After oohing and aahing over Isaac Salazar’s book sculptures earlier this week, I started thinking about the various things I’ve done with old books, besides read, collect, and generally adore them.
Mostly, I’ve used old books to make new ones, like the journals above, made from miniature Shakespeare collections. The books were in bad shape when I got them. The bindings were broken and most of the pages had fallen out, so I was happy to bring them back to life. I used the few pages that were left to make the papier-mâché bowl. One Christmas, when I was feeling creative and Hon was feeling industrious, we made this fireplace for the bookstore I was managing. The fireplace was even featured in the New Yorker’s Book Bench blog (she said proudly).
With a little ingenuity, there are hundreds of things that can be made (re)using books. This purse by curbly.com is an example, and I’ll be featuring more in future posts tagged “Once a Book.” If you’ve done any book re-use projects, I’d love to hear about them.
As a book lover, I want need one of these purses, but I can’t even sew a button, so it’s not likely I’ll be making one soon.
For those of you who can sew, here’s the tutorial from curbly.
Resources: curbly.com, The Daily Post.
Away with Words 
Oliva, I LOVE the bowl! And the books you make from old books I can personally testify are wonderful treasures to own. Thanks so much for sharing this fun side of yourself.
Cute site! Love the Book turned into handbag tutorial!
I love Isaac Salazar’s stuff book art as well. I have posted some of it on my tumblr. For myself, I cannot bring myself to change a book. I can appreciate the innovations that you have posted as examples here. Great post Olivia. 🙂
I love the fireplace! That is very cozy looking indeed. I had a friend who cut a square out of the pages of The Poisonwood Bible and hid his cigarettes inside the book, but I don’t think that’s what you mean by re-using a book. For my own arts and crafts, I use quotes from books that I love and print old movie posters or pictures of writers and decoupage those onto journal covers. I have a favorite one with everything from Langston Hughes to Kurt Vonnegut on it. And I’ve made journals like that for my family as gifts too. Fun ideas!
good god, I love the post! very interesting!
OH I love love love the bowl. Now I can’t wait for it to be nice out so I can make one for myself.
[I tend to set myself on fire if I try to craft indoors…]
I have a whole upstairs worth of books I really can’t bear to part with, but don’t really need either. I’ve thought about selling some of them, but the prices I’d get are no where near what I paid. So they just sit there, gathering dust and cobwebs. Every once in awhile I go upstairs looking for something I never find and end up sitting down flipping through pages of herb books or Hemingway or something or another on raw foods or homesteading. I just LOVE books. Are there really ANY bad books out there?
So so so so kewl.
Oh wow, those look great!!! Especially the bowl, love it 🙂
Thanks for the ideas, I’ll have to see about finding myself a few used books to craft from (my books are still in great condition, so I won’t be ruining those :P)