A page with every paragraph washed in a different colorPainted page. One watercolor wash per paragraph, each a step around the color wheel. The print stays readable.
A portrait drawn over a page of textDrawn page. Brush on a thin coat of white, then draw in pen so the lines of print run behind the face.
The book's own illustration with a new painted backgroundPainted page. Keep the printed picture, paint out everything around it and carry its lines to the page edges.
A garden growing up from the bottom marginPainted spread. Stems start at the foot of both pages and bloom over the text. The top lines stay readable.
A map of an invented island over a chapter openingPainted and inked spread. Wash the page tea brown, ink a coastline and let the chapter title name the island.
A new sentence built from words cut out of a removed pageCollaged page. Cut single words from a page you took out and glue them in a new order on a painted ground.
A night sky washed across a spread, with the print still showingPainted spread. A thin dark wash lets the print show. Dot stars in white and join a few into shapes.
A page with every paragraph washed in a different colorPainted page. One watercolor wash per paragraph, each a step around the color wheel. The print stays readable.
A portrait drawn over a page of textDrawn page. Brush on a thin coat of white, then draw in pen so the lines of print run behind the face.
A quilt of squares cut from the book's other pagesCollaged page. Cut squares from pages you removed, turn the print every which way and glue them edge to edge.
A sea that rises across four spreads in a rowPainted pages. The waterline sits low on the first spread and higher on each one after it.
A street where each paragraph is a buildingInked page. Box each block of text, add a roof and a door at its foot, and ink a few word gaps as windows.
A window whose center bar is the fold of the bookPainted spread. Paint a frame around both pages. The fold is the bar down the middle and a view fills each pane.
The book's own illustration with a new painted backgroundPainted page. Keep the printed picture, paint out everything around it and carry its lines to the page edges.
Leaf prints pressed down the margin of a spreadPrinted spread. Brush paint on the back of a leaf, press it on the page and lift. Repeat down the margin.
Cut windows and niches 12
A circle cut through the pages above to frame one wordCut window. Find the word first, then cut the same circle through each of the pages that lie over it.
A door flap that opens onto a tiny roomCut flap. Cut the top, the bottom and one side, and fold on the fourth. Draw the room on the page beneath.
A heart-shaped hollow lined with red paperCut niche. Trace a heart on a glued block of pages, cut down a few pages at a time and line the hollow.
A keyhole cut through a block of pages onto a picture behindCut window. Glue a block of pages together, cut the keyhole through it and paste a picture on the page below.
A niche the size of a matchbox that holds a key or a shellCut niche. Glue the page edges into a solid block first, then cut the hollow down a few pages at a time.
A niche with paper figures standing on a painted floorCut niche. Paint the floor and back wall of the hollow, then stand cut-out figures in it on folded tabs.
A page slit into strips and woven with colored paperCut and woven page. Slit the page into strips left joined at the fold and weave paper strips across them.
A page snipped like a paper snowflake over a dark pageCut page. Fold the loose edge in toward the fold, snip shapes from the crease and paint the page behind dark.
A rainbow index of stepped page edgesCut edges. Trim each page a finger narrower than the one behind it and paint each step that shows a new color.
A skyline cut along the top edge of several pagesCut edges. Trim the top of each page into rooftops, the front page lowest, so the layers stack as streets.
A tree cut in silhouette with the next page painted as skyCut page. Cut around the branches and leave the tree joined at the trunk. Paint the page behind it.
A tunnel of arches, one per page, each smaller than the lastCut pages. The arch on each page is a little smaller than the one before, so looking in shows steps.
Folded pages 12
A bird wing of pages folded on a slantFolded pages. Fold the lower corner of each page up at a slightly different angle. The edges fan like feathers.
A book that stands open as a half drumFolded pages. Fold every other page edge to the spine. The book fans open on its own and stands up.
A cone tree folded from a paperback with its covers offFolded pages. Fold each top corner down to the spine, fold the new edge in again and tuck up the tail.
A fan that opens when the book doesFolded spread. Pleat one page from its outer edge to the fold and glue its last pleat to the facing page.
A heart that shows in the closed edge of the bookFolded pages. Mark where the heart outline crosses each page and fold both corners in to those marks.
A hedgehog folded from a whole paperbackFolded pages. Fold every page in half toward the spine, then turn its outer corners in to make the snout.
A mountain range of dog-eared cornersFolded corners. Turn down the top corner of each page, deep then shallow, so the closed edge shows peaks.
A pop-up step that lifts a cut-out off the pageCut and folded spread. Two short cuts across the fold, push the strip forward and glue a cut-out to its face.
A standing initial folded into the closed edgeFolded pages. Draw the letter on a strip as tall as the book, mark where it crosses each page and fold to the marks.
A wave across the closed edge, each page folded a little furtherFolded pages. Fold the first page edge in a finger width, the next a little more, and so on across the book.
A wheel of pages, each one curled back to the spineRolled pages. Curl each page back to the spine and glue its edge there. The open book becomes a wheel.
Tulips folded from page squares on painted stemsFolded and glued. Fold three squares cut from a removed page into tulip cups and glue them over painted stems.
Covers 12
A bird left in bare cloth on a painted coverPainted cover. Stick a paper bird to the cover, paint over everything and peel it to leave the bird in cloth.
A cover in diagonal stripes of paint and old clothPainted cover. Lay tape in diagonal bands, paint, and lift the tape to leave stripes of the old cloth.
A cover painted as a door, with the spine as its hinge sidePainted cover. Prime the cloth, paint panels and a knob, and letter a house number where the title was.
A cover pasted with torn pages under one thin colorCollaged cover. Paste torn pages over the boards, let them dry and wash one thin color over everything.
A cover that keeps its old title inside a new painted framePainted cover. Mask the title with tape, paint the rest, peel the tape and draw a border around the words.
A cover with a painted lock plate and a ribbon tiePainted cover. Glue a ribbon under the lining paper, front and back, and paint a lock plate where they tie.
A cover with a window that shows the first pageCut cover. An adult cuts a rectangle from the board. Frame its edge in paint and decorate the page behind.
A cover with raised vines of glued string under the paintRaised cover. Glue string in a vine, prime over it and rub a lighter paint across the ridges.
A galaxy cover sponged in dark blues with spattered starsPainted cover. Sponge dark blue and violet over a black base, then flick white paint from a stiff brush.
A landscape that runs from the cover onto the page edgesPainted cover and edges. Hold the book shut and carry the sky across the closed edge of the pages.
A spine lettered with the title of a book that does not existPainted spine. Prime the spine and letter an invented title and author on it in gold.
One large leaf painted across the front, the spine and the backPainted cover. Open the book flat with the cover up and paint the leaf across all three faces as one picture.
Pockets, flaps and pull-outs 12
A card pocket inside the front cover with a hand-ruled cardAdded pocket. Fold a small pocket from a removed page, glue it inside the cover and rule a card to fit it.
A fold-out page twice the width of the bookAdded fold-out. Tape a wide sheet to the edge of a page and fold it in. It opens out past the cover.
A lift-the-flap page with five doorsAdded flaps. Cut doors from a removed page, hinge each with tape and draw what it hides before closing it.
A page of tiny booklets with covers that fold overAdded booklets. Fold small strips over stapled slips of paper and glue their backs to the page in rows.
A paper band that keeps one spread secretAdded band. Wrap a paper strip around several pages and glue its ends to each other, not to the book.
A pocket made from two pages glued on three sidesAdded pocket. Glue the bottom and outer edges of two pages together and cut a thumb notch in the top one.
A pull-out tag with a ribbon tab behind a slitAdded pull-out. Cut a slit in a glued pair of pages and slide a card tag with a ribbon in behind it.
A slanted pocket folded up from the corner of a pageFolded pocket. Fold the lower corner of the page up to the fold of the book and glue only its outer edge.
A waterfall of overlapping flaps over hidden linesAdded flaps. Tape strips along one edge like shingles, each one covering the line written on the strip below.
A wheel behind a window that changes the picture as it turnsAdded wheel. Pin a card disc between two glued pages with a paper fastener and cut a window over it.
An accordion strip that pulls out of the foldAdded pull-out. Fold a long strip into a concertina, glue one end near the fold and draw one frame per panel.
An envelope glued in as a pageAdded envelope. Glue the back of an envelope to a page with the flap free, and keep loose notes inside.
How it works
These 60 altered book art ideas are sorted by what happens to the page: paint it, cut it, fold it or add to it. Start with the group that needs only the tools you have.
Read the full guide
Old book art projects, from brush to blade
Painted and collaged pages need a brush and little else. Folded pages need no tools at all: a paperback folded page by page stands up as a hedgehog or a cone tree. Cut windows and niches come last, because the pages are glued into a block first and then cut with a craft knife.
Altered book cover painting ideas
Covers has 12, among them a cover painted as a door with the spine as its hinge side, a galaxy sponged in dark blues, and diagonal stripes of paint and old cloth.
An adult does the cutting with a craft knife, with a cutting mat slipped under the page.
Use a book nobody will read again: damaged, out of date or a spare copy.
Glue two or three pages together before painting on them, so the wet page has some body.
Questions and answers
What is an altered book?
Mixed-media art in which a book is reworked, altering its look or its meaning. The artist cuts, tears or folds it, or embeds objects in it. It can be as simple as a drawing added to a page.
What can you make from an old book as an art project?
Paint across a spread, cut a keyhole through a block of pages, fold a heart into the closed edge, repaint the cover, or add pockets and pull-outs. Each of the five groups has 12 ideas.
How do you paint an old book cover?
Prime it first: gesso gives paint a base and stops it soaking into the surface. Then try one large leaf painted across the front, the spine and the back, or keep the old title inside a new painted frame.
What are easy altered book ideas for beginners?
Ones that need no knife: a thin dark wash across a spread with stars dotted on top, a mountain range of dog-eared corners along the closed edge, or two pages glued on three sides as a pocket.