Are your once much-thumbed books sitting on shelves collecting dust while you swipe through the latest blockbusters on your iPad or eReader? Transform those tomes into craft projects.
By Heather Camlot
The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life, by Lisa Occhipinti. $19, available at Amazon.ca
Are your once much-thumbed books sitting on shelves collecting dust while you swipe through the latest blockbusters on your iPad or eReader?
On-the-go gadgets are certainly nabbing major attention away from the paper books we grew up with, but artist and designer Lisa Occhipinti believes those books can be thrust back into the spotlight – by transforming them into craft projects.
Admittedly, some of the 33 projects she presents are a little farfetched, such as the Illuminated Switch Plate and the Playbook to hold a deck of cards and dice, but others are quite clever. Specifically, the Book Ledge constructed of stacked tomes of varying widths, the Lettered Wreath made of paper rosettes, and the Literary Lampshade pasted with pages. Our favourite? The Kindle Keeper – a hard book cover repurposed into a customized e-Reader cover. Who says old-school books and the latest technology can’t co-exist?
To learn how to transform your old books into cool crafts, you’ll have to buy the book (The Repurposed Library is not available as an eBook). But don’t worry, it’s well worth it – not only do you get step-by-step instruction on how to take apart your books and create beautiful objects, you get a lesson in which books are too valuable to cut up. You may just be sitting on a handsome windfall — a surprise you’ll never experience with an eBook.
Images: From Abrams Books.
First published June 27, 2011, on WorkLivePlayCafe.com.
Heather Camlot 