Save The Books! DIY a Fake Book Box

I saw a project on Pinterest where a crafter cut apart actual good books so she could glue the spines
 to a storage box. She chose the books for the look of their spines.
To be clear, I've cut up and recycled books when they are
 so decrepit that they won't hold together for reading
 but it makes me sad to see readable books destroyed..

BUT,
 truly do like the idea of some nice book themed storage,
so here's what I came up with. And NOT ONE book
was destroyed in the creation of this project!

Ooooh aaaaah!

And here's the best part....I didn't need to buy anything to do this project.
 I already had everything on hand and you probably do, too!

Here's the list of materials you will need-

A good sturdy cardboard box that will fit your shelves.

Inside rolls from gift wrap, paper towels or toilet paper, depending on your box size.

Hot glue

Tissue paper or printed napkins for texture.

Mod Podge.

Craft paint.

Sharpie marker.

Spray sealer.

Cut the cardboard tubes into roughly thirds. Flatten slightly so that they measure about 2" across. These will form your faux book "spines."

Measure the height of your box. In this photo I've covered the box with crumpled tissue and painted it white.

Cut off the flattened tubes to the correct height. At this point start fitting your  spines across the front of your box. Cut some narrower to make the design more interesting or you can keep them all the same size, it is up to you!

Use hot glue to make dimensional stitching and decor across the fake spines. Look at photos of old books for spine ideas.  You can also add other designs with the hot glue, such as  fleur de lis, capital letters or numbers.

Tear the tissue or printed napkins in small pieces and crumple up tightly then smooth out. Spread  Mod Podge on the spines you have made. You can paint the spines or cover them with printed paper as I have done.

Hot glue your finished spines to your chosen box. Remember not to glue them down flat but leave them a bit curved for the realistic book look. Here are two of my book spines glued to the box. As you can see I ended up painting the box black on this side so if it showed between the books it would blend in..

Cover the sides of your faux book storage box with glue and crumpled tissue or printed napkins to match the books on each end. Smooth with a soft brush but not too much, as the crumpled tissue will tear. It will give you a wonderful antique texture so it's worth it. Let dry completely.

I

 Dry brush the edges and spines black contrast color sparingly until you get the look you want. If you get too much on your project just wait for it to dry and do a coat of white over it to tone it down. I was totally going for a vintage look with my books.

You can use the Sharpie to add more details if you wish. 

 Ta da!

Look, you've made a clever storage box for your shelves that looks like you've collected
a set of antique books! You can also choose to make your book box
look like a set of matched books. It is entirely up to you.

Restyle Your Books to Look Vintage and Colorful #1

Here's a phone photo of this project. Look how neat these old books are. But they're not old...I made them look this way. Read on!

I love books. My whole family loves books! I have 9 bookshelves full in my house and that's after I thinned them down! So I decided to take the situation in hand and make them a pretty part of my decor.

So here's what I did....I remade them with paper, paint, hot glue, Mod Podge and imagination. Now I can have the elegant vibe of beautiful vintage books on all my shelves. Not only was this inexpensive and clever but I can still read the books. Win win!

Look at these fine vintage volumes...they definitely look like some jewel toned editions from the library of an elegant estate, right?  

I don't know about you but these are reminding me of some collector's editions of the Harry Potter books, lol! But they all started out as ordinary hard back books of various ages and styles. I LOVE the way they look now!

Here's what you need to get started on restyling your own books.....

1. Various printed papers. I prefer tissue paper and printed napkins for their beautiful designs. Scrapbook paper works too although it is thicker and takes more time to dry.

2. Hot glue, Mod Podge and glue sticks. 

3. Acrylic craft paint in compatible colors to dry brush and "age" your books. You can also use scrapbook chalks to age the edges.

4. Small scrapbook embellishments, jewelry charms and stickers as you wish.

5. Clear acrylic sealer spray in matte. Gloss finish is too shiny for me but it is your choice.

Here is a collection of tissue papers and napkins I pulled out of my stash. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for beautiful printed paper for my projects. 

On some of my books I added several lines of hot glue to give the illusion of hand stitched bindings. This gives the spines a bit of character and adds fun detail. Don't worry if your hot glue isn't perfectly even since hand binding does not always appear perfect. You want the look of an antique, hand sewn book spine!

Here is a book with the first layer of paper. I will add more paper til I like the way it looks and the paper has totally hidden the color of the original cover. Note the margins of loose paper hanging over the edge. 

I tear the tissue in large pieces and keep the straight edges for the outside of the book. I crinkle it up tightly before Mod Podging it to the book cover, then I straighten it out. Smooth it over the Mod Podge leaving about 1" margin hanging off all the edges.The crinkled tissue gives a wonderful  texture like old leather to your upstyled book. I LOVE how it looks! The tissue and napkins I use are VERY fragile when wet so I only put the Mod Podge on the book and not on the paper. If you are using paper napkins, REMEMBER to peel off the plain paper backing and only use the printed layer. If you do not do this your napkin will peel off in an ugly way. Don't ask me how I know this.

IF you are using scrapbook paper you can brush the back of the paper with Mod Podge as well as the book cover. The scrapbook paper is thicker and not as fragile as the tissue and napkins I used in this post. The thicker paper will take longer to dry so take note.

Here is the same book shown above with multiple layers of paper.  I use the glue stick on the inside edges of the cover and fold the 1" margins over nice and neat. Then I use a complimentary color of craft paint and dry brush all the edges, spine and corners for a vintage finish. I faked in some binding lines, too, since I didn't use the hot glue trick on this book. Now this plain black book is a "hand bound antique" and it's looking good!

Here I've used tissue paper printed in gold damask and layered it with more tissue that is printed with cursive writing. Notice how authentic the hot glue "binding lines" look once they are covered with tissue. I have used metallic gold craft paint on all the edges and on the label. I followed up with a very light dry brush with black paint. So pretty!

Here is a combination of two damask print papers that I crumpled, Mod Podged and layered. Again, I used black craft paint to dry brush the spine and the edges. I love the drama of damask prints.

Here's a row of finished books. I had the labels on hand and I think now that some steam punk type embellishments would be perfect for this project. Miniature skeleton keys, gears, watch faces... I know I have some of them in my stash, I need to pull them out!

Here is a stack of books done with the blue printed napkins and damask printed tissue in the photo above. Just gorgeous! I use this color alot in my decor.

 See the plain blue books in the pile?

In part 2 I will show you how to make these "plain" painted books using tissue paper, Mod Podge, craft paint and Elmer's glue. This technique is also inexpensive, clever and easy and you can make your mismatched books look like collectible antiques in any color you desire. Stay tuned!

https://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2019/03/part-2-restyle-old-books-into-vintage.html

Thrift Store Dictionary and a $1 Cabinet

Let me start by saying that I LOVE books.

I have seven bookcases FULL in my home right now.

That said, I also love to use aged books

 in my projects and this outdated, trashed

 dictionary is no exception.

Upcycling an old book and restyling a cabinet? It's a match 

made in book and furniture recycling heaven.

This is one of my favorite projects!

Insanely Clever Christy is very methodical with the dictionary pages. I am more of a "tear it into random shapes" kind of gal. We knew this dictionary would be perfect for this project.

We found this solid wood cabinet for $1.

ONE DOLLAR! A SINGLE BUCK!

Ahem.

Finds like this are my number one reason for Thrift Store shopping.

After a thorough cleaning and two coats of Country White latex paint, the door panels get the book page treatment.

A bit of edge sanding give them a vintage vibe. 

Black spray paint updates the knobs and then creative wrapping 

of hemp twine  and hot glue for the edges and around the pulls

 gives it just the right touch!

Wow! I LOVE the way this came out!!

Clear acrylic sealer finished her up and now she is in our guest bathroom. 

She is a classy addition!

Best of all? The entire project cost us less than $5 total.

The old dictionary was $1.

The cabinet was $1.

The Mod Podge came from my stash.

The clear acrylic sealer was on clearance at $2.89.

Time invested....maybe four hours.

I call this one a win win!

And one of the best parts is that we still have most

 of this dictionary for MORE book page projects!

An old illustrated dictionary and a $1 thrift store cabinet. 

One of my most favorite projects EVER.

What's not to love? 

How to Restyle Books to Look Like Vintage Decor Part 1

Here's a phone photo of this project. Look how neat these old books are. But they're not old...I made them look this way. Read on!

I love books. My whole family loves books! I have 9 bookshelves full in my house and that's after I thinned them down! So I decided to take the situation in hand and make them a pretty part of my decor.

So here's what I did....I remade them with paper, paint, hot glue, Mod Podge and imagination. Now I can have the elegant vibe of beautiful vintage books on all my shelves. Not only was this inexpensive and clever but I can still read the books. Win win!

Look at these fine vintage volumes...they definitely look like some jewel toned editions from the library of an elegant estate, right?  

I don't know about you but these are reminding me of some collector's editions of the Harry Potter books, lol! But they all started out as ordinary hard back books of various ages and styles. I LOVE the way they look now!

Here's what you need to get started on restyling your own books.....

1. Various printed papers. I prefer tissue paper and printed napkins for their beautiful designs. Scrapbook paper works too although it is thicker and takes more time to dry.

2. Hot glue, Mod Podge and glue sticks. 

3. Acrylic craft paint in compatible colors to dry brush and "age" your books. You can also use scrapbook chalks to age the edges.

4. Small scrapbook embellishments, jewelry charms and stickers as you wish.

5. Clear acrylic sealer spray in matte. Gloss finish is too shiny for me but it is your choice.

Here is a collection of tissue papers and napkins I pulled out of my stash. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for beautiful printed paper for my projects. 

On some of my books I added several lines of hot glue to give the illusion of hand stitched bindings. This gives the spines a bit of character and adds fun detail. Don't worry if your hot glue isn't perfectly even since hand binding does not always appear perfect. You want the look of an antique, hand sewn book spine!

Here is a book with the first layer of paper. I will add more paper til I like the way it looks and the paper has totally hidden the color of the original cover. Note the margins of loose paper hanging over the edge. 

I tear the tissue in large pieces and keep the straight edges for the outside of the book. I crinkle it up tightly before Mod Podging it to the book cover, then I straighten it out. Smooth it over the Mod Podge leaving about 1" margin hanging off all the edges.The crinkled tissue gives a wonderful  texture like old leather to your upstyled book. I LOVE how it looks! The tissue and napkins I use are VERY fragile when wet so I only put the Mod Podge on the book and not on the paper. If you are using paper napkins, REMEMBER to peel off the plain paper backing and only use the printed layer. If you do not do this your napkin will peel off in an ugly way. Don't ask me how I know this.

IF you are using scrapbook paper you can brush the back of the paper with Mod Podge as well as the book cover. The scrapbook paper is thicker and not as fragile as the tissue and napkins I used in this post. The thicker paper will take longer to dry so take note.

Here is the same book shown above with multiple layers of paper.  I use the glue stick on the inside edges of the cover and fold the 1" margins over nice and neat. Then I use a complimentary color of craft paint and dry brush all the edges, spine and corners for a vintage finish. I faked in some binding lines, too, since I didn't use the hot glue trick on this book. Now this plain black book is a "hand bound antique" and it's looking good!

Here I've used tissue paper printed in gold damask and layered it with more tissue that is printed with cursive writing. Notice how authentic the hot glue "binding lines" look once they are covered with tissue. I have used metallic gold craft paint on all the edges and on the label. I followed up with a very light dry brush with black paint. So pretty!

Here is a combination of two damask print papers that I crumpled, Mod Podged and layered. Again, I used black craft paint to dry brush the spine and the edges. I love the drama of damask prints.

Here's a row of finished books. I had the labels on hand and I think now that some steam punk type embellishments would be perfect for this project. Miniature skeleton keys, gears, watch faces... I know I have some of them in my stash, I need to pull them out!

Here is a stack of books done with the blue printed napkins and damask printed tissue in the photo above. Just gorgeous! I use this color alot in my decor.

 See the plain blue books in the pile?

In part 2 I will show you how to make these "plain" painted books using tissue paper, Mod Podge, craft paint and Elmer's glue. This technique is also inexpensive, clever and easy and you can make your mismatched books look like collectible antiques in any color you desire. Stay tuned!

As promised, here is Part 2.

https://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2014/01/make-vintage-style-books-part-2-with.html

Have fun!

Two Tissue Boxes For My Desk Redo

For my continuing desk/office space remodel I had two tissue box covers I'd found at a Thrift Store. They were flowery and oh so eighties but they were .99 each so I nabbed them. Here's the first one which my daughter, Insanely Creative Christy, Mod Podged with cleanly cut book pages. She is neat and methodical in her craftiness while I am more untidy and, um, let's say, flightier in my craftiness. ;0) But I did add the chalkboard label. See how nicely it came out between the two of us?

And it matches the Mod Podged storage boxes and the little cubbyhole shelf so well!

Then I remembered this post over at Can't Stop Making Things about making faux first editions with hot glue and tissue paper. Here's the inspiration pic....

And here's the link...
http://www.cantstopmakingthings.com/2010/09/leather-bound-first-edition.html

So cool! This is just one of many neat projects on that clever blog.

I used a very similar technique in my own blog post, but I never thought to make faux books with it! Here's my link.....

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/3-d-effect-with-hot-glue.html

So I added dimension with hot glue, then decoupaged crinkled tissue paper over everything and painted the whole shebang black. I brushed on Elmer's glue then white paint for a cool crackled look, then dry brushed with black. NOTE-let the glue get tacky and brush on the paint in one direction only. You will see the crackle magically appear as the glue and paint dry! It is VERY COOL.

Here's a link to my Elmer's glue crackle paint post-

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2010/05/crackle-finish-with-elmers-glue.html

I added more details and a number with a Sharpie then glued on a vintage style heart and skeleton key. Lovin' it!

And now I have TWO tissue box covers for my desk. Hmmm. I like them both. Instead of choosing between them, I'll just have to put one on each side, lol!

These were both fun, easy projects and cheap, too. That's a win win in my book. I'll be linking up to the parties in my sidebar, come visit and see what's cooking in blogland this week!