Book Decor with Reader’s Digest Books

For several years, I’ve wanted to upcycle some of the Reader’s Digest books that I often see at the thrifts. The ones from the ’50s and ’60s have these gorgeous patterned covers that are little works of art. So, I finally put a few to good use as book decor by pairing them up with some old photographs.

See what I mean? There are countless designs and patterns and they really deserve to be seen, not hidden in a bookcase.

Since old books and vintage photos are two of my favorite things, I thought pairing them up in a single project would be lovely. I would use the Reader’s Digest books as photo frames, in a way, and they’d be lovely as vintage home decor.

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Upcycling the Reader’s Digest Books into Book Decor

One of my concerns about this upcycling idea was that the books wouldn’t stand properly as frames. So, I decided that adding some hidden stabilizers would be key.

So, I grabbed some grosgrain ribbon, craft scissors, and craft glue to get started.

This is how I planned to prop up some of the Reader’s Digest books, almost like a wide ladder. But the books are 50+ years-old and I worried that they would go “splat!” and collapse.

First, I cut two equal lengths of ribbon that were approximately ¼” to ½” longer than the book.

Next, I glued them just inside one of the covers, either ¼” or ½” in, depending on how much allowance I left in the step above.

After the first edges of ribbon dried, I did the exact same thing on the other cover of my book decor.

Again, I tried to keep exact equal lengths at each end, and I used a pencil to prop up the cover as the glue dried.

Once the glue was completely dry, I propped up the Reader’s Digest book again. It was perfect – the ribbon would keep the book open to exactly this amount!

And you could hardly see the ribbon, which was a bonus.

Using Vintage Books to Display Old Photographs

Now I could focus on the old photographs part of my book decor! I’m lucky in that I have a ton of vintage photos from my mom’s side of the family.

I have very few from my dad’s side, but I do have this one of my dad’s paternal grandparents. And half of my blog’s name is named for that lovely lady in the photo!

Displaying the old photos on the Reader’s Digest books would be easy. All I needed was some removable double-sided tape (my new favorite thing EVER) and some photo corners in black.

I applied a single strip of removable tape to the back of the photo (avoiding any writing) and centered it on the book cover. Then, I simply adhered the photo corners in place!

The double-sided tape is the secret to keeping your photos straight when using photo corners!

And that was it! The first of my book decor was done and I could move on to the other Reader’s Digest books in my arsenal.

Book Decor with Reader’s Digest Books

I absolutely love how they all turned out! Reader’s Digest books are particularly good for vintage photos because so many of them are far daintier than more modern prints.

I’m also excited to announce that my first book is now available! If you enjoy upcycling clothing and simple projects with fabric, then you will love my book on flannel crafts!

And if you enjoyed this upcycling idea for thrift store books, then check out this collection of other ways to repurpose vintage books for even more inspiration!

Check out this upcycling idea for decorative bookends, as well. You need to see how plain they were when I found them!

Craft on!

S

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