With the changes in technology, it is very sad to say but books are becoming redundant with the new generation. With the invention of E-readers, Ipads and Bluetooth headphones paper books will soon become a thing of the past.  The good old days of holding a book are becoming a rare sight. Now you see people with wireless headphones listening to books via their smart devices. But on the bright side, we are still enjoying our favourite books without cutting down trees. So with this in mind and so many books floating around I wanted to try and repurpose one into something useful.  I chose to try and repurpose a booking into a Jewellery box.

With world environment day coming up on the 5th June, our topic for this months International bloggers challenge (IBC) was to create a project through recycling, reusing or repurposing. Anything that will help the environment.  (More info about IBC at the end of this post)

How to repurpose an old book into a Jewellery Box

Working in an aged care home our facility is always getting books donated for our residents to read.  This is a very generous idea but as you can imagine we can become inundated with books.  Some with print too small for our residents to read or some just not suitable, and with book stores closing down there is nowhere to recycle them.  So instead of sending them to the landfill, crafters are coming up with great ways to recycle them.

Find a suitable book

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For this project, you will need a thick hardcover book. (Ignore the image of the gesso, for now.)   Covers with the glossy finish are not suitable because the paint and glue do not adhere very well.

Cutting the book

You will need to mark out the area you want to cut first.  Using a ruler as a guide is a good idea because once to start cutting further down into the book the pages move when the book is opened. You will also need to leave enough paper on all sides to keep the jewellery box stable. Using a sharp craft knife start cutting through the pages.  Originally I was going to leave a few of the front pages as they were, but I figured they would get damaged over time so I went back and cut them.

 Glueing the Jewellery Box

To seal all the pages I used Mod Podge.  Start on the inside of the book and add a generous layer of the mod podge to all the sides.

Add a piece of saran wrap to the top page to prevent the cover from getting glued closed. Then add another layer of mod podge to the outside pages of the book. The book will then need to be weighed down with something heavy to hold the pages in place while the mod podge dries.

If you don’t have something heavy you can use my setup.  I used a book either side and used clamps from my workshop to clamp them all together.

Lining the inside of the Jewellery Box

As hard as I tried to cut the inside of the box straight the side attached to the spine of the book always moved the pages the deeper I cut.  This did look pretty tacky but I had come too far to stop.  To hide this I used a self-adhesive felt. The felt was cut to the correct size and the jewellery box was lined with it.

Decorating the Jewellery Box

For mixed media, it looks good if you add some texture to the surface first. Using texture paste and stencils is a great way to do this.  Place the stencil over the book and add a layer of texture paste with a spatula.

This step does not need to be added in any particular way.  Adding a few different stencils will give a great effect in the end.

This was my jewellery box after I added all the different stencils. I do know it looks a mess at the moment but it does get better.  The big peaks of texture paste can be pushed down with your finger before it dries

Adding the embellishments to the Jewellery Box

This is the fun part but also the messy part.  This style of mixed media always looks like a dog’s breakfast at this stage so don’t be put off, keep going.  You can add just about anything to the book to decorate it.  Here is a list of a few items that I used.  The other items were bits and bobs I found around the house and my workshop.

• stencils
• Broken earings
• Broken necklace
• Decorative Studs/Thumbtacks
• Assorted craft charms/Steampunk charms
• Book corners
• An old keyhole from stripped furniture
• Buttons
• Jewellery box legs
• Braid trim

Here are some close up so you can see what items I used.  All the embellishment are glued onto the book cover using turbo tacky glue for the smaller items and hot glue gun for the bigger items.  When you are adding the embellishments you can layer some of the items to give the book a 3D effect.  For more ideas on how to layer and place the embellishments, you can check out some of my other mixed media projects.

Adding some legs to the jewellery box

To make the book look more like a jewellery box I added some small legs.  These legs I bought from China thinking they would be a lot larger, but they were great for this project. To attach the legs to the book I used a hot glue gun with black glue sticks.

Position the legs into the corners as shown below.

The face and the frame in the centre were made using bought silicone moulds and they were filled with epoxy resin.  There is really no wrong or right way to do this step.

Painting the box

Once all the embellishments have been added you can now paint everything black.  For this project, I used black gesso only because I had it at home.  Black acrylic paint can be used.

If you don’t want to use black you can add any colour depending on your theme.  A great way to get your paint to dry quickly is to use a hairdryer.

Adding the metallic wax paste

So far with my mixed media colours, I have been a one-hit-wonder.  I have always blended a few colours together like in the steampunk mixed media mirror. So for this project I wanted to try black and silver.  The more projects I do the more adventures I become.

Dip the tip of your finger into the wax paste and rub it along the raised surface of all the embellishments.

The idea is to make the charms and other embellishments stand out against the black.  So don’t try and cover all the black paint. This is where you can see the textured background you made with the stencils come to life and add character.

The pages on the sides did not blend in very well, so they got some silver metallic wax too.

Lining the inside of the box

The inside of the box looked pretty tacky with the book pages so to finish it off I added some decorative paper.  I used some Kaisercraft paper which is a lot thicker than regular paper and comes in many designs.  The paper was cut to the correct size and glued in place.

I used tacky glue which started to make the paper bubble like it does when you get a book wet.  To prevent this from happening I used the saran wrap and clamps again while the glue dried.

Once the glue is dry you can gently press the paper to find the indent and cut the paper with a craft knife.

This is the inside of the jewellery box complete.

To seal the jewellery box it is a good idea to wait 12 hours for the wax to set then add 2 coats of acrylic spray sealer.

Looking at the close-ups of the finished box it looks a bit like a witches spell book. Another great idea would be to make a Gothic diary for a teenager and add a cool padlock.

Are you looking for more great DIY and craft ideas pop across to Favecraft and Diyideacenter for some inspiration?

About IBC (International Bloggers Club)

If you follow my blog you will know I am part of IBC (International Bloggers Club) which is a group of talented bloggers from around the world. We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Each month we come together and create a project in a common theme.

If you missed last month’s Black and white theme here is the link to my wooden wall hanging which were a huge hit.   The contributions from my fellow bloggers are listed below, please feel free to jump over and share your thoughts.

1. A crafty mix |Kokedama fairy village
2. Raggedy bits |Upcycle old paddle paint pouring
3. Interior frugalista |DIY Eco-friendly rain barrel and compost. 
4. Northern feeling |Free abstract plant printable

Looking for more mixed media project ideas check out these Stiletto ring holders

If you are looking for any of the items used in this project, please consider using our links. By clicking on the links we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Which helps us come up with new and exciting ideas to share with you. Please feel free to share or leave a comment we would love to hear your thoughts.