As much as I’d like for my children to cherish and enjoy old books, past experience has taught me that it’s better to save the nice ones for later or find creative things to do with them. So, I now present another project for your old books.
I spray painted some inexpensive standard frames and simply searched through some of Evan’s old (as in falling apart) books for pictures that went nicely together and fit inside the mat.
This is an old project, but yesterday’s blocks made me think that you might like this idea. I find classic Little Golden Books to be an unending source of inspiration. And they’re also very cheap!
Also, if you have a book that has already been decimated by your child, you could try to salvage any nice illustrations for decorative purposes. I’ve been trying my darnedest to do this since Emily now shamelessly rips into her books right in front of me. Yep. It has come to that.
August 26th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Luuuuv this idea.
August 26th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Ruthanne, you can’t imagine my glee when you sent me those 2 precious Little Golden Books. But maybe this helps! :)
August 26th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Brilliant!!!
August 26th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I love LGBs! Your framed art looks so great! I have a stash from my childhood and I’ve been hemming and hawing over what to do with them. I don’t see children in my near future…would it be weird to display them around my house like this sans kids? I’ve been wanting to do a printed fabric quilt with scanned images from the books for quite a while…we’ll see…
August 26th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
the framed art is adorable! what a great idea ! i’ve been looking for some decorations for my gals bed rooms!
August 26th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Those are really, really sweet. The St Vinnies near me is always having a booksale to clear out books…I need to keep an eye out!
The blocks were completely adorable, too.
August 26th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I love this idea - these look great! I have a few old books that my kids have destroyed that this would be perfect for.
August 26th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
BTW..I tagged you. :)
August 27th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Rebekah ~
Children around or not, they would be charming in your dwelling! I say go for it.
: )
Oops. You were asking Kristena, weren’t you?
: ) again
August 27th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Haha! I almost put them in the living room myself, to be honest. Of course, I don’t know if Evan would have approved. :)
September 4th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Such a fabulous idea!
September 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Thank you, Michele!
January 6th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
[…] Here’s something that I ran across today and found quite hysterical in light of the economy and this very inexpensive way to do virtually the same thing. […]
January 6th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I did something similar for my daughter’s room when she was a baby. I just couldn’t afford anything else! Seeking out those vintage children’s books never ceased after that!
January 19th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
[…] eye for pretty can be seen in everything she touches, including this reuse of Little Golden Books. I’m planning on borrowing this idea for my girls’ room and I already have the pictures […]
January 29th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
This is such a fabulous idea - I’ve been picking up awesome retro-y vintage-y Golden Books at the thrift store and have discovered how to deconstruct them without wrecking them in order to get the pages out nicely…can’t wait to get frames at the thrift store!!!
Thanks for a great idea.
September 10th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Awesome idea - - i picked up some old books at the thrift store tonight and i’m going to frame them for my sister’s baby girl. P.S. i’ve been a fan of you blog for some time but have never posted a comment….just wanted to say you are a huge inspiration and bring joy to my days!