Ruff Draft: Old Books Turned Spooky, DIY

BOO!  It’s Wednesday, weekly RUFF DRAFT time!

We are sharing our Haunted Halloween collection this week (Printable graphic collection now available in the shop!)

Lucky you –  the collection is on Sale!  We are offering both of our complete printable Halloween Collections for only $9 each in our shop through the end of September the 11th.

We have had several inquiries/comments about the vintage book displays shown from this collection and we thought this would be a great DIY project for this week.

Dessert Table

 

First I want to show you how we made these inverted book stands.  They are inspired from an Anthropologie window display, several years ago (oh, how I love Anthropologie)!!!!

Inverted Book Stands
Inverted Book Stands

 

We used several book sizes on our dessert table – any size book works!

This is such a great way to utilize those old books you don’t read anymore… or if you don’t have any spares, pick up some from used book stores, in the $1-$3 sections.

What you need:

a soft-bound book (spines are more pliable for this concept… keep your hard-back books for later)

Directions:

1. Remove outer layer book cover

Removing Outer Layer of Book Cover
Removing Outer Layer of Book Cover 2. Bend the spine back and forth to loosen it up (old books are easier to mold into shape than newer books)3. Fold each page in half (this takes a while... I'm not going to lie) 🙂 Folding Book Pages
 
4. Once all book pages are folded, you will need to bend your spine some more, to put  close into place – it is never perfectly closed  (again older books form the shape, easier than newer books)
Finished Inverted Book Stand
Finished Inverted Book Stand
 
Now you can pull out your hard-back books.
We used multiple vintage hardback books for displays as well, and also printed/cut our printable Magic Potions design to top off the book display.
(Don’t you just love these chocolate skeleton keys????)
 
Potions

Stacked Hard-Bound Books:

1. First remove outer book cover – this is a little harder to do, depending on how worn the spine is.  (we used three books to create height for our display)

Prepping Hard-Bound Book
Prepping Hard-Bound Book

2. Once cover is removed, measure front page (of the book that will rest on top of the  book stack)

3.  Print/cut Magic Potions page from our Haunted Halloween Printable Collection, found in (the shop)

(We just print on copy paper)

4. Cut to size

5. Tape or lay on top of book page

Making New Top Page
Making New Top Page

 

6. Last, but not least – tie a piece of twine to stabilize stacked books

7. Add some antique cameras and doorknobs, and your Haunted Scene is on its way!

Finished Displays
Finished Displays
 
Book Stand

 

Use stacked books for other fall scenes:

Fall Pumpkin Scene with Stacked Books
Fall Pumpkin Scene with Stacked Books

 

Or use your Inverted Book Stands as decor in your home
*I use these throughout my home!  The inverted books are displayed on an antique urn that sits in my front foyer, among other areas
Home Decor
Home Decor

 

Shop Now!

We are offering our Complete Printable Haunted Halloween Design Collection on sale in the shop on sale for only $9! (33 pages of FAB-Boo-lous printables perfect for your own Halloween party, classroom treats or home decor!)  That is 55% off our regular price!

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7 Comments

  1. Ya’ll are the two coolest chicks, your ideals are out of this world. I enjoy seeing your variety of ideals, keep up the good work!

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