Vintage Book Organizer Tutorial

Recently went antiquing and picked up this adorable "The Splendid Book for Girls" book. 

The colors on the front and back covers were so beautiful and charming it inspired me to create a little business organizer. 

The book had seen it's share of love over the years. Someone had let a little one go nuts on the pages with a purple and orange crayon. 

Don't throw away the pages, you can use those for other craft projects!!

First step was removing the book pages carefully with an exact-o knife. Reinforce the book spine by cutting a small piece of chip board. Hot glue the chip board to the spine.

Making this book cute and strong I wanted to strengthen the spine from the outside therefore measuring a piece of duck cloth to cover the existing spine. 

Use a sewing machine to stitch around the edges of the duck cloth to give it an authentic book feel before gluing into place.   

Then add the handles to the edges of the book. Using soft cotton twill ribbon to attach the handles and then hot glue to the book edges. 

Make sure that they are in the center and that both sides match. 

Next cut a large piece of duck cloth so that it covers the inside of the book. Add an extra 1/2' inch so that you can turn the edges under before attaching to the book to give it a finished look. 

BUT BEFORE YOU GLUE TO THE BOOK....

Add all of your awesome pockets and embellishments.

I went through my scrap stash to find some awesome vintage tablecloth scraps and gingham pieces.  

This was probably the longest part of the process because I had so much fun adding doilies, linen tape measure pieces and of course some BUTTONS!! 

Once you get it just how you would like it to be, hot glue in place to your book. 

I create a place for me to have pencils and pens, an extra pocket for business cards and the little composition book so that I can write notes or maybe measurements. Overall it is a cute way to organize my business stuff when I am on the go. 

Let me know if you have made your own version of this book organizer. I'd love to see it. 

~Amanda