Bibliophiles and bookworms, English majors and lovers of literature: is it possible to have too many books? They accumulate so quickly! Every member of your family getting you the same three books you requested for Christmas. Seeing Don DeLillo marked half-off, knowing you dumped a half-caff latte on your copy of Underworld, and – even though only the first three pages are illegible – justifying its purchase. 15+ years of required reading lists stored in boxes in your basement, even though you can bet your bippy you will never willingly read the poetry of Robert Burns again.
We are up to our waists in books, some of which we hate (really Master Burns? Scottish dialect? A mouse?!) yet we will never give them away. Because they just might come in handy some day. Like a day when you decide you want to transform your old books into awesome works of art. Like today.
9 Ways to Turn Old Books Into Something Cool
1. Hollow out an old hardback to create a nifty iPod case, a unique display case, or a fun hiding place for your treasures.
It brings a whole new meaning to “audio book.”
Use your old books to showcase your artistic side.
Good for hiding passwords and codes, the key to your safe, and family jewels.
2. Use the pages to create a book wreath.
Your choice of ribbon can transform this wreath so it is suitable for every holiday – or every day!
3. Use them to build invisible, floating bookshelves.
If you think floating books are mesmerizing, check out some other wacky bookshelves that will make your head spin (and your walls upgrade to awesome).
4. Choose a book with a great cover and turn it into a clock.
Book clocks are for everyone, young and old.
5. Turn your book into a lamp shade.
We recommend using a low-watt bulb, like 10 or 15 maximum. Or your book lamp shade might turn into a fire lamp shade.
6. Transform a beautiful hardcover into a book purse.
For the fashionable bookworm in all of us.
7. Cut out bits of your favorite passages and make a glass pendant necklace.
Great for expressing your individuality and having a tiny cheat sheet hanging around your neck come finals week.
You could also use the pages to make paper beads.
I have heard this is a great activity for little girls at slumber parties and summer camp, but cannot vouch for it.
8. Insert blank pages into a favorite tome to make a journal or scrapbook.
For those who find the Moleskin a little too common and hipster.
9. Use a book cover for a picture frame.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This combines a picture AND a thousand words. So really, this book cover picture frame is worth two thousand words.
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Dang it, when I tried to sign up for your rss feed it froze up my ‘puter. hope i didn’t mess anything up for you. sorry.
Interesting designs, though any true bibliophile may think of this as sacrilege. I would prefer to donate my old books to a good used book store or library foundation so that they found a good home and are enjoyed… of course, that doesn’t ensure that they won’t be destroyed… but at least I’m not the one doing it.
Or you could just keep the damn book. Musty or otherwise a book is a book, sit and read it, not turn it into a picture frame or clock.
only a**holes cut books.
This is despicable.
Did someone seriously turn Where the Wild Things Are into a cheesy looking clock?
There’s a special level of hell for people who abuse books.
this is really cool!! [:
wow this is awesome and i have lots of books for this, thanks you!!!!
I love all these ideas! i think i’ll go apply a few now!
“… transform your old books into awesome works of art”
They already are.
Great Article on Fun things to do with Old Books!
I’m TOO much of a bibliophile to damage a book like any of these.
Cool ideas…..those purses could be a new fashion trend. You need to show them to Paris Hilton!
nice… but books shouldn’t be treated that way…
#10… read the book.
Eeeek, you guys need to not be so rabid about using books for art.
Because there are PLENTY of bad books.
You could bore out a book, then hide a smaller book inside of that book.
That book also would hide a smaller book.
question: is it the book you love, or the stories within them?
personally, i love the smell of old books. that’s really why i have so many. is there an old book cologne?
Thank you ,Thank you ,Now i finally have a use for that old black covered book, for who tolls a bell or something like that. Anyway i know Ester Hemingway wrote it. Maybe an alarm clock ?What ya think pretty cool ?
you shouldn’t treat good books like that! They’d better be all Dan Brown novels!!
I wouldn’t do this to any book!………….Except the Twilight saga… Mwahaha
It’s not wrong to cut up an old book, just make sure it isn’t valuable first! And this from a total book lover–some books get damaged. They could be missing pages, or be badly stained, or the binding could be coming out… why not recycle them into something cool? Even if it is in good condition, a book isn’t necessarily sacred.
I used an old book for an art project once, it was full information about swamp plants in tiny tiny font. You could get better info from more recent sources and reading it would have been a headache. Chop chop!
The librarians are going to come to you in the night and take your spine out.
I agree with Jade and Marie.
I’m one of those people that buys tons of books! I buy more than I can read, and sometimes out of all those books there are a few that aren’t any good. No offense to the writer of course. There are several books just rotting on my shelf because I thought they sounded interesting, and where just horribly written or I just didn’t like for some reason, and I am positive that I will never pick it up again. Not to read it anyway. And I’d hate to just throw it away, so this is great!
I’m surprised more “indie”, “non-conformist” kids aren’t doing this…
Next time you’re gonna show cool things, say “9 cool things made from books”… if you’re actually gonna show the way to do those cool things, use the title you used. I don’t care about seeing the same pictures of the same concepts for book art that I’ve seen over the internet a hundred times before, I want to know how to do them myself.
this is one of the more offensive things ive Stumbled over. this is sacreligous for any true bibliophile!
This is very informational. People get really defensive about books. Old books….. ok… maybe not such a grand idea…. but does anyone realize they mass produce books now?
And what if someone did turn where the wild things are into a clock? Maybe a parent sees this idea, buys another copy of the book just to do it, and then they, whether they “destroy/tamper” with it are still pumping money into the book industry. I
m an avid reader, and I like my books, but come to think about it perhaps I would like them as a lamp better.
Oh the things i can do…. hey I like to paint am i wrong for cutting up calendars and newspaper for my mixed media?
it’s a sin… you are going to book hell. although that’s true about dan brown or the twilight saga. they should have been printed on toilet paper. how about ways to turn “old toilet paper” in to “something cool”? because that would be better time invested. old books, especially hardbacks, are already way cooler than these paperweights.
I don’t think it’s really evil to use a bad book for some art project. But come on, stop dissing on the Bard! Robert Burns is my all time favorite, and I would break anyone’s hand who tried to turn one of my books of his work into ‘art’. As someone said above, “It already is.”
I’m sure you meant well by this list, but remember “The best laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.”
Dear JoB,
Click the links in the post to follow your way down the internet rabbit-hole and find the directions to create each “cool thing.”
Yours in reading (and crafting),
DHT
Dear Flonkbob,
My relationship with Master Burns is a long and torrid one. Read my short ode to his work here.
Yours in reading,
DHT