I have a hard time passing up an old book.
Not a valuable first edition or something beautiful that deserves a special place on somebody's bookshelf. I'm talking about the books nobody seems to want anymore. The outdated reference books. The battered hardcovers. The ones sitting on the bottom shelf at the thrift store with yellowed pages and a 99-cent sticker on the cover.
Those are the ones I want.
Because I don't necessarily look at an old book and think about reading it.
I start wondering what else I could make with it.
Could the pages become flowers? What happens if we hang them from the ceiling? Could the entire book become a sculpture without taking it apart at all?
This is probably why recycled book art has become one of my favorite things to make and teach at Big Raven Farm.
And before the book lovers come after me, I promise we're talking about the forgotten thrift-store books here, not somebody's first edition of Jane Austen.
Why I Love Making Art From Old Books
Part of it is simply the paper.
New paper is lovely, but it's also very predictable.
Old book pages aren't.
They've softened. They've yellowed. Some are almost cream, while others have turned darker around the edges. Every book has a different type, different spacing, page numbers, chapter headings and sometimes an illustration you weren't expecting.
Then there's the occasional sentence fragment that ends up in exactly the right place on a flower petal.
You couldn't plan it if you tried.
I talked about this a little in Joleen's Favorite Collage Fodder. I have a tendency to save things that might have another creative life. Interesting paper, scraps, old images and bits and pieces that someone else might toss away all tend to find their way into my supplies.
Old books fit right in.
But there's another reason I like working with them.
They're not precious.
If I hand you a beautiful $12 sheet of handmade paper and tell you to cut into it, there's a good chance you'll stare at it for 20 minutes trying to decide where to make the first cut.
Hand you a $1 book that was headed for the recycling bin?
Suddenly we're willing to experiment.
Cut it.
Fold it.
Tear something out.
Try something weird.
That's a pretty good place to start making art.
Four of My Favorite Recycled Book Projects
We've used recycled books in a number of projects at the Farm, but there are four I especially wanted to share because they're all so different.
Book Mobiles
Book mobiles are just fun.
A book spends its whole life with its pages pressed flat between two covers. Then we take those pages and suddenly they're hanging in the air, moving and turning.
From across the room, you see the shape of the mobile first.
Then you get closer and realize you're looking at book pages.
You can still see words, page numbers and bits of sentences, and I think that's what makes these so interesting. We're not trying to disguise the material. The fact that it used to be a book is part of the finished piece.
They're also forgiving to make, which is always a bonus.
The pages don't all need to behave exactly the same way. Actually, I prefer when they don't. A little wonkiness usually makes things more interesting.
Framed Paper Flowers
These might be one of the prettiest things we make from old books.
We cut, shape and layer book pages into dimensional paper flowers and then arrange them inside a frame.
What I love are all the little details you can't control.
A chapter number might land on one petal. Half a sentence might run through another. Occasionally you get a darker piece of type right in the middle of a flower.
I don't try to hide any of that.
If we're going to make flowers from an old book, I want you to be able to get close and see the book.
And because every flower is made by hand, they're never identical.
Good.
Real flowers aren't either.
Fancy Pants
And then there are Fancy Pants.
I mean, with a name like that, they had to make the list.
Fancy Pants is exactly the kind of project I like having at Big Raven Farm because not everything we make needs to be serious.
Sometimes you make something because it's beautiful.
Sometimes because you want to learn a new technique.
And sometimes you make something because it makes you laugh and you want to take it home.
There is room for all three.
I actually think adults need more of that kind of creativity. Somewhere along the way, we get very concerned about whether we're doing things correctly or whether what we're making is "good enough."
Sometimes we need to make Fancy Pants and get over ourselves a little.
Sculpted and Folded Books
Sculpted and folded books are completely different from the other three because the book itself becomes the artwork.
We don't necessarily need to remove the pages at all.
Instead, we fold and manipulate them until the shape of the entire book begins to change.
There's a rhythm to this project that I really enjoy.
Fold.
Turn the page.
Fold.
Turn the page.
At first, you're concentrating on every move. Then your hands figure it out.
Before long, you're sitting around the table talking with everyone while this ordinary old book slowly turns into something completely different.
Those repetitive projects can be surprisingly relaxing.
And when you're finished, you have this sculptural object sitting in front of you that started as a book nobody wanted.
I love that.
"But I'm Not Creative"
I hear some version of this all the time.
People look at our projects and immediately start deciding which ones they aren't artistic enough to make.
Please don't do that.
You don't have to know how to draw. You don't need years of art experience. And you definitely don't need to walk into Big Raven Farm already knowing how to make a book mobile or sculpt a book.
We'll show you.
We actually wrote an entire blog about this called Do I Need to Be Creative to Attend a Retreat? because it's such a common concern.
The short answer is no.
Come willing to try.
That's enough.
Want to Try Recycled Book Art at Home?
You absolutely can.
Head to a thrift store, garage sale or your own basement and find a book that truly isn't wanted anymore. Choose one with pages that are still in reasonably good condition.
Then experiment.
Fold a few pages.
Cut out some petals.
Roll the paper.
Pleat it.
Layer several pieces together.
Make the same shape 20 times and see what happens when you combine them.
Don't start with a complicated plan. Just see what the paper will do.
And save the interesting scraps.
That's my collage-fodder habit showing up again, but I'm serious. If you cut a shape from a page and what's left behind looks interesting, throw it in a box.
You'll find something to do with it eventually.
Probably.
Or Come Make Something With Me This October
If you'd rather have someone show you what to do, come join us at Big Raven Farm for our Pick Your Projects Retreat, October 8–11, 2026.
This is one of my favorite retreat formats because you aren't signing up to spend an entire weekend making one specific thing.
You choose the projects that interest you.
We currently have more than 50 projects to pick from, which is why we wrote 53 Projects. One Creative Weekend: A Pick Your Projects Retreat about how the whole thing works.
Before you arrive, we'll ask you to select the projects you'd like to make. That gives us time to gather and prepare all the supplies you'll need so everything is waiting for you when you get here.
Maybe a Book Mobile has been calling your name. Maybe you want to try Framed Paper Flowers or finally see what Sculpted and Folded Books are all about.
Or maybe you choose Fancy Pants because, really, how do you not choose something called Fancy Pants?
We'll show you how to make your projects and help when something goes sideways. You don't need to arrive knowing what you're doing.
And you're not expected to turn the weekend into some sort of crafting marathon, either.
Make something.
Eat.
Go outside.
Maybe That Old Book Isn't Finished
That's really what I love about recycled book art.
You start with something most people have stopped noticing.
An old book.
Nobody wants to read it. It's been donated once or twice. Maybe it's been sitting on a thrift-store shelf for years.
It would be very easy to decide it's done.
But then somebody cuts the pages into flowers.
Or hangs them from the ceiling.
Or folds hundreds of pages until the book becomes a sculpture.
Or makes Fancy Pants.
And suddenly that forgotten book has a place in someone's home again.
So the next time you see one of those sad old books nobody wants at the thrift store, maybe give it another look.
It might not need another reader.
It might just need a pair of scissors.
Come back.
Make something else.
Have Darin feed you.
Spend a ridiculous amount of time before the retreat deciding which projects you're going to choose.
That's a perfectly good weekend at Big Raven Farm.
Join Us for the October 8–11, 2026 Pick Your Projects Retreat →