I can't claim credit for
the idea because I first saw it on
etsy a few days ago. The seller,
thelorestore, describes this item as a romance novel end table. What's in a name? The complete description of the item, in this instance. The top of this end table has been covered in old romance novel covers.
My first thought,
what a cute idea!, was quickly followed by a second,
I can totally do that.
Naturally, there was an issue. My biggest problem with recreating this cute table was the materials. I have a plain end table of the exact measurements, all purpose scissors that can cut through anything and a big jar of modge podge that hasn't been opened since 2005. What I didn't have were books.
Do I own old romance books? Of course. Do I own old romance books I'm willing to destroy? Erm, that's a no.
I have ideological issues with destroying books. Big, blatant, in-your-face ideological issues that apply to all books. Even books I hate, even books by people I don't admire, even books espousing ideas I'm fully against. It's the latent freedom fighter in me; books represent ideas and ideas are meant to be explored, not destroyed. So what to do?
I went to the
Goodwill. The Goodwill is a waiting room for books ready to take that final push cart ride to the big library in the sky. In short, most of the books in the store are falling apart. Check it out for yourself sometime; the bindings are broken, the covers are creased, the pages are yellowed and loose. We're talking books that have been used, abused and all but recycled. More to the point, exactly the type of book I needed for my project. I can't, in good conscious, destroy a book. But, if the book is already one accidental drop away from the trash receptacle, I can rescue it from certain doom and use it in another creative way.
And so, one Goodwill trip later, I had 6 beautiful, battered, barely-recognizable-as-books books for my decoupaging pleasure. I did take a different approach than thelorestore in creating my table. Instead of using only book covers, I used the actual pages to cover the table surface before using only a few covers to add a splash of color. Once I had everything as I wanted it and glued down, I spread two coats of mod podge over the surface to seal it, letting it dry and set for 20 minutes between each coat. I'm quite happy with the end results:
I also covered the entire top section of the table, instead of just the surface area.
Please ignore the cat toy, my animals dominate my life.
Here's another view of the end result.
Let's pretend the dachshund is pictured purposely for scale.
I tried to choose books that still had mostly intact covers.
I had a lot of fun with this project. It was quick, easy and I'm happy with the results. I'm also happy I was able to preserve what looked to be some interesting books in some small way.
*A few books were harmed in the making of this table. Rest in peace my friends, your cover lives on.
It’s May 1910, and Halley’s Comet is due to pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. And thirteen-year-old Hope McDaniels and her father are due to pass through their hometown of Chicago with their ragtag vaudeville troupe. Hope wants out of vaudeville, and longs for a “normal” life—or as normal as life can be without her mother, who died five years before. Hope sees an opportunity: She invents “anti-comet” pills to sell to the working-class customers desperate for protection. Soon, she’s joined by a fellow troupe member, young Buster Keaton, and the two of them start to make good money. And just when Hope thinks she has all the answers, she has to decide: What is family? Where is home?
