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Lisa Occhipinti

The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life Hardcover – May 1, 2011

by Lisa Occhipinti (Author)

118 ratings

3.9 on Goodreads

898 ratings

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We all love to read and learn from books, but The Repurposed Library takes our passion even further, presenting us with 33 projects to make--quite literally--out of books. For these projects, Lisa Occhipinti rescues and repurposes orphaned and outdated books from flea markets and library sales and turns them into new art objects and practical items for the home. Her creations range from artfully constructed mobiles, wreaths, and vases, to functional items like shelves, storage boxes, and even a Kindle "keeper" for those who want to replicate the sensation of holding a "real" book while reading from an e-reader. Projects utilize every imaginable part of a book--from hardback cover to individual pages--and are a DIY celebration of a new way to view a book's potential.

Praise for The Repurposed Library:

"In an age when the bound book is an endangered species, [Occhipinti's] artwork is nicely topical. She now has a book of her own, The Repurposed Library, out this week from Stewart, Tabori & Chang. In it, she offers readers a how-to guide to making household objects from, well, books, like a mirror, a lamp and a fire screen, as well as the winsome mobile shown on the cover."
- The New York Times

"Book hoarders rejoice: all those random children's books, encyclopedias, and unread paperbacks are about to find their purpose . . . Furnished with cheery photographs and numerous hand-drawn diagrams, this endearing book will appeal to veteran crafters and literati alike."
-BUST magazine

“The book is really well-made, fittingly. The photography by Thayer Allyson Gowdy is wonderful and really shows off the projects—and everything in the background is as tastefully arranged as a Crate & Barrel catalog. . . . if you love books as objects, The Repurposed Library is a fun collection of project ideas.”

—Wired.com

“We love how everyday objects like a colorful collection of vintage books can double as décor. . . . Th[e] cute wall-hung book ledge is easy to make and provides a perfect perch for treasured keepsakes. —Natural Home & Garden

Print length

144 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Stewart, Tabori and Chang
Publication date

May 1, 2011
Dimensions

7.37 x 0.75 x 9.63 inches
ISBN-10

1584799099
ISBN-13

978-1584799092
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lisa Occhipinti is a former faculty member at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and Currier Museum of Art Center. Her work has been featured in the Boston Globe and on multiple websites and blogs, including Apartment Therapy, Publishers Weekly, and the New Yorker. She lives in Venice Beach, California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stewart, Tabori and Chang; 1st edition (May 1, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1584799099
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1584799092
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.54 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.37 x 0.75 x 9.63 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #738,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #159 in Book Making & Binding (Books)
- #1,168 in Paper Craft

Customer Reviews:
118 ratings

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Lisa Occhipinti

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Lisa Occhipinti is a painter, book artist, photographer and author. She wrote and illustrated "The Repurposed Library", a book of 33 book art projects published by STC/Abrams. Her work has also been included in "Papercraft" (Gestalten).

Her work is in private and corporate collections worldwide, from the US to South Africa, China to Australia. Words, text, image and the notion of endless possibilities fuel all her works. Fascinated by the idea of how books connect people, places and time, not just the author-reader relationship, but the history of the book itself: who has owned it, who borrowed it, where has it traveled to, etc. inspires her work.

She lives in Venice, CA.

You can find her and her work at www.locchipinti.com and www.theshophouse.etsy.com.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

118 global ratings

5 star		54%
4 star		28%
3 star		9%
2 star		7%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Ann Niday Straley

Save the books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

And when you save the books, repurpose them into decorative items that are decorative or functional. This book teaches you the anatomy of a book and how to cut, fold, and decorate them into amazing products.
Easy to follow with great instructions and picturtes.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 23, 2011

Verified Purchase

I entirely agree with e Jo's review. I just received my copy of The Repurposed Library, and was looking forward to reading it and doing the projects. Though I will still be doing projects, I am disappointed in the designer's choice of font and ink color. It takes extra work to focus on what I'm reading, and I have to use brighter-than-usual light to do so. Nothing wrong with my eyes; it's a grey, thin font printed on creamy-colored paper. If you want something to be camouflaged, these are good colors. Not so good for type.

I should be breezing through instructions, paying no attention whatsoever to the print--good book design makes that happen. Even some of the illustrations could stand to be beefed up a little, with heavier lines and more contrast.

I may end up scanning pages of projects I'll be working on, and adjusting the size, color, and weight of the type. Haven't ever adapted text with Optical Character Recognition, but this seems like a good time to experiment.

The photography is beautiful, and the projects are great. I hope the author had a small run done this first time around, so she can have a new edition printed that is fun to read and use.

If, like me, you are so pleased with Lisa Occhipinti's designs that you HAVE to learn how to make them, just be forewarned and have a plan for dealing with the fine print, so to speak. Great recycled art is worth some extra work - but this is more of a challenge than I bargained for.

32 people found this helpful

Helpful

Crafty

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 26, 2012

Verified Purchase

Not many of the projects that Occhipinti outlines in this book are particularly original. I had seen variations of a number of them online. However, I did appreciate how the book illustrates the parts of a book and how to take one apart to utilize the parts needed for a particular project. I did have some success with the sunburst and hope to attempt making a birdhouse in the near future. It is useful in determining materials needed and the colored pictures are a bonus. Using these instructions as a knowledge base, I could definitely use her ideas and put my own spin on them. For a cover price of $24.95, anyone can find similar instructions by searching wikihow pages or Googling projects for book repurposing.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Alisha Kaye Alexis

Fresh Ideas

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 6, 2013

Verified Purchase

The kids & I actually went through each project. We chose many of them to make for Christmas presents. Teachers, grandparents, and others loved these unique gifts and treasure the thought and time that went into making each one. This is a great way to spend time with your kids, recycle books and freshen up areas of your house. The best part is each project has a list of items needed & most can already be found in your home. If not check out your local hobby store where you can find things pretty cheap.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

heather young

Cute, but Boring

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

I love the idea of re purposing old books. An old elementary school shut down and years later they cleaned the place out and gave the books away.They were all so out of date (60's-70's science/history). No one wanted them. I got a couple boxes and looked for some some ideas of what to do with them besides collages. This book has a lot of cute ideas, but none are really sustainable. I tried most of the projects and the circle fans turned out amazing. I dipped them in gold sparkling paint. The rest of the ideas are kind of cheap looking.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sam Occhipinti

the Repurposed Library gives us all a great opportunity to get more out of those old books ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

Now that the world is engaged in the digital age, the Repurposed Library gives us all a great opportunity to get more out of those old books than the foundation for a land fill or the substance of use in a recycling process. They can be turned into works of art and decorations with some nostalgic value if made from one of our own books.

We have taken on some of the projects outlined in the book with great success. Anyone with basic craft talents and patience can create a new item for there home/office that is unique and nostalgic.

Highly recommend the book.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

TK Kinney

There is nobility in the written word being reborn as art.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 5, 2013

Verified Purchase

Here is another book that I have already gained much inspiration from. The thought of taking books that are damaged and turning them into something unique and very special is exciting. While this isn't a lexicon of ways to repurpose books, there are many ideas to get anyone started.

I did appreciate the details on what books should be avoided. I find the writer not only creative but responsible.

steelandstonebytk.blogspot.com

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer forever!

Fun Crafting With Free Library Books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a fun book for anyone looking to recycle books for a craft project. The photos and directions are clear. Great projects for children ages 10-12+ as well as adults. So many free books at libraries--go for it!

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Ms J

Ok but...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

A nice enough book with fully illustrated instructions but the ideas and projects all seem a little dated.

Dizzydi

Look for more information

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

Not what I need really. I wanted easier things to do with books as I work in a school. KS3. I have kept it as it is going to cost too much to send it back

Idriana

Ok

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

Some nice project and quite inspiring👍

Wendy Sheridan

Love this!,

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 7, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book is full of inspiring ideas and they are all artistic but simple enough that you can make them at home...just don't tell your granny that you are destroying old books!!

3 people found this helpful