2 DIY Christmas Floral Book Wreaths

I was smitten with all these amazing images of wreaths made out of old books, newspaper, anything with the printed word.

Here are two vids that I think are totally doable. These are floral and look quite intricate (and well, because these just really appealed to me). You can use these as the base, and add your personal Christmassy touch ... it's only limited only by your imagination. Enjoy!

 

Manga farming

Not mango farming - manga farming. Manga - as in Japanese comic book manga. 

More pics after the jump!

The Japanese are quite the recyclers! And the vegetable lovers! 

Manga is used for germinating all sorts of vegetable seeds like radish, basil, sesame, cabbage, broccoli, name it, it's probably been tried. This sure beats dumping these old comics into the recycling bin!

{Via koshikawachi.}

Cardboard baby bookshelf

Cardboard cuteness and practicality. Plus it's kiddie height and no-guilt to toss when it comes around to redecorating when your kid is no longer going to find this cute. 

{Via Scholas Global.}

Upcycled records as mini bookends

Pretty neat, huh? I hope those who like vinyl don't cringe too much!

{Via.}

Incredible jewelry made from recycled books (yes, bling!)

Oh my goodness. These really took my breath away! They are jewelry that look like semi-precious stones. Right? Wrong -- look closely, and they are actually cross-sections of old books! I kept scrolling down and loving one after the other.

Here's just a few of my favourites. Check out more of Jeremy Mays's incredible work he calls "literary jewels" at Little Fly.

Ring made from "Middlemarch" by George Eliot

More photos of unique literary pieces after the jump!

Boob tube = book tube?

Need shelving? Old CRT TVs on hand? Love vintage? DIY streak in you? Then how about a shelf (for books and everything else) made from old TVs?

 {Via.}

Freefold furniture - bookshelves made from boxes

Freefold. Upclassed cardboard boxes, part origami, part moving day ... which are hopefully aren't too difficult to assemble. Love the concept!

More info here. 

Put your flowers in a book pot!

I find this quite pretty, albeit a tad bit worrisome. Soggy pages do not appeal. 

{Via}

Brian Dettmer's amazing altered books

These images just leave me in awe. Brian Dettmer has breathed new life into old books by transforming them into surprising book art.


Brian Dettmer's "Wagnalis Wheel,"(2010) made from altered encyclopedias.

"Webster Withdrawn," 2010.

More incredible book art after the jump!

Sit on your magazines

{Via}

Book partitions

More book love from Lula Dot who devised these book partitions. Though I must say that I sort of liked light reading, this one doesn't really rock my boat. I'd be itching to pull one of those paperbacks out of that partition, so why not a simple shelf? 

A whole wall looks more impressive -- though I'd still want to be on the side where I'd see the spines. {Via}

Light reading: a chandelier made from unwanted books

Lula Dot apparently loves light reading (pun, hint hint). This chandelier is made entirely from the pages of old books, which apparently in the UK are quite the headache to recycle: 

More books are printed every year, read and discarded. Even though many are taken to charity shops, they mostly go unsold and the charities have to pay for the books to be sent to landfill. For example 10,000 books a week from one charity will go to waste. There is currently no infrastructure set up to recycle the paper from books because the paper is low grade and the glue on the spine must be removed. 

Amazing book art. Though I would kind of be a little scared that I'd start a small fire. 

{Via}

Check out your books - over at the stack of books!

But of course you expect to see books when you go to the library. But would you expect this? A library checkout desk made entirely of books?! Pop over to the Delft University of Architecture to see it for yourself. 

After the devastating fire in the Architecture building that took a portion of the library's reserve, the school set out to establish a new collection that would consist of the salvaged books that went unburned and a bounty of others newly purchased to replace the destroyed volumes. 

Wonderful!

{Via}

Bookmark Monday 25: Recycled aluminum cans

Recycling is definitely the way to go, even for bookmarks!

{Via}

Pile of National Geographics = shelf

Old magazines pile up quickly. Look closely: this shelf is made entirely from National Geographic magazines. Designed by Sean Miller, this was a finalist of the Inhabitat Spring Greening Contest.
{Via}

Singing books?

 

Gotta spare guitar case around? 

{via}