Functional Fan-Folded Books

September 1, 2010

Pull out your worn-out books from storage and brush off the dust to craft clever creations in no time. With our easy ideas for folding books, using barely any supplies, you can repurpose books as interesting storage and décor accents.

Fan-Folded Organization
While you’ve likely spent plenty of time organizing books, try letting your books help you organize your home. With our downloadable step-by-step directions, you’ll have a unique organizer in no time.

Find a book: Start by visiting your local thrift store, or look around your house for a book that you won’t mind crafting with. Hardback books will look best, but you can also use a paperback book and cover the front and back covers with fabric or patterned paper to add thickness to the binding.
Fold the book: Take each page of the book and fold it in half, tucking the edge in-between the neighboring two pages. You can either use a crisp fold for a sharp look or a loose fold for a more organic look. Folding multiple pages at a time will also work.
Organize: Once your book has been fan-folded, use the pages to organize paper. Your fan-folded organizer will work great as a coupon organizer, or you can even use it to organize recipes! Consider gluing colorful labels to pages in the fan-fold to organize items into categories.

Fan-Folded Décor
Use fan-folded books to adorn basic items around your home and add intrigue to all sorts of spaces. With glue or paper clips, you can attach the last pages of your book together to create a cylinder, then use it fan folded book cyl in a variety of creative ways:

Adorn Fan and Light Pulls: Once you’ve created your fan-folded cylinder, thread a fan or light pull through the center of the cylinder. To secure the cylinder around the pull, simply string a bead through the fan pull after the cylinder, and glue it in place. For light pulls, make sure you keep the cylinder a safe distance away from the light source. Fluorescent lighting is best since it doesn’t produce as much heat.
Accent Hanging Lamps: Add character to hanging pendant lamps by stringing the cord of the lamp through the center of your folded cylinder. Paperclip the last pages together to hold the cylinder in place, or for a more permanent solution, glue these pages together. As long as your lamp uses non-heat emitting lighting, such as low-watt fluorescent bulbs, you can simply let the cylinder rest on top of the shade of the pendant lamp as a base, then let the light illuminate your book as a lantern.
Decorate a Variety of Spaces: Whether you use your fan-folded creation in a study, playroom or simply to update ordinary items, you’ll be upgrading your style in a simple way. Try using your cylinder as a lantern for a reading nook, or hang an arrangement of fan-folded cylinders in different shapes and sizes for a party.

Fan-folded organization and décor is so easy, and something everyone can do. Gather a few old books and put them to use with plenty of free time to spare.

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