Transform your old books with Corinne Bradd’s genius upcycling ideas
We love reusing what we can and now Corinne Bradd has taken it to the next level by finding a multitude of ways to give your old books a new lease of life. From adorable necklaces to decorative pumpkins, Corinne can make it using little more than some scrap materials and a dab of glue. The techniques here are fairly simple, but may require some patience, providing the opportunity for some chill-out crafting.
• Templates from papercraftermagazine.co.uk • Old books • Dies: flowers, circles • Maps • Cereal boxes • Cardstock • Embroidery thread
• Cotton yarn • Washi tape • Jump ring • Necklace chain • Wooden skewer • Binder clips • Punch, hole • Alcohol marker, orange
• Decorative elements • Tools: darning needle, needle tool, compass
• Adhesives: PVA glue, glue stick • Die-cutting machine
TASSEL BOOKMARKS
1 Cut a spine or small cover from an old book and back with coloured cardstock. Punch a small hole in the bottom of the spine, or a series of holes 5mm apart along the bottom edge of a cover.
2 For a spine, take a length of embroidery thread and pass through the hole with a darning needle. Keep threading through the hole to make a series of loops. When the tassel is big enough, wind the thread around the hank several times at the bottom of the spine, then pass the needle back up through the binding, through the hole and back through the binding to secure. Clip the loops, comb out and trim.
3 For a cover, cut several 10cm lengths of thread and tie each one through a hole by folding in half, passing the loop through the hole and threading the loose ends through the loop.
Tighten to make a lark’s head knot. Comb out the ends of the thread and trim.
[CRAFTER’S DICTIONARY]
Lark’s head knot
Also known as a cow hitch knot, the lark’s head knot involves passing both ends of your thread over the object you’re attaching to, and through the loop in the centre of the thread. See the diagram for a visual guide.
BOOK NECKLACE
1 Use a ruler to tear several book pages into 5cm x 8cm rectangles. Fold each rectangle in half and stack together so the folds are all level. Hold the stack firmly with binder clips before pasting the folds with PVA glue. Leave to dry.
2 Trim two 4.5cm x 5.5cm sections from old book covers and a thin spine piece. Fix together in a row with a strip of thick paper, leaving a 1mm gap between the sections. Glue the stack of pages to the spine section, fold the covers over and secure the first and last pages of the stack to the inside covers.
3 Decorate the book cover with washi tape and other decorati
