Book covers tend to have beautiful artwork on them that goes unnoticed when they’re sitting on a forgotten shelf or in a box in the basement, especially where vintage or children’s books are concerned. It may seem sacrilegious, but they can be turned into art if you’re willing to remove the covers or a page or two.
Of course, if you’re not willing to part with your own copies, you can try thrift shops and yard sales for books that aren’t in the best of condition. Bring them back to life. Arrange them by color, theme, or just let them stand alone.
Books can be used as picture frames when a portion of the cover is removed. Pair vintage books with old pictures, tie pages together and mount them on the wall, and use the “frames” to display small objects in 3D.
If you can’t bring yourself to cut up the covers, a collage of overlapping book covers might still be manageable.
Take books with a theme, expand the color scheme, and add a few favorite sayings to create a completely personalized wall.
Pages from any old book will work to print silhouettes of special objects on, so ripping up favorites won’t be necessary. Because you’re printing the images yourself, this method of using books as art is completely customizable.
Not all books used as art have to be deconstructed. With proper shelving, books can be displayed so that their colorful covers show, but they can still be read over and over again.
The extremely dedicated can attempt a sculpture out of paperbacks, like the ones English artist Jonathan Callan creates.
Photo credits: Lauren Elise Crafted, So You Think You’re Crafty, A Pop of Pretty, Ruffles and Stuff, Elizabeth Sullivan Design, and The Best Part
