An Artsy Booksy Crafty Thing

It's a crime to throw away books, and I think that we can all agree on. Some of the institutions I agree with most are libraries, and they almost always accept books! Recently, my family cleaned out our collective book collections, ending up with a brown paper bag full of books. Whenever I go to the library, I'll browse the used books shelves, and I'm glad to think that some of the duplicate books I own will go to a good home!

In related news, my classes are clearing up too, especially damaged books so that they can order new ones at the end of the year. I'm a major reference books fan, so a thesaurus is always at my desk. It happened to be one that was stripped, with no front or back covers, but completely usable: underloved books for the win! However, since it wasn't perfect, it was destined for disposal. In the end, though, instead of in the trash can, it's with me at home, hanging out on my desk.

That brings my total of thesauruses to three: One giant The Synonym Finder, which is massive and too big for most uses except esoteric words; a Random House Roget's that I use sometimes; and the new/old one, Webster's Roget's. In other words, I probably own enough thesauruses for three people. (Not probably own, but do own.) And so the new/old thesaurus is sitting rather sadly on my desk. Until I found this craft online! It's a paper envelope to slip over book covers, which is better than the contact paper DIY fabric book ones that work better on hardcovers. Since my book doesn't even have the cardstock, this is perfect! I also have an abundance of scrapbook paper and wrapping paper, so here's my progress photos. It's all directly from this very excellent blog post: http://www.kittyandbuck.com/blog-lifestyle/2013/08/diy-japanese-paper-book-cover.

 These are all the supplies you need! The Roget's Thesaurus is pretty small, so I used one 12 by 12 inch piece of scrapbook paper. Then you need the book, of course, and some tools to mark straight lines. I folded down the sides until the top and bottom were flush with the book's top and bottom.

 I folded down the sides until the top and bottom were flush with the book's top and bottom.

Then a fold at the end so that a bit of a sleeve was formed where the edge of the book lies on the paper.

Sliding the front page (since there's no cover) into the sleeve made by the three folds.

All done! I think it looks very pretty, and might hold up for more use. I love papercrafts since they're so often quick, and this one was literary too! I can imagine doing this with blank kraft paper to be able to doodle on it later. This concludes Citali's Crafts Mode: Literary Edition. 

Happy reading!

~Citali