I LOVE books. I love reading books. I love beautiful coffee table books. I love using books in my decor to add height and color to vignettes. I HATE when I have beloved books that don't match my decor style. What's a gal to do? Put a ginger jar on a brown book? Woof.
If y'all know me at all, you know that I also love chinoiserie, so when I saw Caitlin Wilson's chinoiserie books, I got to thinking about high school. Homecoming and cheerleading and boys...loljk I was thinking about my big 'ol AP physics book. See where I'm going with this? No? WELL. The first assignment in pretty much any high school class was to cover the text book. And that, folks, is how we're gonna DIY some chinoiserie books (or like...any style of your choosing, if you're not feeling particularly extra today)
I hustled on over to Michael's and snatched up a sheet or two of every cardstock design that inspired me. From here on, it's literally the same process we all followed back in high school!
1. Lay your book on top of an upside down piece of cardstock, centered vertically.
2. Crease the top and bottom of the cardstock along the edges of the book.
3. Fully fold along each of your creases.
4. Open your book and place it back on top of the cardstock, again centered vertically, such that the left edge of the cover is about an inch and a half from the left edge of the cardstock.
5. Fold the left side of the cardstock over the open cover of your book and fully crease.
6. Tuck the cover into the little pocket created by the three folds.
7. Close your book so that the back cover is now on top and the rest of the cardstock lies to the right of the book's spine.
8. If your cardstock doesn't fit all the way over the back cover of your book (it more than likely won't), pull it tight and tape it to the back cover.
9. If your cardstock does fit all the way over the back cover, repeat steps 5 and 6 on the uncovered side of the book.
These books are so easy to make and bring so much visual interest to your decor. Best part? You can still read psychological thrillers with ugly covers!
diy supplies:
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