As a bibliophile this was a painful task, cutting into a precious vintage book.
But before you throw stones at me, I found this book at a thrift store and it was severely water damaged and I thought surely it must be better to use part of it than to just let it be tossed in the trash. Also, I found an amazing antiques store in Sussex while on holiday there and it was an absolute joy shopping in there. I plan on using this book for a few more crafts to get as much use as possible. Preserving part of the books soul was better than none right? Ya, I know I still feel a little like a book murderer… but if you need a simple gift for a fellow book lover, teacher, librarian, or someone who is a fan of vintage this craft may be just what you need. Place it in a coffee mug with a nice felt tip pen or inside the pages of a new novel and you have a thoughtful handmade gift- putting the old and the new together.
Supplies
Vintage book
scissors
craft glue
card stock
ribbon
Directions:
Use sharp scissors to cut the spine from your book carefully, cutting as straight as possible. Trim excess threads.
Completely cover the back of the book spine in a thick coat of glue.
Press spine onto a piece of coordinating or contrasting card stock all the up to about 2” from the top.
Slip a piece of ribbon between spine and card stock, leaving a 2-3 “ tail sticking out.
Press the remainder of spine and card stock together well.
Cut excess card stock from the edges of the spine so that they are the same size all the way around, creating a nice,clean edge.
Clean excess glue from edges.
Place book mark under a heavy book overnight to flatten.
Again, please do not go purchase vintage books with the hopes of tearing them to shreds! However, if you find a badly damaged edition, this is a wonderful way to preserve a bit of their memories. RIP vintage books!
Love this tutorial. So quick and simple! At first, I thought, I could never cut up a book this lady is crazy haha. But you’re right, there are plenty of books out there that are sadly already very damaged and we might as well try to preserve part of it.
I know Marina!! Cutting up antique books just KILLS me. When I finish my office in the basement, I’m going to have a bookshelf and begin collecting vintage books to place on it. Books are my heart 🙂
What a fun idea! Love the look of an older book too.
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I appreciate you spending some time and energy to put this short article
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This is a super idea – I’m going to try this out at the weekend… will let you know how it turns out!