Does anyone use books to make crafts?       I've found several blogs and articles for a project making a purse from a book.  I think the idea is awesome, but it does involve taking the book apart. The purse part uses the cover, not  the book itself.   I bought a large hardcover at the FOL sale but can't bring myself to mutilate this book!  I did try to find a Grisham, there are so many  no one would miss one!  I settled on a Brad Meltzer book, the First Counsel.  Since this book feels like my first murder victim, I thought it was appropriate! LOL    Seriously, I'm a no dog ear, don't leave a book open face down kind of girl, but I really want to make this purse.

  Anyway, anyone else utilize books to make crafts? Can I use the book pages themselves for another project so I can at least recycle the entire book?    Tell me to get over it and see how it comes out!

 Here is a link to one of the blogs I've found. 

scribbit.blogspot.com/2007/09/book-purses.html

I have used the pages from an old romance novel to decoupage onto a picture frame.  I believe this would also work for just about anything as a gift for a reader.  For example, you could decoupage a hat box or a tea tray.

You could also "tea stain" the pages, fold them, decoupage the two sides together, punch a hole in the top and thread a ribbon and maybe some beads onto it and have a bookmark.  Hmmmm, I might do that for some Christmas presents....

Hmmmm, Kim, that's a good idea for the bookmarks!  I hate the idea of leaving the book pages to just go in the trash, I'd rather utilize as much as I can!

That is so cute, Kim!  I'll bet you get a lot of compliments on it, especially from other readers. 

Thanks, Kim!    I'm going to take it for a spin when I hit the post office and do some errands today :)