skip to main content

Trash To Treasure

stack of books

20 years ago

We brought home a stack of books from my mother in laws estate. these are not nice, old books, just a stack of books. They are not in bad shape, just not what the library wants/ So what can we do with boohs, besides read them, naturally.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (12)

wichitarick
20 years ago
hi
I sure wished I had it to show off but the obvious one is
a lamp these were once arts and crafts projects .
and I owned one that was gma,s made with leather bound boks witha leather shade old brass very cool was about my fav. pc of junk it was taken from me R.I.P. .
a lamp is easy to make a drill a lamp kit, decopage material to glue up the pgs. a cool shade.
I actually considered making a garden bench from them once.
using outdoor glue and poly and lg. bolts . would have worked!!!!
Rick
lydia1959
20 years ago
I was going to suggest a lamp too!

There are also lots of people who make "altered books". You may want to give that a try?

Here is a link that might be useful: Altered Books
Related Discussions
a vision of a home...
Q
Comments (32)
I'm so glad you've all enjoyed it and that some of you teared up as much as I did! :-) My mother is one of my closest friends and yes, she is probably where I got what small talent with words I may have and definitely where I got my passion for reading. She may prefer historical romance while I lean toward science fiction, but we are both adrift without a book close at hand. She has always encouraged me to write, as I have her; since she never went to college, she was so thrilled when I graduated with a BA in English Literature and a concentration in Creative Writing. She has written for most of my life but has never been published, although I've encouraged her to send small vignettes like these to "Yankee" and "Down East" magazines. I wonder if "Cottage Living" would like this one, polished up a bit? You can also see where I got my penchant for verbosity! LOL DH is continually stunned at the length of the emails we send back and forth, since he comes from a corporate culture in which you write the absolute minimum. When we wrote hardcopy letters to each other we often needed to add a second stamp to the envelope! She may rarely set pen to paper anymore (years as a florist and gardener have trashed her poor hands) but email serves her just as well. I have not yet seen the new Victoria magazine, every time I stop by the bookstore it is out of stock and the library does not carry it. I'll look for a back issue on eBay. I'm going to pass excerpts from this thread back to her (I'm not going to point her to this thread because to be honest, much as I love her I want "my turf" to myself! LOL) to encourage her to continue imagining and writing. She jokes in another letter: "Now you've had two different styles of letters today...from the same person...does that make for a split personality or what? There's the everyday part of me and then, there's the dreamer...who I think is the better part of me. The everyday part is too concerned with work, paying bills, keeping house, cooking meals, etc....But the dreamer is still there, popping out unexpectedly now and again. Maybe it's better that way, making those moments when dreaming time comes all the sweeter." Oh, and she grows gorgeous roses. Not the fancy ones, because she doesn't have time to fuss with the garden as much as she would like, but the old-fashioned "grow in great wild-looking heaps over and through the picket fence" kind, the ones where the fragrance on a summer night is so strong you can almost see it floating in the air. Thus the selection of a book on cottage gardens! Sadly I did not inherit her green thumb - I can kill mint - but she grows enough for both of us.
...See More
Desk and wall o'storage -- options?
Q
Comments (8)
Camlan and jmc01 -- excellent idea, to assess the need first. I had made a list of what space I'd need for what items a few months ago when I was doing the same for the kitchen, but it was mostly off the cuff instead of actually looking through drawers to see what needs to stay and what can go. I have been avoiding the purge-and-consolidate process. Blah. lol. Last night I started emptying out drawers to see how much space we'll need for the things in them (in addition to the things that have no home). We already have a desk, it's very old and it is enormous -- too deep, as we lose things in the backs of the drawers and never see them again. We also have an antique wooden file cabinet (also full of stuff). I don't think we'll keep either one; I like their looks OK but they just don't meet our needs now. The file cabinet drawers don't slide very easily. You know how it is with antiques sometimes. About custom work -- we are in an urban area, and the last time we had a cabinet quote from a carpenter (for a bathroom) it was very high. But that was many years ago and things may well have changed, so I will definitely keep it in mind, thanks! Camlan -- that is a very good point and I agree with you. What we need is a place to put the "action" items other than the middle of the kitchen. The desk (surface covered by books and toys at the moment) is not in the main walk path of the house, though it is near it. The kitchen peninsula is for all intents and purposes not part of the kitchen at all; it is nowhere near the prep/cook areas and functionally it is more a part of the den. It IS right in the main walk path, so we tend to drop things there. I am planning to do a (hopefully not too major) kitchen rearrangement when we replace our chipped countertops. One of the things I would like to do is to get rid of the peninsula entirely. That should help force a change of habit. And you are quite right that things like mail and library books don't need to be stored (I'd forget them too, if I couldn't see them) -- those are things that I envision going into either cubbies or open shelves or vertical slots. Just not flat down in stacks right in the way of everything. And some of the stuff on the peninsula HAS no place, mostly childrens' things. The house was decently well organized when there were just two of us in it. lol. (DH once looked at the stacks, then at me and said "But your house before we got married was so neat. What happened?" lol. I told him that I can deal with MY stuff just fine; it's handling 4 people's stuff that gets overwhelming, especially when there is no designated area for it. I might have also mentioned offhand that I am not the only one capable of putting away [somewhere] the kids' things.) Anyway. My car, at least, is still neat as a pin. Forhgtv -- I never in a million years would have thought of a closet company. I looked up a local one and what do you know, they have pictures of this kind of thing on their website. And they're near our house too, so at some point I will run over and check them out. Thanks for the suggestion! Hmm, reading over all this makes me think we need to rethink the storage-ability in the kids' rooms too. Great. Need new kitchen countertop, therefore must reconfigure children's closets. The usual logical progression of remodeling.
...See More
Surprise Books
Q
Comments (10)
To Kill A Mockingbird which I had avoided until I was 40. I've still never seen the movie. I found it to be a novel of great charm and heartbreak. Also, The Iliad which I read and listened to just a couple of years ago. The Odyssey had long been a favorite and I knew from secondary sources, selected readings in The Iliad, and Greek dramas (or would that come under secondary sources?) the story of the Trojan War. So not having a particular interest in war, it never tempted me to read in its entirety. Once I did I loved it. I had never before realized how central the greek gods were in the story. My book group is always getting me to read books I normally wouldn't pick up. Larson's Isaac's Storm was one we read after Hurricane Isabel swept through here and which greatly informed me when Katrina was hitting the gulf.
...See More
Stuck in a rut
Q
Comments (7)
When your new husband moved in did he bring any of his favourite things with him? Are you trying to include him in the house by getting rid of some of your family things? I love vignettes - I even like the word - because I think they have the ability to tell the story about a person. Having things especially family things handed down or loved, is not useless. My mother just downsized and got rid of everything, literally everything. If it wasn't for her children and granddaughters she would have thrown away family heirlooms. This all to say, that her new place is just a shell without a story or a history or a life. There's no heartbeat left in her place. To me it's just sad. She said it was all just junk and just useless but it isn't. When you look at your things think of them as your story and create vignettes with them. Does your husband have anything that you can add to the vignettes so as to indicate a new story? I don't have a lot of things but what I do have I love. It all means something to me. A couple of things came from Home Sense because I loved the colours and combined with something of my mom's tells a story about me. I have some of my MIL's things and combined with other items tells a story of DH and me. I only take and keep things that I love and like. You say you love your things - keep them because it means they are not useless.
...See More
mcnaughton
20 years ago
Last week on Trash to Treasure Hgtv, they used stacked old books as feet for an ottoman. They stacked 2 or 3 books and attached them in the corners of the bottom of the ottoman. It looked cool.
wichitarick
20 years ago
hi
that is a cool idea. thanks for that link had no idea.
you could get lost in that mess some trippy folks.
I remembered one from when I was a kid the secret box book
by gluing and cutting out the inner pgs. so it makes a box.
easy some real fancy jewelery boxes are made this way.
rick
junkgirl
20 years ago
I saw a great idea in a British book where they fastened several books together with a large (8 inch or longer) screw, cut a rectangle through the middle of hte books using a jigsaw, and made a planter. They left the books outside so the edges would warp giving the books a well-thumbed look. They planted a small tiny leaved trailing plant in it. I'd have to say that it probably wouldn't last but a couple of seasons out in the weather though. Alice
sweets98
20 years ago
It's not a really new or neat idea but I have them around the house on stands to add height to things. Like lamps are a little higher, a picture, the cordless phone....

There was also a craft a while back on the Crafts and Decorations forum that was primitive but could be adapted into any style. The person painted on the front cover of the book and then used a fabric or ribbon that they put through the center of the book and hung it up. Could be used to make say a "Do Not Disturb" sign or something for a holiday or whatever.
sladybug2
20 years ago
On a recycle board I saw a bar made out of all books. You could also glue them together and make a base for a side table. Or you could donate them!!
iowajewel
20 years ago
I once copied an idea from a magazine in a very small 1/2 bath.....
You use an L-bracket and attach to a wall....then glue and clamp till dry, a book with the L-bracket on the inside of the bottom cover(hardback). Then glue more on top....a stack of books. THen I put a couple of loose books on one stack(so that they could be read) and then put a candllestick on the other stack. Ended up cute. Just made a cozy "reading" spot!
Julie
tammie36
20 years ago
I saw and think it was HGTV where these people wanted a bookcase and could have been at top or bottom of stairs or maybe one of those "fake" bookcase doors. they cut the books maybe 2" from the spine area (going towards the front of the book) so all the had was a very small book with spine and glued them on the "fake bookecase" to make a library feel. Something I have always wanted to do, but dh rolls his eyes at me :)

Tammie
wichitarick
20 years ago
hi
another link http://www.rebound-designs.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: book purses
lynne_melb
20 years ago
Are there any good pictures or illustrations in them? These could be used in a variety of ways, such as framing them, or using the picture in a home-made greeting card.
countrytodamax
20 years ago
A couple of ideas.
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/diy/macgyver-tip-build-a-bar-out-of-old-books-149256.php
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2006/02/how-to-make-secret-hollow-book.html

Related Stories

ORGANIZING New Classics: Stacking Bookshelf

By Becky Harris

Create Towers of Titles While Taking Up Minimal Floor Space

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Garden Walls: Dry-Stacked Stone Walls Keep Their Place in the Garden

By Olander Garden Design

See an ancient building technique that’s held stone walls together without mortar for centuries

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Follow Nature’s Lead for Artful Stacked Stones

By Karen Peterson

Surprise and delight in the landscape with rock formations resembling wildland hoodoos and cairns

REMODELING GUIDES Stacked Stone Inside the Home

By Debbie Snider

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING How to Make a Stacked Stone Fire Pit

By Erin Lang Norris

See how to build a cozy outdoor gathering place for less than $500

MODERN ARCHITECTURE Houzz Tour: Stacking Up to a Modern Master in Kansas

A nearby Marcel Breuer house was the inspiration for this double-volume home, but it beautifully fits its time and place

GARDENING AND LANDSCAPING Double Front Porches Stack Up Comfort

By Kristy Woodson Harvey and Beth Woodson

Twice the space, twice the outdoor pleasure. A double front porch lets you enjoy views, fresh air and company that much more

DENS AND LIBRARIES How to Care for Your Home Library

By Laura Gaskill

Increase your enjoyment of books with these ideas for storing, stacking and displaying them

DECORATING GUIDES Get More Mileage From Your Coffee Table Books — as Decorating Elements

By Samantha Schoech

Take a page from resourceful decorators by using your gorgeous books in design-savvy ways around the home

DECORATING GUIDES 12 Spaces That Prove There’s Always Room for Books

Be inspired by the bookworms on Houzz who have won the book storage war

Sponsored

More Discussions

Experience with PlayerBoost

0