Or do you make something new and beautiful out of it, instead?
When I was in Borders today I noticed that they had their Christmas displays out. I'm not one who laments the ever-lengthening of the Christmas season--I revel in it. When I saw the holly and the tinsel, I went right home and got on Etsy, my favorite online shopping mall, and in the course of my browsing for gift ideas for the ones I love, I came across some really beautiful book art. Sculptures, mobiles, wreaths--I think any one of these pieces would be the perfect present for that hard-to-buy-for book lover. What better way to show your love for books than by repurposing them as home accents, and objets d'art? I can see myself setting one of these sculptures out on a shelf, pages splayed, or just laying it, closed, on a table, as a surprise for anybody who happens to pick it up.
ex libris book wreath, $50, Simple Joys Paperie
Spring Moon, $8, Revel Designs Shop
Second Star to the Right and Straight on Til Morning, $75, rhymeswithmagic
Stuart Little Book Mobile, $54, The Shophouse
The variations seem to be endless, and come in all price points. And many of these artists featured here will work on commission, and allow you to send them your own favorite old books which they will in turn turn into beautiful pieces. I have an old first edition Anne of the Island in terrible condition that I think I'd love to have made into a book mobile like the one to the right, here.
What do you think, booklovers? Book art: fabulous, or blasphemous? I cast my vote for the latter, but I see how some purists might disagree. Is there an old, well-loved book that you can't part with that you'd like to have repurposed? Would you buy something like this for someone in your life? Would you buy one of these for yourself?
My initial response is a gasp of horror ... but really, is it better to keep a book that you never dare open because it is so falling apart, or make something beautiful and memorable of it? My respect for books is so deeply ingrained that I don't know that I personally would ever be able to do such a thing (at least not without being worried that four hours away my mother just went into a coma), but I'm not opposed to the idea in general.
ReplyDeleteI can't even dog-ear my books! I had a professor tell a class of mine that our books were all too pristine, and that they were made to be worn out, written in, and what not. I politely ignored that thought.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I am so glad to FINALLY have a friend that won't be horrified to know that I think I'm putting up my Christmas tree this weekend. I love you right back!
ReplyDeleteAs for the book art - I love it. Most especially that wreath, but really, it's all gorgeous.
They are beautiful, but I don't think any of those books were dog eared! I wouldn'tt buy one as I prefer to spend my money on books you can actually read!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth: I LOVE CHRISTMAS SO MUCH. My birthday is the 26th and my husband's is the 28th, so we extend our celebration as long as we can, forwards and backwards.
ReplyDeleteAs for the books, y'all: maybe it's that I read my books so hard. And I read them so many times that sometimes they've lost pages or fallen in the bath, and then I can't read them but can't bear to get rid of them. My Anne of the Island is missing two chapters and I can't throw it away, so this seemed like a good compromise to my pack-rat compulsion. ;)
I think it's great. Brynn did a couple projects in school repurposing old books. They turned out nice.
ReplyDeleteI think those are lovely! I always forget to check Etsy too so thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteThis is funny because a friend who reads my blog sent me something similar as a suggestion and I hesitated for just that reason - I thought, hmm, I don't know if that's a nice thing to do to books. They are pretty though aren't they!
ReplyDeleteHello ~ thank you for featuring my wreath!
ReplyDeleteAs for the books I use... I repurpose books that are literally falling apart, have several pages missing, are headed for the trash, etc. I hope to preserve what's left of them by making wreaths and other paper whimsies. :)
I work at a public library, where discarded and donated books would take over the building if we did not "GASP" recycle/repurpose/trash them. Not all of course, we do put them in our twice a year book sale. But if a book doesn't sell in 2 sales, it's outta there. And this includes hundreds of books. Please don't tell me we can donate them to churches, schools, hospitals, jails, or goodwill. We donate appropriate books to juvenile detention (paperbacks only). I give some away on freecycle. Generally speaking, the remainders from a book fair is too large a donation for any one group. And yes, I have contacted various groups to find out what they need, and it typically isn't our discards. I don't believe in passing our 'garbage' on to someone else to dispose of.
ReplyDeleteI say books are there to use in any way we desire. They are sturdy building materials. If you're not gonna read 'em, build something!
Books are not holy, I don't revere them. I read the ones I like, and do what I wish with the ones I don't.