How to Make an All-Recycled Sketchbook

Lee Meredith, contributor

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Using recycled book pages for the sketchbook pages means some pages will have more white space than others—a constant reminder that it's all recycled!

Lee Meredith

I chose for the pages to be upside down so the original book text and images would be less distracting to the sketchbook.

Lee Meredith

Using a thickish marker allows for sketching/writing over the book text with no problem.

Lee Meredith

Using recycled book pages for the sketchbook pages means some pages will have more white space than others—a constant reminder that it's all recycled!

Photo: Lee Meredith

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I think blank books are always great gifts, and if you have a friend who's into all things green and recycley, this all-recycled book will be the perfect thing! Not entirely blank but with plenty of space to write, sketch, brainstorm, etc., this notebook/sketchbook/journal/whatever label you want to attach is completely unique and hopefully those bits of recycled book within will be inspirational to the user.

You'll Need:

• One large book with lots of white space on most pages
• One smaller hardcover book
• Paper cutter (scissors will do but will take much more time and effort)
• Sewing machine and needle and thread
• Woven fabric piece as big as the smaller book when opened
• Hot-glue gun
• Optional Mod Podge sealer and brush
• Materials of your choice for decorating the cover

When shopping for your books, big art books are usually best for maximum white space, like the one I found with paintings all along the tops of the pages and white beneath. Thrift stores are the best place to find these books cheap—used bookstores can be a bit pricey for something you're just going to cut up.

Using pages from a book featuring a subject matter that the recipient likes and appreciates will make the gift even better.

The smaller book, which will be the cover of the sketchbook, needs to be not much taller than the amount of white space on most pages in the big book and not too much wider than the width of the big book pages folded in half lengthwise. The sketchbook pages will be the large book pages folded in half like this, so the difference in width shouldn't be more than about an inch.

When folded in half, my pages were about an inch narrower than the small book.

Your first step in making the sketchbook is to rip out all the pages of the small book—find how the pages are grouped together and rip out in sections.

Don't worry if the inside cover gets ripped up like this; you'll be covering all that.

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Comments (5)

DeniseCruz writes: that's really nice idea! such a great use of old books, and way of fabric.....
Posted: 12:29 am on February 29th

JenniferStern writes: I'm really a go-green kinda girl, and this one definitely has my vote... I'm adding it to my Christmas Gift Giving List!
Posted: 11:14 am on November 10th

mommaviv writes: I like this idea alot! I have loads of old books (mostly outdated books from schools) full of interesting pictures. I think I can comine the pages into one really cool sketch book. I think this is a much better use of them than letting them gather dust on a shelf never to be looked at.
Posted: 11:53 pm on November 8th

laughingpurplegoldfi writes: I love this idea... I'm just not sure that I have the stamina to see a project like this through from start to finish... but I love, love, love it!

definitely 'bookmarking' this one... just in case the motivation strikes me one day... and I'm really hoping that it does :)

thanks for sharing
Posted: 5:32 pm on November 8th

Average_Jane_Crafter writes: Ooooh! I love this! Such a clever use of old books, and a cool way to combine stitching/paper/fabric. love it! :)
Posted: 4:58 pm on November 8th

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