Have old photos that you want to do something creative with? One lady had me take her old family photos and turn them into several sketchbooks/photo albums for her.
As an English major and avid book lover, I have an affinity for old books. One of the first types of journals I began making were out of used book covers. Here's what I found out that made me even more adamant about re-using old book covers: all book covers get thrown away! That's right, only the inside of books can be recycled. The insides getting recycled is the best case scenario (and even in this case think of all the lovely, awesome book covers that are getting tossed). If you take your old books to a recycling center that cannot afford a book cutter (ie cannot pay someone to cut out the insides so those can be recycled), the whole book gets thrown away. Bam. Just like that, tons of books are finding themselves in landfills. And have you ever peeked into the dumpster of a bookstore used or otherwise? It's quite unbelievable all the books that are in them. I find book covers many places, often with the pages still at least somewhat in them. I look for books that are stacked in corners and overlooked or that are literally about to be thrown away. They come from individuals, garage sales, antique stores, outlets, etc. Its rare that I use books that I think should still be being read. This mostly happens when the books are falling apart. Thus, the books I generally have are a bit obscure with varying fun titles and/or fabulous covers. I recycled their insides and...voila! A super cool, unique journal or sketchbook.
lots of books easily fill up the back of jessica's mini!
voila!