PROJECT: Honey, I Shrunk the...

I made something a little bit ridiculous.

Just a teensy weensy bit!

As so many things in life do, this tiny tale began on Instagram when I discovered The Ultra Tiny Little Free Library. It is one of several front yard art-sharing projects by the creator of PDX Dinorama, which can be found near SE 78th & SE Morrison. There's actually a whole coalition of creators and curators in Portland who put up little repositories in their front yards where people can swap themed objects or books, and they've even got a guide to find all of them through the PDX Sidewalk Joy Map. What I appreciate most about Ms. Dinorama's endeavor here is that she not only recognized the very real need for a Free Library catering specifically to small books but, having executed her vision with The Teeny Tiny Little Free Library, she wasn't satisfied with the Brobdingnagian-scale of those pocket-sized mammoths, so she went and made the even tinier Ultra Tiny Little Free Library specifically for dollhouse-sized books.

I both respect and understand this pursuit of tininess.

Obviously, my first thought upon discovering this as a suggested post in my feed was "Fuck, I need to make a tiny book for that tiny library!!!" A quick Google led me to Miniature Dollhouse Notebook DIY Tutorial & Free Printable and from there I took it to Photoshop.

My printer is broken so I had a friend print this out for me. I biked over to their house and, without even pretending to perform the niceties of maintaining a friendship, I snatched this precious printout from their hands and sandwiched it between the pages of my sketchbook, zipped it up in my backpack, and then biked home again. No time for chitchat! I was on a mission. I needed to get this print home so I could get cracking on.....THIS:

If you are thinking to yourself "Erika, did you painstakingly recreate your own book because you were drawn to the novelty of seeing your work in miniature OR because you already have the files for the original so it'd be easy to shrinkerize them in Photoshop OR you're just a giant asshole who thought she could opportunistically use this as a free way to promote her publication so maybe a passerby would be curious enough to look up the full-size version and maybe, perhaps, borrow it from their library or even- dare you hope?- purchase a copy, thus contributing to what may someday be your first royalty payment (if the title ever sells well enough to generate royalties, that is)?", then the answer is: yes.

Now, what I was not expecting was to be caught (tiny) red-handed by Ms. Dinorama, herself! I had intended to deposit my book and bike off, but she was lovely and insisted that she'd made this as a book exchange spot so I really had to take a tiny book with me.

Using tweezers, I carefully extracted Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan and now it is sitting on my full size bookshelf.

All in all, I give this experience a tiny A+ and fully encourage Portlanders to check out PDX Diorama's various sidewalk art projects near SE 78th & SE Morrison and for the rest of you to make your own teeny tiny book. Ooh! Or better yet! Patrons of Portland, make your own tiny book and trade it for mine at The Ultra Tiny Free Library! Do that!!!!