Earlier this week I shared about our Girls Craft Night (you can see the post HERE) and promised I would share the details about these DIY stamped books.
I have seen similar products sold online or in local boutiques and always loved them, but didn't want to spend the money on them. Well, I decided that I could probably make these myself and it was seriously the EASIEST project ever.
Materials:
Paperback books
Stamps (I used this set)
Baby wipes
Twine/ribbon/string
Scissors
Greenery sprigs
Wire cutters
The first step is to find the books. You may have a bunch of old books laying around your house that you could use for this, but if you want to purchase cheap paper back books the best place is the Dollar Store!!!
I didn't even know they had books, but they do. Goodwill is another great option, but their books are between $2-3 and the Dollar Tree books are obviously only $1. I stocked up on all that they had and actually made a trip to another Dollar Tree to grab some more. The only thing you need to make sure of is that they are thick enough to be able to fit the letter stamps.
Once you have your books the next step is to literally rip the covers off. I know this seems bad and at first I felt horrible tearing off the covers. However, that gives you the rustic/farmhouse look and makes the spines blank to be able to stamp. You can also rip off a few pages until you find the title or dedication page. Just something that is pretty plain to be on the top of your stack.
Now you are ready to start stamping. I found tons of inspiration on Pinterest and also just Googled "hand stamped books" to get some ideas. You could do anything from family names and holiday sayings to Bible verses or hometown locations.
We decided that we liked the look of using all lowercase stamps so that is what we used. I also found it helpful to write down what you are going to put on the books unless you are great at spelling backwards. I am not, especially after a glass of wine, so I wrote it down and then was able to work backwards...lining up all of the ends of the words with the end of the books.
The stamping was simple. One tip I would share is that after getting the stamp wet with the ink from the stamp pad, wipe around the edges with a baby wipe or wet paper towel to get the excess ink off. You just want to make sure the ink is on the actual letter, but not all around the letter or it will show up when you stamp the book.
After all the stamping is done, line up the books, wrap the jute twine around a few times and tie in a bow. We cut little pieces off of the greenery spray to tuck into the twine and just add a little something extra to the project.
This was such an easy project and so fun to make! I feel like these stacks would be great as a personalized gifts for hostesses, a fun addition to a Christmas gifts, or just to make for your own home!
Follow us on Pinterest HERE.
Follow us on Instagram HERE.
