DIY Inspiration: Recycled Book & Print Projets

Help us decide what to do with books we are looking to upcycle! We will post a DIY depending on what DIY you want to see on the blog! 

 

As literature-loving, generally bookish folk we frown upon ruining a perfectly good book. We hoard books in our home libraries like the Kardashian sisters hoard Louboutins. It’s  a wonderful obsession to have (both books and shoes, really). When we did our book clutch tutorial we saved the inside pages of the books we re-purposed and popped them on our bookshelves for later enjoyment. We put pretty paper over the books we re-purposed then but you may not even have to go to that extreme! Luckily for us, exposed spines are super chic right now à la Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware:

Books with Exposed Spines For Sale on Etsy

Do you remember the Lauren Conrad/Lemony Snicket fiasco? She “re-purposed” his books into a storage container which she coined the “Bookshelf Box” and he was not pleased. Snicket, in typical Snicket fashion, commented: "it has always been my belief that people who spend too much time with my work end up as lost souls, drained of reason, who lead lives of raving emptiness and occasional lunatic violence. What a relief it is to see this documented" (Oh No They Didnt). The video tutorial was deleted by Conrad without comment. It's unfortunate because Conrad is actually a literature lover herself who runs an online book club, has written her own fiction and posts other fun bookshelf DIYs like this one: "Operation Organize: Get Colour Coded".

Photo from Gawker

Mandatory Book Loving Disclaimer: I would never destroy a book that could still be read. Books are my most cherished possessions. I respect the written word and I respect the process that goes into writing a book. Destroying any book is not something to take lightly. However, if a book is falling apart, un-readable or headed for the trash I think it then becomes okay to use the pages for DIY purposes. Instead of being thrown out, shredded or recycled the book continues to live on and remind us of it's former glory. Here at WTD were recently given a set of books that were destined for the recycling bin. The subject matter is now obsolete and they can’t really be donated anywhere because of it. In this case, we feel that it’s okay to re-use the books for a DIY project. 

 

What books should you use for your upcoming DIY project? Text books are a great example; in any field where information is constantly changing and quickly becomes outdated a 500 page textbook (that cost you hundreds at the campus bookstore) quickly become worthless and inaccurate and therefore no longer valid. One of my friends once moved into a house at University that had a closet FULL of outdated text books from previous tenants that the used book store had no interest in purchasing. The cycle is shamefully wasteful and creates a heck of a lot of book garbage. So why not re-purpose them into something for the home? As literature lovers what is better than being surrounded by books? Another great source of print for DIYs is magazines and newspapers which are truly only meant to be read once and get recycled every day. The pages can LOOK like book pages without forcing you to ruin a book.

Here are JEM's favourite book DIYS from Pinterest. Help us decide which one to try by telling us your favourite in the comments below!

Mason Jar 

JEM's Pinterest

 The mason jar heart book candle has been floating around Pinterest since I first started pinning. The project does raise some questions though: how to get the page to reach around the jar horizontally...how not to light the page on fire... details I'm sure we could figure out if you chose this DIY as "THE ONE".

The Book Monograph

JEM's Pinterest

So this DIY makes it pretty obvious that you destoyed a book but it also looks pretty awesome! You might spend a lot of time with your scissors on this DIY project... that's a lot of pages to cut through!

The Book Planter

 

Source: http://petiteplanet.blogspot.ca/2011/02/book-planters.html

JEM's Pinterest

I like books & I like plants so why not combine the two? The logistics of this one seem like they could get tricky... questions arise like how to conquer drainage and avoid mustiness? If you check out the second picture on our Pinterest (click-through link) there is a HGTV how-to which we would consult.

The Other Book Planter

JEM's Pinterest

This one is my favourite so far. I love the different coloured pages. You could recycle a book AND an ugly plastic planter... upcyling rocks!

The Book Headboard

JEM'S Pinterrst

DIY headboards are all the rage on Pinterest right now and I especially like this bookish one. If you can't sleep the book is already open for you ;)

Painted Books

JEM's Pinterest

Who knew painted books could be so chic? I love that they preserve the book but hide ugly or tattered covers.

Framed Books

JEM's Pinterest

 If you're like us you're proud of your books! Why not show them off in style? Create a book gallery wall OR simply incorporate a few of your favourite titles into your already existing picture gallery.

So what do you think? What DIY would you like us to do? Comment or tweet us @jemcolborne.

A Kate Middleton Easter DIY

Dear friends,
sorry it's been so long. Chalk it up to winter, unemployment, laziness, lack of laziness, whatever you will. It's hard to get on and blog! Props to the many fantastic blogs out there who never let us down.
Anyway, perhaps it was a reunion of the JEM girls or the extra hour of sunshine in the afternoons, but I was just ITCHING for a DIY. Turns out, I had the perfect excuse to crack out the glue gun AND to purchase tacky, dusty silk flowers. Ladies and gentleman, I give you: The Easter Hat.
When my boyfriend's grandmother saw our Ugly Xmas sweaters on December 24th, she flipped. She couldn't get over the creativity, the hilarity of it all (clearly, she's not online). Only two of us had made ugly sweaters for the occasion, opting to surprise my in-laws rather than get them in on the fun, but everyone was eyeing our warm, cozy sweaters with eggnog-fueled jealousy. And then, Mrs. P came up with a brilliant idea: Easter hats.
The Easter hat is the ugly Christmas sweater of spring. Go for bows, bunny ears, grass/moss, flowers, flowers and MORE FLOWERS. You cannot lose.

from roaylwedding.hellomagazine.com

My original sketch was for a very dramatic bonnet inspired by Kate Middleton and the royal family's elaborate fascinators, but considering I got the flowers for $2 and the hat for free, I couldn't justify spending $4 on the tulle or lace for the veil I envisioned. Yes, I am poor. And YES, I am cheap. (Since being unemployed, I've even taken to cutting my own hair. And it doesn't even look bad!)

from lifeloveandlouis.blogspot.com

So if you want to surprise (or full-on stun) your relatives this re-birthday (death-day?) of Mr. (?) Christ, follow this step-by-step guide to a DIY Easter bonnet.
1. Assemble cheap materials. Get a free sunhat, strawhat, bowler hat or whatever you can scrounge up for free. I got extra lucky in that my free hat is light green, perfect for my springtime theme. You'll also need fake flowers (see Value Village), bunny ears, yellow chicks, plaster eggs and whatever other dollar store crap you want to throw on there. Also, hot glue. Loads and loads of hot glue.

 2. If necessary, cut back the flowers so that they are a workable size. Whatever you do, don't get cocky with the scissors and slice your left index as I did. I almost not blood on my hat!
3. Play around with the design; place things randomly until they look good. I tried my hat on once or twice during the process to see where I needed to add stuff.

4. Mostly, just cover up unsightly stems and go for fullness and depth. A lot of the leaves came in convenient branches of three, but I cut some of these into individual pieces to get a more unique, garden-like look.

5. Use every bit. I had some smaller buds leftover which I glue to bobby pins. Now when I'm feeling spring-ish I can wear those!

6. Go hog wild. Like Ugly Christmas Sweaters, I imagine Easter hats should be vivacious and loud, not subdued or stylish. I was going for a girly, garden theme, but I encourage you to make, salvage or up-cycle bunny ears, faux-chocolate rabbits, birds' nests, robins' eggs, straw, butterflies, book pages, bows, ribbons, burlap... the sky's the limit. I feel like my hat could use something more, but for now, this is my finished product:

All in all, it took about 20 minutes and half a pint of blood (haha). Definitely will add some fun to our holiday weekend. And now, I'm back to my mug of mint tea and Brian Jacques' Redwall. 

Gotta book it!

xoxo

JEM