DIY Decorative Books

Hello!  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  Spring is definitely in the air!  I've been taking advantage of the nice days to get out and do some yard work.  Our property is a little over a half acre so it's a lot to take care of and it pays to get a head start. 

In between cleaning up yard debris and trying to continue my new year's resolution of exercising, I've been working on a few projects.  A few small ones and one big one.  I have a blanket chest that I started last week and it's coming along quite nicely.  I probably won't have that done for a few more days though.  So for the meantime, here's just a little crafty project to get you by.

I've been seeing decorative books EVERYWHERE!  I really like the idea of using them on side tables or on shelves.  I've seen some in catalogs that cost an arm and a leg.... and why?  Who knows!  But I decided to just make my own.

So off to the dollar store where they actually sell hard back books.  Not that I would ever actually read any of them. LOL!  But for only $1 each it's a good way to go for DIY decorative books.

I made sure to get the cutest ones they had that would coordinate with some other accessories I was going to set them next to. 

I sifted through my scrap booking supplies and picked out some cute paper and embellishments.  I measured the paper over the ends of the books and cut them to size.  Then I used some mod podge to glue it on and put two coats over the top to seal it.  (I think mod podge is my new best friend!) haha!

Next I knew I wanted some kind of decorative element on the top of one of them.  I had this cute floral patterned paper that I wanted to mimic... but I'm definitely not an artist.  So I experimented and found the perfect way to do it. 

I taped the paper to the book and traced out the pattern with a pencil, making sure to press down really hard to create an indentation on the cover.  Once I peeled up the paper, the floral  pattern was indented on there.  Sweet!



You can see the top portion where I had already traced.



Then I just painted it and added a few little embellishments.  And voila!  Total cost of this project was $2!

I put them on this little side table/nightstand that I distressed (click here to see that). 

Cheap and easy just the way I like it! LOL :)

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