Tag: Book Arts

Old Book Blossoms into New Vase

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This week’s Once A Book project comes from the blog Atypical Type A by Alicia Parsons.

When Ms. Parsons was planning her literary themed wedding, she turned old books into these unique vases for decoration.  There’s so much I love about that whole idea, starting with the literary themed wedding. Fabulous!

Her tutorial, Make a vintage book vase, is easy to follow, requires only basic craft supplies, and makes a vase that is lovely to look at, but it is just for looks.  To make a vase that holds water and a stem or two, use a book with a spine wide enough to wrap around a small test tube or florist water tube.  Insert the tube before adhering the end pages in step 6.

As always, with Once A Book projects, if you try it, send a picture and I’ll post it here.

Resources: Once A Book, Atypical Type A, The Daily Post.


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Little Golden Books go Haute Couture

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Once upon a time a popular series called Little Golden Books was published and it forever changed the way we look at children’s literature.

Many years later, a young prince came to town and forever changed the way we look at  Little Golden Books.

You see the prince was not really a prince, he was a talented and creative artist named Ryan Novelline, (perfect name for a book artist).  He saw the treasure in those Little Golden Books and began collecting discarded copies. When he gathered enough, he took the illustrations, the foil spines, and some golden thread and spun them into this magnificent gown.

The 22,000 square inch skirt is made almost entirely of illustrations and the gold foil spines make up the bodice.

Here is a closer look:

I am in awe every time I see this creation.  It’s original, beautiful, brilliant, and inspiring.  It’s also not the typical Once a Book DIY project I feature here on Saturdays.  Those projects can usually be done in an afternoon with the craft supplies you have at home.  This one is a lot more involved, but if you’re very interested in DIYing it, Mr. Novelline’s website includes a pictorial outline of his process, along with more photos of this incredible gown.

Now, if I could get one in my size, I’d definitely live happily ever after.

Resources: Ryan Novelline, Once a Book, The Daily Post.

Once A Book, Now an Easter Wreath

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Easter is less than a month away, so it’s the perfect time to share this Once a Book project for a Book Page Egg Wreath.

The easy to follow tutorial from lemon tree creations uses plastic Easter eggs, old book pages, Mod Podge (or any découpage glue), a Styrofoam wreath form, glue gun, and a few other basic craft supplies.

The end result is an elegant Easter decoration that you’ll want to leave hanging long after the jelly beans and Peeps are gone.

The full tutorial can be found at the Framed Book Page Egg Wreath.

Resources: Once A Book, lemon tree creations, The Daily Post.

Finally, A Use for All Those Phone Books

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How many phone books do you get a year?

How many do you use?

When we moved into this house there were eight gigantic phone books and four small ones sitting on a closet shelf.  The shelf was sagging under the weight.  Two days after our phone service was turned on, another two or three books were delivered.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t used a phone book in years.  Everything’s online!  Maybe it’s time for those businesses trying to make a buck with their version of the Yellow Pages to rethink their business model.  Enough with the dead trees already.

On the positive side, phone books don’t have to be a complete waste.  Like any other book, they can be modified into something useful and fun.  This week’s Once A Book project turns an old phone book into a pen and pencil holder.

Chica at the ChicaAndJo.com, posted this tutorial on how to Recycle a phone book into a pen organizer. The tutorial has photos to help with the process, and although there are a lot of steps, it seems straight forward.  It’s a great way to do something useful with these dinosaurs, but if you’re feeling more ambitious (and have a lot of phone books), here’s an option.

Joking aside, the phone books are not just a nuisance in the closet.  They use too many resources: paper, ink, gas for delivery, for something that most people toss directly into recycling, or worse, the trash.  To stop delivery, visit Yellow Pages Go Green.

Resources: Once A Book, ChicaAndJo.com, Yellow Pages Go Green, The Daily Post.

Old Pages Turn to Book Beads

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Most of the Once A Book projects I’ve posted so far involve removing some or all of the inside pages of an old book.  I know that is tantamount to heresy for some, but maybe I can redeem myself a little bit with today’s project.

Book beads from the smallest forest takes recycling a step further by putting those sad old pages back into circulation.  They’re called “book beads” because the process is the same as the binding process used to make children’s board books.  You don’t have to use book pages, though.  Any type of paper will work, but book pages are especially fitting because the “pages” flip, like a tiny round book.

The beautifully photographed step by step tutorial can be found by clicking quick tutorial : : book beads.  Don’t bother looking for the written instructions, it’s such an easy process, the photos tell the whole story.

As always, if you decide to make this project, send pictures and I’ll post them here.

Resources: the smallest forest, Once A Book, The Daily Post