Craft with book pages – choose one of these easy crafts with old books!
I know some folks will always be horrified at cutting up books, but it is VERY easy to find books beyond salvage or use in my area. All of these were scooped up from the Goodwill Outlet bins, where things go that don’t sell in the stores, but I’ve also grabbed some in the past from library ‘fill a bag’ sales, asked friends and family to share unwanted books with me, and in Buy Nothing groups on facebook. There are so many easy crafts with old books and I’ve compiled a list of my favorite crafts using book pages to get you started!
I found a few books about upcycling books, too, if you’re interested!
- Folded book art : 35 beautiful projects by Clare Youngs
- The repurposed library : 33 craft projects that give old books new life by
- Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book by Jason Thompson
Pin this roundup post of easy crafts with old books with this collage image or link, please click through to the original sites to repin individual photos:
easy crafts with old books
How do you use old books creatively? Cutting them up and crafting with them! Let’s get inspired:
I had so much fun making these bookmarks with the illustrations from old books, click through to see all the embellishments I used.
This is such a fun way to reduce waste with holiday gift wrapping - reusable gift tags made from old books!
How cute are these tiny little book necklaces!
This is inventive- turning books into a clock.
A seasonal option with lots of potential for personalization.
Hard to tell from the photo, but this is a box! So clever.
This is such a cool idea, I want to do it for my own house.
I think this would be super fun with illustrations too, quick and easy craft magnets.
I don't love disposable packaging, but this might be an exception! Used book page packets, super cute.
I think these are so cute, especially if it was with a beloved book title.
I love the cheery purple against the green succulent this is a great idea.
A sweet way to display photos in a gallery wall or on a bookshelf!
This is a neat idea- sandwiching paper in between plastic!
There's a lot of folded book art out there but this is the only tutorial I found that I thought I'd put up in my own home, it looks great!
Fast and fun, this is a great idea and would work well for a group craft too!
This is creative! A fun way to personalize a desktop calendar.
Not pictured:
- This is BRILLIANT - turning an old book into an accordian organizer.
- Similar to the magnet craft above, turn the illustrations into pendants.
- Upcycling the coasters too, love this DIY set.
- There are lot of ways you could do this with more formal bindings, but here is one quick tutorial on making a DIY notebook out of an old children's book - or notebooks like this one or this one!
- Such a fun idea, turning a book cover into an activity kit!
- Not original, but popular for a reason- make a book safe.
- Use illustrations and mod podge to makeover furniture.
- Love these book spine bookmarks.
- Requesting this book from the library; check out this cool sewing organizer.
- Use it as a literal sketchbook/painting pad.
- Love these simple upcycled illustration Christmas ornaments.
- Very clever, turning books into a vase/planter.
- What about hand-embroidering on a vintage book cover or on the illustrations?
- This is sneaky if you put it on a regular bookshelf or just pretty out on a table- a book-front storage space.
- They make for great collage projects!
- If you're really talented, turn them into papercut/carved art - those are all 3D examples but you could do a 2D one with an exacto knife too! Or a different style of book art.
A darling photo album/scrapbook made from an old children's book - and another example of the same idea.
- No links, but consider using them to make greeting cards, folding them to make envelopes, turning them into decorative pins, or cutting them up to make a pennant banner!
- Junk journaling is a popular hobby that works well with old books - get an overview of it here.