There are many unused and outdated books lying around in some dingy corner of our house serving no ultimate use to us than we giving them off for discarding. It is simply a sad spectacle to us the book lovers that they should have such an inglorious and sad end.

However, by using your ingenuity and imagination, you can really transform some of them into items of utility and even works of art. This new wave in the artist’s realm has been termed variably as ‘Book Sculpturing’ and ‘Paper Art’. Here are a few tips to kindle your imagination-

Paper Book Page flowers

These paper made flowers are available in the markets like the ‘paper Daisies’ by Cotton Bird. However, by using some of our ingenuity, we can create them at our home as well. Strips of papers from old books or simply folded pages from them can be used to make fancy flowers. All we need are some old books to get the paper, glue and some wires to make sticks for these flowers.

Book Purse

We can put the discarded book boards of the old books to some fanciful use by creating this unique Book Purse. The top and the bottom of the board are first secured with canvas cloth or any other piece of thick cloth. Handles are made of strings induced into holes drilled on the opposite sides of the open front. Finally, by placing an additional piece of cloth on the top, flap of the purse can be made.

Book Sculptures

One does not always need to dismember a book in order to create fanciful items out of them. By using some practiced skills on chiseling out or simple folding the edges of the pages of a book, we can create some marvelous pieces of sculpturing. The letters like LOVE and SORRY are made this way and they make as much a unique piece of decoration for your drawing room as they do an admirable gift for your beau or girl friend.

Book Photo Frame

This photo frame is made without causing any extensive damage to the book. To begin with, we centrally mark lines on the front side of the book board slightly more than that of the photo we wish to frame inside it. Then we slice away the piece of the board so marked with the help of a knife from the inside but without damaging the cloth on the outside.

Then we cut an inner space on the front page of the book to create the borders. We cut the cloth diagonally and tuck it inwards. Then we place picture behind the borders and close the book or seal it with tapes to secure the photo inside. Our photo frame is complete. This photo frame forms an ideal gift.

Stationary Book Box

The making of this box is simple. We begin with cutting out the pages of the book in one single file without damaging the boards of the books. The top pages of the book are marked according to the space we want to create inside the box, leaving a broad margin on all the four sides. We cut all the pages regularly to give a clean look on the inside.

Of all that is left of the pages, we then glue them together with one flap of the cover board to create the base of the box, leaving the other to act like a cover. Our stationary box is ready.

Recycling books is an eco-friendly way of living not just by recycling them but also by converting them into items of utility.