Fact: Approximately 320 million books are thrown into landfills every year. There are multiple reasons why so many books are dumped, from over-publishing to people needing help knowing what to do with them after they have been read and reread.
One of my favorite ways to save old books from landfills is to make them into art. Searching on Pinterest for upcycled books will give you thousands of ideas, primarily ways to upcycle book pages.
Hardcover books are the perfect template for art! You can paint the books, add dark wax or gold wax to the edges of the pages to make them look old, or add embellishments like I did with Iron Orchid Designs Moulds, Paper Clay, and Transfers.
Here are two examples of DIY Book art using Old Books for a new craft.
I painted each book in two colors and blended them, using DIY Paint in Crinoline and Cake Batter. When paired with dark wax and gold hints, these colors lend themselves to a soft antique look.
I used Iron Orchid Designs’ new Mould for the first two books, “Persephone” and “Oak Leaves.”
I used IOD Air dry clay, pressed into the moulds to create these gorgeous 3D reliefs. The Air Dry clay from IOD is made from Wood Fibers, so wood glue is the perfect way to get your moulds to stick to any surface. This Mould is quite thick, so it will take a little longer to dry. While it’s drying, the Mould will shrink a little, so keep pressing down the edges to get it to lay flat.
For the second book, I used the Elysium Transfer from IOD. Transfers are a fun and easy way to add color and art to any dry, clean surface. They are micro-thin rub-on tattoos! Once you burnish them onto your project, they are stuck and will not peel up.
To get the ultimate Old Book look, I first added DIY Paint Clear Wax to create a non-porous surface over the paint, then a little DIY Dark Wax and Gold Wax. I lightly brushed it over the high points of Persephone to accentuate her features, and I added more dark wax to the edges of the cover and pages, areas that might naturally darken with time.
I hope you are inspired to look at old books differently! Have fun with hardcover books; remember, they are just another canvas, and the sky is the limit of your creativity and imagination.
