Despite my reticence at cutting books of any kind, there are occasions where it feels like it makes sense to give new life to old images by using them in a way where they will be seen and enjoyed. Helena of Craft and Creativity shows how to do just that with old books and maps.
Helena explains:
I was originally looking for pictures of old houses, but the dictionaries and history books I came home with also contained beautiful illustrations of flowers, animals, paintings and maps. Lots of material for future crafting! Being the bookworm I am, it was with a little sadness in my heart that I tore the books apart. I consoled myself with the fact that the books were worn and only cost me 1 SEK (10 cents) each. Plus, they are likely to spread more joy as interior accents than dusty old books at a flea shop.I cut out the houses with a pair of scissors and cut out a couple of the windows with an exacto knife to create a transparency effect. I wrapped the paper around small drinking glasses and secured with tape at the back. Finally, I cut away any excess paper. Another idea for recycling could be to use old jars instead of glasses.
For the full instructions, check out Recycling Old Books on Craft and Creativity.
(Images: Helena of Craft and Creativity)
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Instead of cutting the books why not xrox them and cut the copies apart. Bonus; you get to make more that way.
( Thank heaven you don't have any sleeping children or old folks hanging about the house.)
As much as my daughter-of-a-librarian heart breaks at cutting up old books, if you are determined to do so please do some research first! If the book is rare, it doesn't matter how poor the condition is or how much you bought it for. You will be able to find a collector or academic who desperately, desperately wants it (and in many cases, will pay you more than 10 cents to get it). Do a Google search, or contact a local university (ie, if book is French, find a French Lit professor; if it's houses, contact an architecture department). If it is from 1910 or before, it's probably a collector's item. If it's about a particularly esoteric subject, it may be a collector's item. Even if you don't think the topic is interesting, see if there is anything similar on ebay or an archived collection. We have already lost too many rare books to people who didn't know what they had, and destroyed or discarded something that we can ill-afford to lose.
Photocopying really does seem like the best way to go since you also won't have the image from the back of the page shining through.
Oh, for heaven's sake. It sounds like she used an old encyclopedia. I see hundreds of those dusty things at used book shops every day. Better it gets new life this way rather than molding and eventually ending up in a dump. I'm a book lover myself, but I truly don't get the outrage AT readers display every time someone mentions crafting with a book.
@gingerish, I agree. I love books too but there's little harm in recycling and repurposing them in inventive ways.
Vessels, that really does depend on the book at hand doesn't it? There is no harm in photocopying.
I'm sorry, but, I... just...can't... Cutting apart books to tape pictures around glasses and jars?
I'm guessing I'm the outrage you are referring to--so let me just say, I have no issue with people cutting up Encyclopedia Britannica from 1970--that is not a rare book or unique item. But simply because something looks like an encyclopedia doesn't mean it is worthless; many small university presses or special-interest groups have done small runs of topic-specific reference books and these may become rare and valuable because a) there were never very many to begin with, and/or b) it's a small field, and quality publications are hard to find.
If you are able to ascertain that the book is not rare and/or valuable, chop away! But it's not always as black-and-white as reuse for crafting vs. 'moldering and ending up in a dump,' and doing a small amount of due diligence before chopping up the book isn't that much to ask.
I understand if someone doesn't want to cut up their own books, but let's not discourage people from reusing books to make gifts. If someone wants to take the time to research a book, assess it's value, and track down individuals who might like to purchase it, that is very thoughtful of them. I would hardly expect people to do that extra work.
The libraries in my city throw away hundreds of books every year that they no longer want or can't sell. This would be a great way to recycle them.
People can be SO precious about things, can't they? Particularly on AT.
While I'd never cut up a good, perfectly readable or donate-able book, some people DO have books which have no value to them (or others!) or are otherwise already ruined. Also, plenty of books feature illustrations like this...that doesn't make them priceless or limited edition or anything. Why shouldn't repurposing for crafts extend to books, too?
If it makes people feel better, the first thing I thought of was using architecture clip art books to cut up these images.
That way you won't be ruining that real, live priceless book from the 1970s. You know, that book with the mustache and owls on it and can't live without Tame Impala, some really good artisanal sausage and pronounces gif with a hard g.
See, everyone wins! And we can still have cool votives.
I have done this in the past by copying onto overhead transparancies. But your re-use of books is less wasteful and garbage producing.
@h3idi I love the idea of transparancies so more light gets through, particularly for colored votives.
I have no problem reusing old books. Not all books are valuable and no one is suggesting using priceless books to make a candle holder. Certain books are going to end up in the landfill unless they are repurposed. Get over it.
Make copies of the pages. Then you an use them over and over and don't have to worry when you screw up.
If you used transparencies you could Mod Podge over them and they would be a little more durable.