Recycled Books Crafts

The creatively inclined recycle attractive book covers, thick spines and inked pages into new and useful projects.

Although a bibliophile might protest, a crafty person with too many unloved books on the shelves can cut, carve, stack and glue those tomes into useful and attractive projects. Different pieces take advantage of a pretty cover, a thick spine, inked pages or sheer multitude of volumes.

Container

Using a thick hardback, open the cover and carve through pages in the shape of a rectangle, leaving a margin on all four sides. Use adhesive spray to secure the intact page margins and back cover into a solid form. The result is a box to hide valuables, contain an MP3 player or remote or hold a gift. Lay the "book" on a coffee table or slide it discreetly between other books on a shelf.

To make a plant pot, take a very thick book, spray adhesive to secure it closed, and carve a rectangle all the way through both covers and pages. Attach a tight-knit screen to the opening on the back cover and fill the rectangular "pot" with soil and a pretty plant.

Furniture

Pierce a stack of books with a metal rod to create a thick furniture leg or lamp base. In significant numbers, secured stacks of books become bricks for a half-wall or column. Alternatively, set books on end, lining up the spines, one on top of another, and secure the spines to a rod. Open the books until the covers are flush and pages fan out. Secure the covers together. The result is a cylinder of fanned pages that you can leave intact or trim decoratively to form a lamp base or shade, furniture leg or column.

Wall Hanging

Use a closed beloved or attractive hardcover book as a clock face by attaching a clock mechanism and numbers. To turn a book into a shelf, secure the cover closed and, using L-shaped supports, attach the book, face up and spine out, to a wall. Or carve a rectangle out of the front cover and pages to turn it into a picture frame.

Sculpture

Talented sculptors turn books into works of art, using the inked words and thickness of pages for texture and shading. Spray adhesive to secure the book closed and carve a bas relief image into the cover, or treat the secured book or stack of books as a solid block of uniquely textured wood to carve into any shape.

Accessory

Cut pages from a picture book into strips and roll them into jewelry beads or glue them flat over plastic bangles. To make a purse, remove the pages from a thick book. The spine will serve as the bottom of the purse. Attach two pieces of coordinating sturdy cloth, one loosely securing the top of the front and back covers together, and the other loosely connecting the bottom of the front and back covers. The remaining open side becomes the top of the purse, which you can close with a flap of cloth or a large button and loop. Attach a handle or straps.

Alternate Cover

Replace book pages with a blank notebook to create a pretty journal. To add an old-fashioned cover to a modern electronic book reader, open a hardback book, secure the pages and back cover together with spray adhesive, and carve an e-reader-sized rectangle into the pages. Insert the device. To turn a book into an expandable file, tip the book on its spine and divide and remove pages to create customized "sections." Use cloth or sturdy paper to secure the tops of intact pages together and bottoms of intact pages together at appropriate intervals.

References

• Book Reviews & the Written Word: 9 Ways to Turn Old Musty Books into Something Cool; Derwood Hunsdale-Talbot; December 2009
• Tea for Joy: Top Ten Things to Do with old Books; January 2009
• Offbeat Earth: Don't Like Reading? Read On...
• Planet Green: Five Ingenious Things to Do with Discarded Books; October 2010
• Strawberry Earth: Bookcycling: 10 Things to Do with Old Books