In The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti the books themselves become the craft material – it’s full of projects that require you to gut, slice, fold and glue old books to create a range of adornments, containers and decorative yet functional items. You could choose to make a Bestseller Bookshelf, a Pagework Quilt or a Literary Lamp!  A great way to reincarnate old books that you can pick up cheaply at booksales.

The project that caught my eye was the Kindle Keeper.  I adapted the concept to make it work with my iPad – the perfect combination of my favourite digital device and the aesthetics of a hardback book.

The first step was rummaging around at the booksale to find a book that was just a bit bigger than the iPad, then I was underway.  Lisa Occhipinti suggests using velcro strips to hold your e-reader inside the recovered bookcover.  I felt this would be a little insecure and instead combined her idea with the classic “book safe” where a cavity is cut into the book block.  I used a craft knife to remove an iPad sized chunk from the middle of the pages …  this takes more time that you might think!  Then I glued the remaining “frame” made of pages together and to the back cover of the book.

Now my iPad can nestle safely inside.   I used purple sugar paper to cover the frame made by the cut pages. This looked a lot better than the left over edges of the pages and also disguised where my cutting was less than perfect.

A stripey lining glued into the back of the cavity made a satisfying contrast and I replaced the original cover with a piece of heavy paper in a leaf design.

I really like the way there is still a hint of the old red book that this once was.

I had thought my next project might be transforming a vintage cookbook into a kitchen utensil holder.  Though after seeing the trailer that includes the author making a bookmobile (shown on the book cover above) I might just get the glue out again and try that first …

Do check out her blog for further inspiration.