8 Gifts Made From Books For Book Lovers

The book lover is typically easy to buy for. Give them a new or used book, a new title to their collection, and they are likely going to be pleased. But you’re not a typical friend, and this hasn’t been a typical year. So, it’s time to rise above the easy book gift and gravitate towards these creative and original ideas: gifts where the book transcends its text and becomes something new, the form of a book without its content. A book as a symbol of itself. A book, in some cases, that you can drink booze out of.

Some book lovers are sensitive about treating books as materials, so before you purchase, make sure your friend isn’t going to cry if she sees a cut-up copy of Jane Eyre. (You can reassure her that many of these gifts are made out of books that were already damaged!) But for hardier souls who want to build their entire life out of books, here are eight ideas for decor, jewelry, accessories, and home goods that will have them writing you a sonnet (and then cutting it up and making it into a scarf).

What We Talk About When We Talk About Bouquets

Edible arrangements and conventional flora step aside — there’s a new bouquet in town. The bouquet of romantic prose! These pages from old or damaged novels are transformed into flowers for a true testament of eternal love. You can choose Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, or an assortment of romantic books, although a Raymond Carver bouquet could be attractive in the “brooding artist black turtleneck” kind of way.

Put a Ring on It

Wearable art takes a new angle with these fantastic pieces of jewelry by Jeremy May. Pages of old books are carefully selected, then laminated together and glossed. The final result is a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, a piece that is thoughtful and (secretly) full of ideas.

Put Your Money Where Your Book Used To Be

For those who want their everyday accessories to have a little more literary cred, check out the online shop or D.C. studio of Rebound Designs. The store features old books recycled into wallets, purses, journals, jewelry, and lamp shades. The result is a timeless piece for any book lover.

Some Brooch

Lovers of Charlotte’s web, rejoice! There is a Charlotte’s Web book brooch out there and it’s pretty freakin’ cute. Pages from the book are repurposed on this wooden Wilbur. The store copy notes that “each one is unique and is most likely to feature a different, yet indicative, passage of text,” but I personally want this exact brooch, the one with the words “flibberty-ibberty-gibbet.”

Think Big and Kick Ass In Business and Flasks

If the Trump presidency is driving you to drink, maybe this is what you need: a book safe made out of a hollowed-out copy of Donald Trump’s Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life, specially designed to hold a flask (included). This may not be the best gift for your book-loving boss, but test it out with your best friend. (Or soon-to-be-ex-best friend, once you give them a gift with Donald Trump’s face on it.) Unlike some of the other gifts on this list, this one is perfect for a book lover specifically because the book in question has been destroyed.

Read with Your Gloves On

A subtle book reappropriation, these gloves feature the spine from a damaged copy of The Storm and the Rainbow, for those cold days when books still need to be read. The shop, Wimsey Books, also incorporates book spines into ties, scarves, purses, hats, and even jackets.

Deck the Halls With Frodo

This ornament filled with scraps from damaged copies of Lord of the Rings is great for the book lover, specifically the Tolkien lover. And why stop there? Get some gold rings, elf figurines, and an Eye of Sauron and do a whole Tolkien tree! Even better, decorate an Ent.

Paradise Found

These succulent planters made from vintage books are a great gift for those literary friends that decided to move in together and want everyone to know they love reading (if their guests somehow missed the giant bookshelf in the living room). These gifts only ship to the U.K., though, so everyone else will have to make their own—just find a favorite vintage book and some realistic artificial plants, and make your desk or shelf into a dreamy wordy wonderland.