Julie Eakin is a Detroit native who, last year, signed up her three-year-old  pup to walk in the dog parade that wags through her mom's small Michigan town. When the local library heard, they quickly reserved Eakin's dog to represent them in the procession. To properly embody the reading center, Eakin, who trained as an architect, made her dog Finn an Elizabethan collar out of old books. "The collar is one item in a series of artifacts I'm making called Bookish," Eakin told ReadyMade. "It's based on a Rembrandt portrait called 'The Scholar.' I call it the Scholar Collar."

 
The library donated old paperbacks for the project, which Eakin used to experiment until she discovered the perfect use for them. "I have always loved origami, but have only ever made the ubiquitous paper crane," she continued. Eakin pleated each page, stapling and sewing them to retain their shape. She then stitched them together into a tight ring with yarn---leaving a gap so she can tie the collar around Finn's neck. A stiff paper backing glued to the ring keeps the pages aligned.
 
 
For the final version Eakin used a self-help book from the 70s called, I'm Okay, You're Okay. "The paper had weathered to the ideal stiffness without being so brittle it would break," she revealed. "I liked that it matched Finn's fur, too." While the library was a bit perplexed when they saw Finn, "They usually have a golf-cart-with-streamers sort of aesthetic, so it was a big change of pace and a lot more subtle," there was one fan in the crowd that made it all worth it -- Chef Mario Batali, who has a home in the same town.  "He was taking pictures with an amused expression as we passed." He was probably wondering where Finn's Crocs were!
 
Thanks so much for sharing Julie! If you have a DIY pet project you'd like to share email me!

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