CRAFT
😉
Nabiha, are you having fun? I am.
Try using smallish pages. You can make lots by folding + cutting. I found some small colored pages I will put in.
🙂
🙂 yay but i am warning you girls if you decide to handbind your book it will take a REALLY
long time. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!
I am done. It is worth handbinding and handstringing. BEST PROGECT EVER!
Why is the site different? THere are no games or crafts or memberships or anything!
hi Daria – thanks for your question : )
the website has evolved since we first launched – there is no longer a membership required (everything is free!). We still have fun crafts and wisdom acts to explore!
Doe anyone have any good wisdoms? I suggest reading the Zenda books by John Amodeo, Ken Petti, and Cassandra Westwood. In the books, Zenda recieves musings, which are similar to wisdoms, as she has adventures and encounters troubles. I wrote all her musings in my wisdom book. I just got a journal at Michaels and redecorated the cover using a pretty picture, ribbon, some beads, and construction paper.
This book is great. I wish I was a better artist.
Wisdom book? Is that like a book of quotes? It’s a bit confusing for me. Any examples?
I get it I should try this some time, Miriam I need some advice. Should I use regular sized pieces of paper, and how many pieces of paper should I use?
Speaking of books…guess what?!
I am ordering the Holiday Set of FGA books, eeeee! We’re getting it off the computer tomorrow. But….the next time I order something from FGA…do they have like a shop or something, because buying it off the computer takes longer and is more expensive. So do they???
I have no idea, but I know that you will have a lot of fun reading those!
awesome!!! i will make one and look at my wisdom book when i am sad and agnry and stuff
and thanks nancy :)))
I tried it. Its TOTALLY hard… 🙁
Cool! I made my wisdom book with a notebook that has a deer on it.
this is a realy good idea. i love it
i made this book and it is perfect to keep your wisdom in!
I think the wisdom book look’s cool
i binded my own book cause i could not manage to do the way it states
wow and how fun
cool
i’m in the middle of my wisdom book but so far I’m really happy about it 🙂
I made a pretty thick wisdom book. It has 160 pages!
This comment is for Tally, who just posted her comment two days ago. That is wonderful! I hope you enjoy filling your book with lots of good wisdom, both your own and other people’s. I made one when I was 9 years old, and ever since then have had some kind of special book for writing in (nowadays store-bought, but the home-made ones are the best!) ever since. I wish you a lifetime of collecting and enjoying good wisdom!
Thanks M.R.!
I made the wisdom book when I was eight and I wrote some pretty funny wisdoms in the beginning!
Although at firs it was supposed to be a journal.
I wrote some letters backwards at that age!!!
You’re most welcome, Tally! Yes, we can be goofy as children (I sure was!), but even that goofiness can contain the seeds of something very special!
Leonardo da Vinci had a special handwriting where it was all backwards on purpose; it was his special code.
Cool!
Me and my friend were saying words backwards as our secret language!!!
I just finished mine. The cover is hot pink with blue ribbon and white blank pages. It may sound boring but I think it is awesome!
Totally cool! I like to read books……But i’ve never thought about making a book. I think after my Glimmer Tree wisdom act this will totally be my next!
Whew! Just finished my wisdom book. It took a long time but it was worth the wait!