My library love affair

As we all know we have a passion for books (or we wouldn't be here right?) but what do we do when our favorite old books fall apart? I hate to part with these old titles that have become more like old friends then just belongings. I've been looking over the web for ways to recycle these loves into art that can stay with me and spread a little cheer to others that visit my humble home. Here are a few of my favorite ideas.

For the love of books shared a wonderful idea to turn old book spines into bookmarks. It's such a clever idea!

Google image search turned up this interesting birdhouse made from old books. Wish I could find a tutorial for it but it does look pretty straight forward to make. Another idea would be to buy a wooden birdhouse and use something like mod podge to cover it in your favorite pages.

To go with this cute house I'd love to make a little paper mache bird to sit on the perch. Something like this little guy made out of my favorite pages. That Artist Woman has a wonderful tutorial on her site.

I also have to admit that I love the idea of turning old books into works of art. That's what they are to me. Beautiful words that have gifted me with wonderful highs and lows and to see them turned into art that can transfer that emotion in a few seconds is a beautiful thing <3 I can imagine a father that always read to his daughter and these are their favorite books. Head over here to view more of this artist's creations.

For the chic literary fashionista here's a tutorial to guide you through making your own book purse. I'll be the first to admit I'd love a whole collection of these.

And finally I found an etsy store selling book bins. They've taken simple wooden bins and added old book spines to the front. It would be such a simple project to DIY. I think we'll have to make some for our school bookshelves to hold our markers and math blocks. They would look great from the front and would give our shelves a clean, organized look. The kids can help pick out their favorite spines from their old books to recycle.