Creative Connection projects: Book Art

The paper decor at the Creative Connection breakfast panel was a huge hit. The panel was full of amazing women representing the print media world, so I wanted to use books and the written word as the focus of my designs. I had seen a number of folded book art pieces, and finally decided to try my hand at it. I love the results, and had tons of fun working with books. I can see a lot of book page projects in my future!

My vision was of a low folded book "bowl" filled with flowers. The first step was to cut the books in half to start creating the profile I wanted. My husband happens to be a carpenter (lucky! I know!), so he took them to the shop and chopped them up for me. This will take a heavy duty saw, so seek out a professional if you are not comfortable with power tools.

This project required one simple fold to the center seam.

Fold back each page, then continue on to the next.

As you keep folding, it will start to fan out and look like this.

Once you have all of the pages folded, cut the cover of the book off the spine using a box cutter.

Glue the two halves together using generous amounts of hot glue.

Now you have your bowl!

White coffee filters easily turned into fanciful bouquets to fill each bowl.

Simply crimp the middle to create a stem, then fluff out the petals.

Apply hot glue to the stem end,

then insert between the book pages.

I really stuffed it full to create a lush bouquet.

Honestly, even I was surprised at how fabulous these flowers looked.

I was rather certain that they would scream coffee filter, but they actually created a really magical effect.

I also topped them off with spray adhesive and white glitter just to give it all a little extra oomph!

These egg cartons were a recent auction score,

and I thought they would serve as the perfect base for my arrangments.

Another big dose of hot glue secured the bowl to the base, and they were ready to go!

An old dictionary provided inspiration for table runners.

I carefully loosened the binding enough to get the pages out with just the perfect jagged edge.

A strip of double stick tape was all I needed to attach the pages together.

I used 6 pages for each of my runners, but use whatever you may need for the length of your runner.

The final effect was luxurious and lovely on a very small budget.

Books=free

Coffee Filters=1.87 per pack of 200 (I used about 4 packs for 35 centerpieces)

Egg cartons=1.00

Hot glue

Double Stick Tape

Not bad, huh? Now, the labor part is a different story. Folding 70 book halves is no joke. I owe my dear neighbor many many pieces of pie in exchange for her expertise folding help. I would not have made it without her. Most likely, you will only be folding a few books, but you could still recruit a neighbor, make a pot of coffee and chat while you fold. It does get rather addicting.