Recycled Book Planters

For ages, I've wanted to make something out of books, but the thought of slicing up a tiny universe for my own selfish needs has always been too traumatic for me to bear. I eventually convinced myself that these books, which I found in a charity shop, were simply going to sit on a dusty shelf until someone else threw them away, so I might as well make something pretty from them, right?

As I sat at the dining room table, hacking at them with a craft knife, my mom's comments on me being a murderer weren't too helpful to my feelings on the situation, but it's a bit late now. So now I have recycled book planters, though I'm terribly sorry to all books harmed in the making of this project.

For this project you will need:

• an old book (or more than one, depending on how deep you want your planter to be)
• wood/cold glue
• a plastic bag (preferably see-through, like the ziploc kind)
• a plant

Smear a layer of wood glue along the edges of each book you plan to cut open, to secure the pages in place. If you plan on stacking two books, glue them together without putting glue in the area you intend to cut, as this will make it more difficult to cut through.

Mark out the area you intend to cut out in pencil.

Use a craft knife to slice out the area you marked. Cutting through the cover can take a lot of effort, but just keep going - you'll get there. :)

Once the cut area is as deep as you want it to be, glue a piece of a clear plastic bag (such as a ziplock bag) into the cut area, and trim the edges to the height of the book cover. This will stop water and sand leaking into the book when you put your plant in.

Put your plant into the book, and look after it according to its needs.

Although this planter has no drainage (I couldn't figure out how to do it), I have had my plant in it for a number of months now, and he's healthy and happy. :)