Friday, October 18, 2013

DIY: Turning A Book Into Framed Art

Today I wanted to share a little DIY project I did for James' cowboy room. 

We are a big book loving family here so I wanted to incorporate that into more ways than just a bookshelf full of books. At first I thought it would be neat to hang some little cowboy Golden Books I found at a bookstore but the shapes were so odd and all over the place that I quickly scratched that idea. 

Then a lightbulb went off when I found this amazing book at Vroman's. 


The book was not only cute and totally fitting for his cowboy room, but it looked so vintage and I LOVE that. 

I decided to take it apart (gasp) and frame my favorite pages to complete James' room. 

It was really easy and fun so if you and your family have a favorite book, you should totally use this idea!

Supplies needed-

Pages from your favorite books, frames, and a cutting board. 

Instructions-

-Choose what pages you want to frame and ever so carefully take them out of the book. 

-I used a cutting board. At first I tried to carefully tear a test page out and that did NOT work. I tried cutting with a scissors, again a no go. The cutting board made them perfect and straight across. I recommend taking the binding out first. 

-Chances are the book isn't going to be a normal 5x7 or 8x10 standard size so this is where things get a little tricky. 

The pages in my book measured just under 7x7 so my next task was hunting down suitable frames. Target and easy places like that only carry standard sizes. 

I found a place online called Frame USA. They are based out of Ohio but they ship worldwide. Their frames are VERY cheap, come in almost every size you could imagine (including the 7x7 I needed), and they come in a wide range of colors and types. There's tons to choose from. 

I chose red frames with thick boarders to match his room, ordered six 7x7's and they were at my door a week later. Pretty impressive. The cost was $50 which I think is really good for all those frames plus shipping. 

Then all I had to do was 

-Put the pages in my frames 

-Hang them on the wall!




Super easy! Sorry I didn't take a whole lot of pictures of the process but I figured it was pretty straight forward. 

Here is the result- 



The cost of the book ($10) plus frames ($50) means this project only cost me $60! 

Art can be expensive. Frames aren't usually cheap and prints can be pricey. 

I'm thrilled with how this project turned out!

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