Weekend DIY Project: Art in a Book
Create a living sculpture that tells a story with this easy step-by-step guide
You can create a centrepiece for your home that is unique, inspiring … and living! An Art in a Book can combine your love of reading, poetry or old books with a plant that brings the outdoors inside as an artwork. It suits any decor, from vintage to urban chic, and is sure to become a talking point.
To make your own Art in a Book, choose a hardcover book you have read and enjoyed, or find one at a market or second-hand shop. Then just follow the easy steps below. You can also look forward to growing your Art in a Book family – the plant featured below has been happily living with me for six months and has even sprouted babies!
To make your own Art in a Book, choose a hardcover book you have read and enjoyed, or find one at a market or second-hand shop. Then just follow the easy steps below. You can also look forward to growing your Art in a Book family – the plant featured below has been happily living with me for six months and has even sprouted babies!
I recommend using a succulent for this project because it has a shallow root system and doesn’t need much water. Any small one would work and you can buy it from your local nursery or take a cutting from a friend’s garden.
You will need:
- 1 hardcovered book at least 3cm thick
- 1/2 cup flour mixed with water to a glue-like consistency
- Paintbrush/pastry brush
- Pencil and a round waterproof vessel 10-12cm in diameter (smaller if your book and succulent is smaller)
- Stanley knife
- 1 cup good-quality dirt/potting mix (not sand)
- 1 succulent
- Water spray gun (from any hardware or garden shop)
- 1/4 cup fine gravel or small pebbles.
STEP 1: Divide the book into clumps of pages. For example, if the book is 400 pages, roughly divide into groups of 20 pages each. Starting from the bottom 20 pages, brush the glue mix onto the first three pages of each clump until saturated. The desired outcome is for all the pages to be wet from glue and pushed down wet onto the back cover where they will dry.
STEP 2: Brush glue around the top, bottom and open side of the book to saturate and stick the page edges. Allow glue to fully dry – roughly 12 hours, or quicker if left in the sun.
STEP 2: Brush glue around the top, bottom and open side of the book to saturate and stick the page edges. Allow glue to fully dry – roughly 12 hours, or quicker if left in the sun.
STEP 3: Place your chosen vessel in the centre of the top page of the book, then using your pencil trace around the outside of the vessel until you have a perfect circle.
STEP 4: Using your Stanley knife, carefully push down and carve through the pages following the line of the circle until the blade reaches the bottom hardcover (don’t cut through the cover!). You will be left with an open round hole the depth of the book.
STEP 5: Remove paper round from the book hole (it doesn’t matter if a few of the pages remain stuck to the cover at the bottom) and saturate the hole base and sides with the glue. Set aside until the hole is dry to the touch.
STEP 6: Fill the hole with the soil until halfway up the side and then carefully plant the succulent inside – fill with soil to the top and press down gently. Spray water around the plant stems until well saturated and lightly spray the foliage.
STEP 7: Place the pebbles (or gravel) around the base of the succulent – this will help hold the soil in place. It looks nice, too!
Your living artwork comes to life. Display it inside as a work of art…
…or outside (under cover) as a fabulous accessory. Simply give it a light spray with water on a weekly basis.
TELL US
Do you have an exciting DIY project you’d like to share? Tell us about it in the comments section below – just don’t forget to include a high-res photo!
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TELL US
Do you have an exciting DIY project you’d like to share? Tell us about it in the comments section below – just don’t forget to include a high-res photo!
MORE
DIY: Treat Your Backyard Fence to Hanging Pot Shelves
When Less Is More: 10 Ways to Give Your Creativity a Boost
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