In my library day job, I’ve been weeding old books from the shelves. The books aren’t in circulation any more but they’re still hardcover treasures with great illustrations about Arctic explorers and Presidential boyhoods and stuff like that. With some help from The Repurposed Library and a glue gun, I remade some of them into “bookmobiles.” (Repurposed has instructions for dismantling books to make all sorts of upcycled crafts.)

Kids think the mobiles look like birdhouses. I think they look like something that exploded and spilled over in weird loopy accretions. But I like them anyway.

Here are other great ideas for upcycled books (links below):

Row 1, left to right: Nancy Drew book purse by Rebound Designs; party favor pinwheels & keepsake box from bhg.com

Row 2: paper hearts from Too Much Time On My Hands; decorations from an Anthropologie store display; organizer from SCJohnson

Row 3: Artichoke pendant by Zipper8Lighting; book shelf by Lisa Occhipinti in The Repurposed Library; “lace” runner by bhg.com;