Our First Craft! Coasters for Bibliophiles

Okay, so this first craft is pretty self serving: I needed some coasters. However I didn't just want any old silly coasters, I wanted cool ones. So I got the idea to decoupage these nifty ones out of some old books!

PICTURE COMING VERY VERY SOON

Instructions and more pictures after the jump

I've got the Books, Now what about the Tools?

So you've gone through all those old books, carefully weeded through the ones you want to keep and the ones you want to craft. Next step is to get your tools ready. I have compiled a list of all the different tools you will need to get started with most basic crafts.

Books for Crafting and Where to get Them

So you've got your X-acto blades and craft glue ready to start some awesome crafts? Oh wait, no books? That's ok, this post will give you some insight on the best sources for books you intend on using just for crafting purposes.

What Types of Books are Ideal for Crafting?

The most difficult part of book-crafting is deciding what types of books should be salvaged and which books should be turned into crafts. You don't want to cut into a first edition Faulkner, and you don't want to get halfway into a craft before realizing that you have a book with the wrong sort of structure for the craft you are attempting. In this post you will learn what the best types of books are for crafting in general as well as specific types of crafts.

Onward with the Crafting!

Part of the joy of having a physical book is that the book has many lives. Its first life begins the first time it is picked up off of the shelf at a bookstore, where it is opened and read for the first time. It may later have other lives as it passes from hand to hand, garage sale to used bookstore. Each time a book is read it gains more character, from the notes in the margins to the coffee stain in the corner.

Eventually a book, especially a well loved and well read tome, will reach a point where it is no longer in a useful or readable condition. The content may be out of date, or the book itself may be worn and battered beyond the point of practical reading. In this case we are able to let books go out with an artistic bang, by up-cycling them into something beautiful. For the next several days we will be focusing on ways to give old and abused books a new form.

Welcome to the Nook!

Bibliophile: noun
a lover of books especially for qualities of format; also : a book collector.

Welcome to the Bookkeeper's Nook, where you will learn how to take those dusty old books you picked up at flea markets, used bookstores or your neighbor's estate sale and either refurbish them to thier former state of glory, or up-cycle them into a whole new work of art.


With the advent of new technology such as the Kindle or Nook, books have begun to fall by the mainstream wayside. If you miss the feel of a nice hardbound in your hands, or the smell of a first edition classic, stick around and find some new and exciting ways to transform your old damaged books into the works of art they were meant to be.