True Confessions

I have always loved books. That's why it came as a bit of a surprise even to me that I like cutting them up, too.

I became aware of this inclination earlier this year while on vacation in Palm Springs. Captain America, my husband, decided to go play golf--again--and as I had had my share of golf courses on this particular vacation, I went shopping instead.

I was only a block away from our hotel when I wandered into a small, indie bookstore. I was just inside the door when I saw this:

Of course the first thing that caught my eye was that thing hanging under the title. What was that? It looked like a book, but it wasn't a book, but it was. I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. I knew right then that whatever it was, I wanted to make one of those.

That turned out to be only one of many fabulous projects in The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti. I quickly bought the book and spent the rest of the afternoon poring through it. I couldn't wait to get home and start cutting up books.

Or could I? Could I really cut up a book? I love books. And by love I mean hoard. I have books stashed in cupboards, on shelves, in cabinets. I even have a library in my bathroom.

Really.

I love/hoard books so much I bought a barcode scanner and cataloged my library so I could put my books in Dewey Decimal order.

Really.

I knew there was no way I was going to be able to cut up my library. So I sucked it up...and went shopping.

Now I have my real books and the books to be sacrificed to the taxidermy gods. I started out by putting these new books on the shelf in my craft room.

And that overflowed to the furniture up there.

And then into boxes.

And now I have a library in my attic.

Oh, and also in the trunk of my car.

So now I am on a mission to cut up as many of these books as I can--the ones in the craft room, and the boxes, and the attic, and my trunk, not the ones in my bathroom--before Captain America takes a trip upstairs and goes a little mental. I'll show you some of the stuff I make with them as I go, and while I'm at it, I'll try to review the books from the other pile (the ones I'm reading). Now, where are my scissors?