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:)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

NO BOOKS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THESE SHELVES....(a "how to" by popular demand)

A few days back I posted the cleaning of my basement...and these "book" shelves were shown. There were a lot of comments regarding how I made these...and an "order" placed by my mom...A.K.A. "Grammie" for three. She plans to put them in her doll room. She has a large collection of limited edition porcelain dolls and there will be one on each shelf.
Now...the ones in my house are made out of old Reader's Digest hard cover books. The ones we will be making today will be made from some out dated (1967) encyclopedias, as they are larger and will offer more support to the dolls. You can use any book you like...as long as you have supports!
This is what you will need:
pair of scissors
2 corner supports or L brackets
Mounting tape (2 sided foam tape)
Books...2 or 3
screws and possibly anchors
Step one:
open the book to the back cover. cut and apply two strips of mounting tape to the back cover of the book.
step two:
Peel off the film from the other side of the mounting tape and close the book. This will create a small pocket to house the brackets.
View of the pocket created by the mounting tape...
Step three:
Insert the longest end of your bracket into the pocket...
Step four:
close the book.
Step five:
Secure the brackets to the wall. I needed anchors as the books are fairly heavy. These are the screw holes you will need to fix to the wall....I found that holding it in place with the book on first helped me place the book on the wall. You can remove the book from the brackets to secure the bracket to the wall....
(you can also screw into the bottom of the book to make sure the 'shelf' stays securely on the bracket-but that is only done if you don't worry about the ruin of the book cover)
Once they are secured...re insert the bottom of the bracket into the pocket, and add another book or two to the pile to hide the upper part of the bracket.
view of how to screw onto the wall....I painted over part of mine so that they would blend in if I did not want three books...
Step six:
ACCESSORIZE!!!
Ta-da! your "book" shelf Grammie!!!
There are three shelves waiting to go to mom and dad's house this weekend!!!
Now...wasn't that easy?
I hope you will make yours and post them for us all to see!!!

42 comments:

Ellie Mae's Cottage said...

Wow you have the BEST ideas! I really love this one. I'm going to print it out so I can try to make one myself. It looks easy enough for even clumsy me to handle. :) -Jackie

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

How did you come up with such a cute idea? I could see using old nursery rhyme books or "theme" type books for different rooms. Great idea!

Together We Save said...

Wow - these book shelves are a wonderful idea. Thanks for the how - to.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Tootsie! These are marvelous! How cute! Where do you come up with all of these great ideas? Are gals smarter in Canada? I think they just might be! LOL
Pop in and enter my giveaway!
be a sweetie,
Shelia :)

santamaker said...

Pure genius! Love the idea and will have to give it a shot!

janet said...

oh my gosh!!! this is way tooooooooo cool tootsie, love the idea! and thanks for stopping by, i just adore you and your sister, both of you are so funny and cute.
hugs
janet

trash talk said...

And this is why you were nominated for so many blog awards!!! What a super clever idea and so "green".
Debbie

Four Paws and Co said...

You are such a clever lady! I just love this idea! You're the best! ☺ Diane

Darla said...

Glad I didn't throw out my old encyclopedias!!!! I've been wondering about these shelves...

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

You are one talented lady and I thank you for all the great ideas you share here.

FlowerLady

Jessica said...

Great idea Toots! Did I miss your basement post? I'll go look.

Hugs~ me.

SmilingSally said...

You are so creative. I know your mom will be thrilled with her new shelves.

I've seen this idea done with books used as an end table. They were glued together until the correct height was reached and then spray painted black.

Stacey said...

Those are so neat! I've seen that done on HGTV but had no idea it would be easy. Way to go!

Cathy S. said...

Really neat idea to use books as a shelf, you are so creative!

"Blossom" said...

Girl, you never seem to amazing me more than the next project you do. Hey, just fly down from Canada and meet me in Vegas.

Pat@Back Porch Musings said...

Nifty idea!!

Amelia said...

Hey! I love your nails!!! Where do you get them done? They really take attention away from how old your hands look! :0) Hee,Hee...I am actually laughing at my own funniness right now...:0) I'm pretty sure you're not? Ha! Might be time to put the comment moderation on your blog now eh? That's what you get for coming over to my blog and getting bossy!!!! Call you later...pretty sure I'll hear from you first though:0)!

Anonymous said...

I've entered you name in my giveaway, Tootsie Wootsie!
be a sweetie,
Shelia:0

Anonymous said...

Let me just begin by saying how beautiful inside and out your little sister is. You are just the luckiest girl alive!!!! She is not only beautiful...she's so talented and has such a kind loving and magnetic personality! Everyone should have someone like her in their lives, she is a real role model for all girls and women everywhere! Everyone should read her blog for sure! Oh yah... you're neat too. Have a nice day and don't forget to phone your sister and show her some love today!

Tootsie said...

anonymous???? TERRY!!!! TAKE YOUR MEDS!!!!

Linda's Blue Gate said...

GET OUT..... that is amazing........ well I'll be...... that is the most cleaver thing..... I love it....... sure have some cutie helpers...
HUgs
Linda

Carla said...

You know what would make these book shelves even MORE fabolous?? A crown:) (I've been admire you many crown finds and creations-I'm thinking my grands may need crowns for their Christmas trees this year:)

Amelia said...

Okay...stop it!!! What ever you say will bounce off me and stick to you!!! I'm telling our mom....Both of them!!!! GLORIA........ Help! MOM?........ See how mean she is? Ahhhhhhhh....If I go missing......ya all know what happened....look for freshly worked in dirt in her back yard!!!!

Justine said...

When I saw the first picture, I literally said out loud, "What the hell?" WHERE did you get this idea????? It's frickin' fabulous!

Justine :o )

Anonymous said...

Good morning Tootsie! I see someone is using my Anonymous signature. what a brat! Probably trying to pass herself off as me hey? It was good for a laugh though. I love the look of my bookselves, can hardly wait to get them, Im so excited. Have a good day and be nice to your little sister okay?

Unknown said...

What they said - no really I mean it! LOL

onlymehere said...

This is so incredibly clever I love it!! I think I may have to do one or two for my office using some old outdated medical reference books! How fun would that be with my profession? Thanks for the idea Tootsie!

bj said...

Well, Tootsie girl..this is the CUTEST idea. Now, I will be looking for olden books to make shelves. So cute...
I always grit my teeth when I have the nerve to post a flower of mine 'cause I think.."Oh, Tootsie is gonna see this..gotta get a shot of a really pretty flower"..:)...but, I HAVE been giving them more food since you mentioned to make a weaker solution and give it to them more often. Thanks so much for telling us that.
xo bj
o, and hubby's tomato plants are looking better by doing that, too...

Anonymous said...

Why you saying mean for you sister lady. She is how you saymarvelous people. Very pretty very very pretty. Very smart and clever girl. You very saying mean to her. I like yousister and you say one million sorry to her ok? You have love much her.

rosey reality

Tootsie said...

TAKE YOUR PILLS TERRY!!! moron! and I mean that in the nicest way

Anonymous said...

Who is this Terry and why is she so hot?

Anonymous said...

So very sorry about today...really, I am...it's just that...well...it's rainy out and I haven't any projects to do ...and the kids are doing fun stuff for them...and no one is phoning me except you to tell me how stupid I am...which by the way...I think I'm a perfect ray of sunshiny delight! ...and my blog was boring today...blah, blah, blah... Sorry for abusing your comments section...it was really, really wrong (really funny...yet so, so, wrong) and I won't be a bother any more now...swear it! (till tomorrow) :0) P.S. for everyone's info...I'm not on meds...although after tootsie's comments...I may get a check-up ... just in case! Ha! :0) Bye!

Lilsista

Marsha said...

How great are these shelves! I have to remember this idea - wouldn't it be fabulous in a den or office? Thank you for the tutorial.

xinex said...

What a great idea, Toots! You sure are full of ideas...Christine

onlymehere said...

I'll definitely post them when I can get to them. Right now I'm trying to get my place presentable for my friend who's coming to visit. I haven't seen her in about seven years since she moved to Arizona and then North Carolina. I can hardly wait!!! About the yard, whichever concoction went on for the weed killer it seems to be working. Yay! Those aliens really know how to take over and kill things! I still miss my husband though and hope he comes home soon, LOL! I just about have another post about his foolishness but I don't know if I dare post another one like that, LOL! Thanks for coming to see me today! Cindy

Tamara Jansen said...

What a super cool idea! You're a smarty, aren't you?!

Behind My Picket Fence said...

Ah, Tootsie. How can you stand yourself? (tee hee) You are so creative and you really have the best blog. I love reading it.
Hugs,

Erin said...

Wow! That was a fabulous idea and really clear instructions...too bad I JUST GAVE AWAY A TON OF HARD BACK BOOKS!

Anyway, I gave you an award over at my blog because I think you're fabulous (I also think LilSista is fabulous, so I gave her one, too!).

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Now that is just way too smart! Thanks for the directions! I'm looking for a blank spot on the wall! laurie

Betty said...

Makes me wish I hadn't gotten rid of all those books, hmmm I think I know where there are a bunch of books that someone commented didn't even sell at yard sales. I'll have to check it out.

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

Tootsie...this is genius! I love it! I've never seen this done before but it's wonderful...so much better than a typical ole boring shelf! Love it!

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

Oh...forgot to say...thanks for the how-to instructions! :-)