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Very Hungry Caterpillar Upcycled Wall Art

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Do you have a hard time getting rid of books once they're damaged?

While I’d like to consider myself detached (40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS has helped a lot with that!), books hold a sentimental place in my heart. Many of the books I’ve bought were from garage sales, and many of them were books I enjoyed as a kid.

I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar, my kids love it, and we’ve spent many a bedtime reading it. We have two copies, one of which was very tattered looking. As I flipped through the pages for one last time before tossing it, I realized that the colorful artwork would look great as artwork in our colorful kids’ room.

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The dotted illustration only covers the bottom half of the page, so I would need to edit it a bit for the artwork to fill in my frame.

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Materials Needed:

an old damaged book,
an X-ACTO knife, tape or glue stick, and
a picture frame

Cost?

Free!

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1. Hold page up to mat to get an idea of what will show.
2. Use an x-acto knife to cut page out of book and to size; you’ll have one big piece that fills most of the mat and a smaller piece.
3. Cut the smaller extra piece into two, cut around circles.
4. Place the pieces together, like a puzzle, to continue the design. Adhere with tape or glue.

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The frames are IKEA RIBBA which I spray painted a spring green.

(Note: since this project has been posted, they changed the material of the frames. I don't recommend painting them any more, it might not adhere!)

Also in the front and back of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, there’s a page (full pages – so no cutting) with colorful shapes and holes cut out, almost like the reverse of the dot pages. Reminds me of swiss cheese!

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Before I added this artwork, the frames held pages from an old Little Golden Book. I love the artwork in children’s books and love repurposing them into artwork!

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Comments

  1. Thanks, Maria! I wish I could coat a whole room in those dots, they're so happy. Thanks for commenting! 🙂

  2. This is such an amazing idea - I love it!! It looks great!

    • thank you, Sarah! It was fun 🙂

  3. That's awesome! I was thinking "there's no way this only took 15 minutes..." when I looked at the picture over on CCC, but this is awesome! Do you have any suggestions for a hardcover book cover? I've got a "Green Eggs and Ham" that's missing its innards....

    • Thank you! 🙂 Hmmm, maybe cut the front from the rest and hot glue it to a canvas or picture frame for easy hanging?

      I'm glad you asked! I ripped out the inside of an ABC book for another project (again, damaged and a politically incorrect illustration - I is for Indian, ahem!?), and have been saving it for the last two years! I will have to do something with this...

    • You are amazing, I had considered my self very creative all my like but you sure bit my creativity. I can even make my own canvas!! Someone is very excited.... lol

  4. Love it! I am not detached from things! So sad, but true. It is hard for me throw things out, but I do it all of the time. Books, especially books I have read with my children are keepers. Love the way you upcycled a book. The art is gorgeous. What's that? Oh, that is the sound of a PIN!

    • It's bad. I'm getting better, but it's so hard to be detached! I don't get why baby clothes are so hard either...

      thanks for the pin, mah lady! 😉

  5. They look great! I'm so glad you posted this, we have some books that are "on their way out" that I'm so glad I can reuse rather than toss! I hate the thought of throwing a book away, maybe that's why we have so many books. 🙂

    • I think that's why we have so many too. I have a pile for Goodwill and garage sales too, it's like the Circle of Life for books, haha!

  6. They are BEAUTIFUL!!!! : ) What a great idea! So fun & colorful! : )

    • thanks, Lori! 🙂

  7. My kids love it, and I never get sick of reading it. Thank you! 🙂

  8. These are adorable. What a great idea!

    • thanks, Meredith! Just looking at them makes me happy!