Floating Bookshelves Tutorial

Floating bookshelves are the new rage. You can make them at home for as cheap as you wish. This is about the same as my floating DVDs tutorial, only with books, and I actually made these when we first moved in because it was so simple and I needed to get started on decorating. I just haven't gotten around to posting here.



You'll need some hefty, hardback books that you don't mind cutting into and gluing, scissors, short self-tapping screws, and two L brackets per book.











Measure and place the L brackets at equal distances.











Trace the L brackets and cut away just enough pages to have them sit flush when the book is closed.









You might have to cut into the cover itself to let the book sit flat against the wall when hung.










Screw the L brackets to the pages and then glue around the edges and glue the covers shut.











Let it all dry.

Then hang! Now you have homemade floating bookshelves.

Photo Transfers to Canvas Tutorial

I found this tutorial on A la Mode Stuff a while back and planned to use it on some products. But then it just became a home project for my dining room wall. Here's how I did it with photos of the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and Big Ben.


Print out the photos you want. If they have words or something recognizable (like the Statue of Liberty's right hand) make sure and flip them. (I didn't, but we're a left-handed family so a left-handed Statue of Liberty is fine with me.)








You'll need canvas, the print-outs, mod podge, and a sponge brush. Glue the print-outs to the canvas ink down with the mod podge.










Smooth the wrinkles out and cover the pictures with something heavy. Let them dry.










Then slightly dampen the paper and pull it off.












You'll need to rub most of the paper off with your finger. I left some of the paper, and even scraped some of the ink off, to make them look old.










The three with the paper scraped off. It makes quite a mess.











I rubbed a wet black teabag around the edges and in the holes. It made them look like old oil paintings. It doesn't really match my other decor, and I wish I had left them white. Maybe I'll do them again at some point.

Turning Old Crates into Shelves

Here is how I turned some old crates into shelves. First off, buy or find some old crates. Usually you can find them pretty cheap in antique stores. I found mine on a garage sale website.

Then I took some tissue paper that I just loved, make sure and buy really big sheets depending on the size of your crates. I cut the paper to fit the boxes and lined the backs. Having tissue paper is nice because it bends and molds without ripping. I just attached it with double-sided tape, but you could use about anything that will adhere it to the wood. They haven't fallen out yet!

My lovely husband put them on the wall. In Germany the walls are pretty much made out of concrete, so you can just drill holes and hang wherever. He put screws through the wood on the top two corners and then into the wall. They are flat-head screws so the paper lining covers them up. You might have to do something different depending on your wall set up. Ask someone handy, I'm not exactly that.

And then decorate! Because of how strong our walls are I had no worries with weight. But still, don't pile your entire set of encyclopedias on there, you don't need them falling off and leaving gouges in your wall.

What do you think?