Decorative Vases made from old books

64 Comments

These gorgeous vases made from old books are not only pretty but a great topic of conversation too! A great way to preserve an old classic that you can't bear to part with but may have started to become illegible! Or take advantage of car boot sales/op shops to stock up on cheap books!

Material

1 Old book
1 Sheet card stock/thin cardboard
1 Scissors/Stanley knife

Method

Create a template by drawing the profile of half a vase on a sheet of card stock or thin cardboard.
Cut the template out and insert into the first page of an old book. With the flat side of the template snug against the binding, cut along the template with a sharp knife, gradually slicing through all the pages of the book
Cut the covers off the book and remove the template. Then, open the book and fold it backward before gluing the back pages together.

Notes

Quick, easy and the finished item is awesome!

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This project was posted by:

- nadine_hill
- 13 Jun 2017
  7:47 pm

64 Comments

- - mom462038 said
  - 06 Apr 2020
    10:38 am
Oh no, I could never do this to my old books

- - Jbuttxx said
  - 06 Dec 2019
    4:46 am
This looks amazing and very effective but don’t think I could do this with a book. Maybe a news paper could be substituted

- - mom19782016 said
  - 12 Nov 2019
    9:40 pm
Oh no, I couldn’t do that to a book!

- - xbexskyex said
  - 22 Oct 2019
    11:02 pm
That’s so much easier than I imagined!!

- - LeeLee said
  - 27 Sep 2019
    4:03 pm
Ohhhh I love this idea! This would look fantastic on a book shelf! What a great use for old or damaged books! I’ll definitely have to give this a try

- - mom129591 said
  - 31 Aug 2019
    7:06 pm
Great idea! Thank you so much for sharing! Love it.

- - mom360699 said
  - 20 Aug 2019
    11:51 am
So clever!! I’m going to give this a try – maybe with some old phonebooks? Hopefully they turn out as amazing as your photo!!

- - mom152736 said
  - 26 Jul 2019
    2:42 pm
oohh i agree, better than dumping them in the bin! use them and create your own funky style. like it.

- - mom129591 said
  - 01 Jul 2019
    8:23 pm
This is a fantastic idea. Super creative and looks great, I just love it.

- - skbou said
  - 28 Jun 2019
    3:31 pm
How cute! Great idea for the box of books the library sale people rejected last week. Better than dropping them in the bin.
- mom19782016 replied
  
  15 Oct 2020 , 12:49 pm
  Totally, such a shame to just throw books out!
- - celebrity said
  - 28 Jun 2019
    1:38 pm
This is a brilliant idea! A great way also to fill the children’s time on holidays as it is so easy they can do it themselves. Perhaps they could splash a bit of paint of pages so it becomes colorful also.

- - mom62527 said
  - 24 Jun 2019
    9:06 pm
Wow these look amazing I was wondering what to do with the children’s old books this is a brilliant idea. Now I can try this, thankyou for sharing.

- - Lisa said
  - 05 Jun 2019
    12:33 pm
So pretty .. if some sort of sealant was applied this would increase the longevity of them and help make them easier to clean when dusty.

- - caramello said
  - 22 May 2019
    6:02 pm
great idea, thanks for sharing

- - mom343701 said
  - 30 Apr 2019
    6:33 pm
what a lovely idea, thanks

- - mom212332 said
  - 06 Apr 2019
    4:28 am
These would look great on the book shelf as a decorative piece. What a great idea.

- - neat22 said
  - 04 Apr 2019
    9:49 pm
What an awesome idea. I’d have a few fave books I’d keep but the others it’s giving the book a new lease of life. Fabulous!

- - youngoldlady said
  - 25 Mar 2019
    2:34 am
Not too sure about this but do have some book doubles that are not readable I could try this with.

- - MrsA said
  - 22 Mar 2019
    7:08 am
I couldn’t cut up a book. This is a very interesting craft though.

- - mom290396 said
  - 11 Feb 2019
    12:58 am
As a bibliophile I just can’t imagine how people can cut up books for anything! And why old books? You can never get them again. My oldest book is 150 years old, and I love knowing that when it was brand new it was purchased by someone who was educated and wealthy!