Decorative DIY Planter Cover With Old Books
How to decorate your home with old books by turning them into decorative accessories for your home decor. This is an easy DIY project that can be done in under 10 minutes and will turn something ugly into something worthy of displaying.
I like flowers – mums in the fall, poinsettia at the holidays, and tulips in the spring that come in plastic pots. I like that they are simple and no fussing needed to bring fresh color into the house that doesn’t require any floral arranging skills or the need for a vase like a bouquet of flowers needs.
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What I don’t like about displaying flowers in planters is the ugly plastic pot or foil over the plastic pots. Over the years I have found a few easy ways to disguise the plastic pots and have a new one to share with you that uses old books.
One thing I always look for when I go out thrifting besides baskets and white pitchers and platters, is Readers Digest Condensed Books or any book that has a colorful cover. I don’t care about what the books are about, I just like them because of their colorful patterned covers.
Why I Like Using Reader’s Digest Books To Make Crafts
I am sure you remember or may even have a few of these Readers Digest Condensed Books in a bookshelf in your home as they were quite popular for many years.
These books have always been used by decorators with their jackets removed as they came in many different colors and patterns that look nice and fill up a bookcase with color. Plus, they can be purchased for a dollar or less, so they are a very budget friendly item of decor.
Finding ways to repurpose old books is also quite popular among crafters who up-cycle and repurpose them in many ways.
I enjoy finding creative ways to repurpose them and recently came up with a way to use two of these old books to hide an ugly plastic planter pot.
To make a decorative cover to hide the plastic foil wrapped pot you can use any two books as long as they are the same height as the pot.
Reader’s Digest Condensed Books make it easy as they are the perfect height – 7-5/8″ to cover a basic plastic pot mums and other plants come in.
Imagine how festive a green cover will look with a holiday poinsettia or a mini Christmas tree. Or in the spring – a turquoise cover with pink or yellow tulips.
How to Make a Planter of Vase Cover Using Old Books
To make this planter cover requires no crafting skills. All you need are two old books, scissors and tape. It is that easy and will hide an ugly plastic pot or vase in unique style.
Making a cover to hide or disguise an ugly planter is so easy to do that it really doesn’t even need a tutorial, but here is the step-by-step.
supplies needed:
- Two hardback books with covers that you like.
- Duct tape
- Scissors or a craft knife
Time needed: 10 minutes
How To Make a Pretty Cover to Hide an Ugly Vase Using Two Old Books
- Cut Book Pages From Covers
Using a pair of large scissors or a craft knife, make a cut along where the book pages meet the inside of the cover.
Repeat on other side and the on the second book so the section of pages comes as one piece.
- Separated Cover From Book Pages
After cutting out the pages from the books, the inside of the covers should look like this.
- Tape Book Covers Together
Line up the bottom edges and use duct tape to attach the two covers together.
Trim duct tape so that is just under the top edge of the book covers.
- Tape Other Side
While covers are still right side down on worktable, add a length of tape to one edge of a cover.
Stand covers upright and butt one open edge with the other book cover, lining them up, then press the tape to securely attach the two covers together.
- Trim Tape
If needed, make sure tape is trimmed so that it falls just under the top edge of the cover.
- Completed Planter Pot Cover
Here is what it will look like. It ready to place over the planter pot.
- Place Over Planter or a Vase
To use, simply place the cover over the plastic planter or a vase.
When not using, simply flatten the covers to store until ready to use again.
Where to Find Old Books
If you don’t have any old books on your bookshelves, then for a few dollars you can find at:
- Thrift stores
- Church bazaars
- At your parents or grandparents home
- Flea Markets
- Ebay
More Creative Ideas with Readers Digest Books
If you are looking for a creative gift idea, these letters are cut out from colorfully patterned, Recycled Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.
Since they are cut using the whole book, they can stand on their own and would look nice on a desk, mantel and even face out on a bookcase.
You can purchase them here:
These are only a few creative ideas using old books. To see more, head over to Pinterest or do a Google search for “repurpose old books“, “DIY crafts with old books” or “old book crafts“
You will find ideas that use every part of a book. Using the pages to make a book page wreath, the spine to make a book spine bookmark and many more very creative ideas.
Do you have any old books around your house that you can take apart and repurpose into decorative décor for your home?
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