Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hang on to those books!


I wanted to show you a craft I have not seen before.  Great way to use up some of those hardcover books you have in your home that you have read and haven’t donated yet……

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This is on an easel.  It is just a hard cover book that she folded pages, used some wonderful scrapbook papers and inks and added some really fun tags. 

Here are some photo of how it is done….so easy!!!!

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See????  Now these were for Halloween, but think what you could make for Christmas gifts.  My cousin folded a whole book while we were talking one night.  I got an email from the crafter who made the one in the first photo and this is what she said:

Hi Sandy. I hear you were in Cranberry Cottage and liked my books! Thank you for the compliment!  The idea is actually not mine. I took a class and was taught how to make them. She used various scrapbook pages and images and I decided they'd be fun to do in holiday form. ( I do them for Easter,Valentines Day,Christmas and Halloween and have also tried one for 4th of July!)   I buy the books at Dollar stores or at Goodwill, etc. I try not to purchase ones with more than maybe 200 pages as they are time consuming to fold and can get too bulky.  I start by taking each page and folding the top corner to the center and then do the same with the bottom of the page. It makes a bit of an "envelope" to hold the "tags".   After folding all the pages,I use Tim Holtz's ink pads (sold at most craft stores) and rub the edges with the pad . Sometimes I do some of the inside pages as well just for a little more character.  The "tags" I just cut out of various scrapbook paper (usually I start with a solid color which makes up the back of each tag and then I layer with images I buy and then download from the internet. Look on Etsy or EBay for "digital  downloads. They can be bought for as little as $1 and once you own them you can just keep using the image over and over again!  I then just layer to my liking and rub the edges of the tags to finish them off.  The books look especially nice if they are put on a stand-as you would  an opened cookbook or a decorative plate. Again,these can easily be purchased at any discount or craft store.  I hope these directions help you get started! Good luck! 

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I love this one, as it is already orange and black on the outside.  I found one with 240 pages with this color on the outside, I am going to tear about 40 pages out , throughout the book.

So many possibilities, don’t you think????? 

Also, I saw these online and couldn’t decide if these were a good idea or not…Christopher Radko has made Shiney Brites for Halloween!

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What do you think about these?????  Have a great day!

18 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great idea!! I just might have to give this a try!!

Warmly chris

Denise said...

Looks like fun.Nice place for tags.

Lori E said...

Just when I think I have seen it all some creative person comes up with something brand new to me.
How fun.
Not sure I would ever decorate a Halloween tree with the ornaments though.

Lori E said...

Just when I think I have seen it all some creative person comes up with something brand new to me.
How fun.
Not sure I would ever decorate a Halloween tree with the ornaments though.

My Vintage Mending said...

Oh my word...this is beautiful. I can only imagine the possibilities. Looking forward to seeing how yours come out...smiles..Renee

Shirley Hatfield said...

Thank you for sharing the instructions for making such a beautiful craft! I am constantly amazed at the new ideas people come up with. There is always something wonderful to be found. I love Shiny Brites but I don't like a lot of purple and green on my Halloween decor.

Jean Knee said...

adorable. I haven't seen them before either

Tammy's in Love said...

Way back when I was a Girl Scout we folded Readers Digests like this, you can make more of a tree shape by folding only the top fold. We spray painted them in the '60s and glued ornaments on the outside. Then glued both covers together to make the tree stand up. I had totally forgotten till I saw the post! I love blogs for that memory jogging ability! Well, I'm looking at sun and bare trees here, a pretty day 'out the window' as we say but 36 degrees!

★Carol★ said...

I think I saw those Radko ornies at Home Goods, and I had to turn around and get out of there before I bought them all!
I have LOTS of books sitting around in the attic that would be perfect for this cute project!

RetroSandie said...

I like this idea - I think it would be cute with smaller kiddie books too! Thanks for giving us the how-to. I think the Radko ornies are quite pretty! Lots of people are making Halloween trees now - such a cute idea. I love how they look!! Especially the blown glass three-dimensional ones. Expensive, though, right????
Oh, seems like I remember doing something with a Sears catalogue in the 60's but I can't really remember ...

Hugs,
Sandie

craftyles said...

Love the old book ideas. I have so many lying around, I needed a new idea. The ornies are cute!

Little Susie Home Maker said...

Ooh, book folding! I remember Christmas trees from old phone books painted gold when I was a kid! This is much better! I love the discolored pages, and the tags in side. What a clever way to display and you could use so many themes! I love that the hard cover is the stand. I gotta go get an old ugly book, this is a hard thing for me to deface even the yuckiest books! Sounds, silly, but I was raised that you never break a books spine, and never fold down a corner, or write in a book. Etc.. You know, crafting with books means I have to face some of my old childhood fears. Like if I get caught chewing gum! Haha! I think I can get over it, though!
Oh, about the shiny brights? I like the different colors for Christmas decor. Not sure about using the others for Halloween, but that is just me. They sure are cute. I will have to think on that one.
Blessings,
Susie

E said...

Hi Sandy,
I remember book folding in 4-H I'd forgotten doing this for Christmas one year, thanks for jogging that memory ! I bought the Radko ornaments at Home Goods, I bought the box that's last in your pics I really like them, they're small like inch and half, and would be good for branches or feather tree. Elaine

vintage grey said...

So neat!! I have folded old books into to designs for display, sorta like this. They are fun to make! xo Heather

Pam said...

Your tag book is beautiful!
Happy Halloween!
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com

Manni King said...


Thanks, This is a good article.I liked

this article,
great!

Carlene @ Organized Clutter said...

Does the book have to be a certain size so the pages fold in evenly from each side? I got a book with about 200 pages but it must be too narrow. Pages don't fold in evenly to the spine.

Unknown said...

We have a Halloween tree that is decorated in our office and used some of these ornaments. It really looks great!

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