DIY: Recycled Book Planters

This tutorial came complete with a mild existential crisis. I've wanted to make a craft project with books for ages now, however 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 my charity shop book discoveries were only going to sit on a shelf until someone else threw them away if I didn't buy them and use them, so why not turn them into something beautiful?

What you'll need:

• Old books (preferably hard cover)
• Wood glue
• A piece of a plastic bag (like a zip-lock bag)
• A craft knife

1. Start by smearing wood glue along the sides of the book, to secure the pages together. If you plan on using more than one book for the planter, glue them together without putting glue in the area you intend to cut, as this will make it more difficult to cut through.
   
2. Mark the area you intend to cut out, where your plant will go.
   
3. Use a craft knife to cut out the marked area. It may be hard to cut through the cover of the book initially, but just keep going - it'll slice through eventually. :)
   
4. Once the area is as deep as you want it to be, glue the piece of plastic bag into the cut area, and trim the edges to be level with the cover of the book. This will stop water and dirt leaking into the book once your plant is inside.
   
5. Put your plant into the book, and look after it as your new pot plant.
   

Do you have any indoor plants? Let me know. I'm fairly obsessed with having tiny succulents on my windowsill at the moment.

LDP