Paper wreath

[Antidigger]

I got a load of books only fit for dismantling by dint of asking my local library for some.

I've been trying some new things with them. This one I ripped the covers off, stewed in a pot of tea and had at it with a glue stick. A little later on I burned myself with the hot glue gun for the first time, but I'm sure not the last.

My real a-ha moment here was the idea of getting out my hubby's low temperature plastic stuff: you drop some in a mug (or other water container of hot water) and it becomes soft & pliable until it cools to room temperature again. Well, once I'd got a cone size I liked, I used the plastic to make a template for the other cones. It worked brilliantly  , loads of quick, uniform cones. I must remember to use it for more templates!

Anyway, it's pretty and I like it.

[cmarion3]

Just the holiday gift for the literary crowd. Tho' they may gasp at the desecration of books. I love it!

[LRShimer]

Hey I love altered book art! Thank you for reminding me about it. Had forgotten!

1) another thing you can do... can I describe it?.... Is like a card holder/non-rolling rolodex'y kind of thing. Take a big thick paperback - like a thick dictionary - sit it on it's spine - pages standing up, and fold one triangles down per page, at consistently alternate angle.

Boy I hope that makes sense and comes in handy.

2) Also I kind of think last year I used the same idea you did for a wreath here to make a big flower topper for a gift. Like an azalea kind of thing. Mebbe you would enjoy that as well.

Thanks again for making me think about this stuff. I had totally forgotten.

:-)

[miamy]

And here I thought I was creative. I never would have thought of that. That is really cool. How about having your favourite literary quotes on the next one? It would make people come up close and pay attention. And it would be inspiring

[elderflower]

I think that is a great idea.  So many books just get thrown away - because they aren't great classics; many are just out-of-date text books.  At least this way they make something beautiful before they die.

[Antidigger]

It's not desecration: I would never use a book that could still be read. These are the books that came back to the library with missing pages, bits torn out, jam sticking the pages together, infants drawings on them or simply in several pieces.

The azalea idea sound great: I've got a chrysanthemum in my head to do. I will have to think about the rolodex tree idea: most of the books I've got so far are not in good enough condition, but if I keep it in the back of my mind when I get a good 'un.

[HMax]

This is really lovely!  I'm trying to picture how you used the low temp plastic stuff to make the templates.  Can you explain further?

[batgirl]

Oooh, I really love this!! Thanks for sharing!

[Antidigger]

The plastic template? Well, first of all I made a few paper cones and discovered they were all different sizes and didn't look good together, so I chose the nicest looking one and put it to one side. Then I took some of the low temperature melt plastic and remembered to put it in a mug of hot water and not my mug of tea
Even if they're both about the same temperature.

Now the LTM plastic doesn't really melt, but it does go transparent (useful to tell you it's ready) and soften into a pliable sort of dough consistency. Then I rolled it into a rough cone shape and whilst it was still soft pushed it into the cone I'd decided was a nice shape. It came out a little wonky so I put it back in the mug and tried again. It worked a lot better that time, so now I have a cone of the right shape to wrap around.

[HMax]

Cool thanks!  I figured that was probably it but wasn't sure if the plastic stuff was a sheet or a blob.  All cleared up.