So, we’ve all gone green and we think twice, now, about throwing things in the trash. Many of us go out of our way to come up with new ideas to use old things. But not all of us want cat food jug building block holders for our kids or laundry detergent bottle bubble bath containers for ourselves. If we recycle something we want it to be turned into something we’ll love. That’s why a book turned into a scrapbook is such great craft. You can take an old book, turn it into something new, and it will be a scrapbook you’ll love.
Although most any book can become a scrapbook some are much more suitable than others. An ideal book is a hardback and one that doesn’t have a huge amount of pages. Remove the dust cover, if there is one. It’s also nice if the book is fairly large. However, a child might enjoy a scrapbook that’s much smaller.
Some people might choose to glue a piece of fabric over the cover of the book so the title is no longer visible. That’s fine. Instead of cloth you can also use scrapbook paper or even craft foam to cover the front of the book. Another choice is to leave the book front as it is and keep it in mind when creating the theme for the book. For example, a simplistic, child’s book makes a nice scrapbook for a child’s school pictures and such. Or, a book about nature makes a nice scrapbook for a child’s camping photos and keepsakes.
Change the look of each page by gluing or taping a new page over it. Some people might prefer to attach a sheet that covers all the words on the page; others might prefer to use the words as a border around each scrapbook page. If you want, use colored tape to attach a new page – tape around the perimeter – and it’ll look like a frame around the page. Make sure any paper you choose is thick enough so that the words on the book pages can’t been seen through it.
You can still embellish the book pages, just like you would a regular scrapbook, with borders, jewels, ribbons, stickers, conversation bubbles, and similar things.
If you care to further change the look of the book cover, draw a square, circle, heart, or other simplistic shape, on the front of the book. Use an Exacto knife to cut out the shape, all the way through the book cover. From the inside of the cover, tape or glue a photo pertaining to the theme of the scrapbook, in the window.
The book scrapbook is unusual, yes, but a nice way to recycle an old book while making something for yourself or someone else. These are adorable and really easy to make.
Old Book Journal or Scrapbook