green crafting: recycled books

Last two weeks was my summer vacation. I tried a no Internet policy and spend my time crafting and reading. I succeeded in the crafting and reading part. The best that I can say is that I have no more book reader's block! That is a big thing. For a year I just could not put myself towards reading, not even a children's book! Which is very strange for me, because I am a big fan of reading. Anyways, I managed to finish one book and start another during my vacation. And I am loving it once again.
(Did you somewhere expect a but, well, here it comes:) But I did not quite succeed in the no Interet thing. The first week went by with just two or three times checking my e-mail, but the second week I was my old Internet-addict-self again. Sorry. But there are too many great blogs out there! And so much inspiration!
With my freshly lifted book readers block, I stumbled upon this great idea for the recycling of books: the living garden of knowledge in Métis, Quebec. It is made with 40000 books, in the middle of a forest.

This inspired me to search for more great things made with recycled books. I mostly found prints and paintings on old book pages, like this one from owlstudio on Etsy:

And this faery tale one on an old dictonary page by DreameryStudio on Etsy:

Garlands are always a great thing to make with recycled paper, like this lovely garland made from an old book by bibliocide on Etsy. (You should really check out this shop if you like the recycled book/paper theme!)

But what amazed me most during my search on Etsy where the sculpures, especially this one by Kenjio:

And the best recycling idea is this last one: vintage playing blocks combined with pictures from cowboys out of an old book. This makes a great toy! These 77 cowboy blocks are hand-recycled by ownbackyard on Etsy.


Happy crafting!
Love, Inkie

Are you inspired? Please show us your creations at our Flickr group.

Do you want more green crafting? Check out my posts about recycled sweater pillows, recycled maps and recycled paper crafts.

Back to School

I'm back to school this week and I made a fun little pencil cup for my classroom.

This would make a great teacher's gift.

I'm not going to make an official 'DIY' because I know I saw this idea somewhere....I've been looking all week for the official link to the site where I saw this idea but I can't remember where I saw it originally. (If you know the original source, please post a link in the comments, thanks in advance!)

The original idea I saw used ribbon cut to the a length to fit around a cleaned up tin can. I just used making tape...layed the colored pencils in a row on the table, on the tape, in rainbow order and then wrapped the whole chain of pencils on the tape around the cup and hot glued the pencils to the can, creating a fun little colorful storage holder for my desk supplies.

Another idea from PB Teen is a really cute accessory cup, its all white....it would be cool to use office/school supplies to make all sorts of accessories....and paint them white.  You could make a similar one or order one of theirs if you don't feel like making one yourself.

Hope you have a great week if you are back at school like I am!! I would love to see your classroom if you are a teacher, leave a link in the comments.