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auntbijouOkay, one of the things I like to do is browse crafting sites, because I'm always looking for good ideas. Currently, the Impertinent Daughter has outgrown her bed, and while the Husbandly One and I debate whether to get her a single bed or a double, we also debate what kind.
So, I saw a creative idea for a headboard and clicked it, thought, "Wow, that looks cool, but somewhat labor intensive... and how did they get the books to look so real?"
Then I read the directions, and... was horrified. Because the first thing it said you need was "a large assortment of book covers, carefully cut from the pages using an Xacto knife or something similar..." though it did go on to say they could be found at thrift or used book stores.
She's... defacing books... to make a headboard... because... she loves books????
o_O
Okay, call me crazy, but the thought of pretty much destroying a perfectly good book (even one I hated) just to get at the cover... sorry, I can't do it. I just... can't do it. Maybe my mom was too insistent on my keeping my books "nice" but ... jays, that just squicks me something awful!!
Now, maybe making book covers that look real... I could do that, or maybe (and that's a just barely maybe) I could do it if the rest of the book was pretty much moldy, moth-eaten, and unreadable, but then... the cover would be crap, too, right?
I dunno, but it seems to me that, well, doing something like that rates right up there with people buying "books by the yard" to decorate shelves in their homes to make it look like they're big readers... and they never touch the books, except to dust them, maybe. When this particular crafter says she "loves books," maybe she means it in the "they're so pretty to look at" way.
I love books, too, in the "I love to curl up somewhere cozy and read for hours" way. I'm happy as a cricket in bookstores and libraries. In fact, if you're ever with me, and expect me to be sociable, don't ever let me near a bookstore, because you will lose me for hours and hours, and I might not come up for air until closing time. The books I have on my shelves aren't for decoration. They are there because they are friends. Books that I've read over and over, and over again. I grew up living in Oz, and on Pern, and in the Alps with Heidi, on Treasure Island, and under the ocean with Captain Nemo, and on Mars, and in Middle-earth, with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and the Three Investigators, as well as the March sisters. I rode on the Back of the North Wind, and I've been East of the Sun and West of the Moon, I've hung out with both the Little Prince and the Little Lame Prince, gone on adventures with Robin Hood and the Black Arrow... well... you get the picture.
I can't even look at those "turn a book into a treasure box" tutorials. That's just... wrong. Totally wrong!
Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I'm overly sensitive. I look at books, and I see a potential doorway to something wonderful. Apparently, some people look at books and see... decor.
Excuse me, I'm going to go curl up with some Tolkien and visit Middle-earth for a while. And not use the cover as a ... decoration!!
So, I saw a creative idea for a headboard and clicked it, thought, "Wow, that looks cool, but somewhat labor intensive... and how did they get the books to look so real?"
Then I read the directions, and... was horrified. Because the first thing it said you need was "a large assortment of book covers, carefully cut from the pages using an Xacto knife or something similar..." though it did go on to say they could be found at thrift or used book stores.
She's... defacing books... to make a headboard... because... she loves books????
o_O
Okay, call me crazy, but the thought of pretty much destroying a perfectly good book (even one I hated) just to get at the cover... sorry, I can't do it. I just... can't do it. Maybe my mom was too insistent on my keeping my books "nice" but ... jays, that just squicks me something awful!!
Now, maybe making book covers that look real... I could do that, or maybe (and that's a just barely maybe) I could do it if the rest of the book was pretty much moldy, moth-eaten, and unreadable, but then... the cover would be crap, too, right?
I dunno, but it seems to me that, well, doing something like that rates right up there with people buying "books by the yard" to decorate shelves in their homes to make it look like they're big readers... and they never touch the books, except to dust them, maybe. When this particular crafter says she "loves books," maybe she means it in the "they're so pretty to look at" way.
I love books, too, in the "I love to curl up somewhere cozy and read for hours" way. I'm happy as a cricket in bookstores and libraries. In fact, if you're ever with me, and expect me to be sociable, don't ever let me near a bookstore, because you will lose me for hours and hours, and I might not come up for air until closing time. The books I have on my shelves aren't for decoration. They are there because they are friends. Books that I've read over and over, and over again. I grew up living in Oz, and on Pern, and in the Alps with Heidi, on Treasure Island, and under the ocean with Captain Nemo, and on Mars, and in Middle-earth, with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and the Three Investigators, as well as the March sisters. I rode on the Back of the North Wind, and I've been East of the Sun and West of the Moon, I've hung out with both the Little Prince and the Little Lame Prince, gone on adventures with Robin Hood and the Black Arrow... well... you get the picture.
I can't even look at those "turn a book into a treasure box" tutorials. That's just... wrong. Totally wrong!
Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I'm overly sensitive. I look at books, and I see a potential doorway to something wonderful. Apparently, some people look at books and see... decor.
Excuse me, I'm going to go curl up with some Tolkien and visit Middle-earth for a while. And not use the cover as a ... decoration!!
