DIY: Anthopologie Inspired Book Covers

We've all seen and loved the colorfully patterned Anthropologie Penguin Classic books like Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, etc. The style has changed recently to more bright and colorful patterned book covers and I always thought they would look great in a nursery. Instead of dropping $18 a pop on the whole collection, I figured I could recreate a similar look by wrapping some of my vintage books with some fun scrapbook paper. 

Remember when you used to have to put book covers on all your school books? I tried to use the same method to make mine and it worked pretty well. In case you forget, here's the steps I used.

Step 1: Get your old books (if you don't have any you are willing to sacrifice, hit up Goodwill - they are usually only about $2.50 each!)

Step 2: Pick your paper.

Step 3: Measure the paper and fold around the outside of your book. Fold the long end sides under and use double sided or masking tape to secure to the inside flap of the book. Make sure when you are taping the paper to the inside, you have the book completely closed so it will be flush on the outside cover.

Step 4: Before you fold under the top and bottom edges, make sure to make two small cuts on both the top and bottom to allow for the binding.

Step 5: Fold down the top and bottom edges and attach to the inside flap with tape.

Step 6: Cut a little triangle on the binding flap and open the book to the middle of the pages. This should leave a little gap in the binding. Fold the binding flap into the gap.

That's it! You now have yourself some Anthropologie inspired vintage books! I love how they look in the nursery.

Babymoon Reading List

Honestly, I don't read very much. I don't seem to have (or make) the time in everyday life. But, get me on a relaxing vacation, and I'm all about it. On our Arizona Babymoon I read four books! That's probably more than I've read in the past year altogether. Sad, I know. It was so much fun to relax and get lost in some great books, so I thought I'd share what I read with you (It was quite the variety, too!). I also started reading on my new (to me) kindle, which is flipping awesome. I love it - way better than trying to read on the kindle app on my ipad. 

The Night Circus

This book was good, but at the same time I feel like I need to read it again to fully "get it" and pick up on all the intricacies. In a nutshell - two illusionists are pit against each other to the death... with a couple twists, of course.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

Loved this one. But how could I not when I love Mindy Kaling so much? She's hilarious. Reading this book is like listening to her talk. So funny. In a nutshell - read about hilarious stories from Mindy's life, including The Office!

The Great Gatsby

I wanted to re-read this one before I saw the movie (hello, Leo!) and was glad I did. I remember reading it in high school and that is mostly wasn't very happy. In a nutshell - a dude tries to get back together with his lover from five years ago. It doesn't end well.

Gone Girl

I had heard the hype on this one and decided to take the plunge and read it since it had, you know, 10k+ awesome reviews on amazon. Why not, right? SO GOOD. In a nutshell - I can't even tell you because there are so many twists. Just read it. 

Name of the Wind (currently reading)

This one my sweet hubby suggested I read. It's one of his fantasy books that I don't usually like, but I thought I'd give it a try since he said it was so good. I'm about 25% in so far, and it is pretty good. I'm just waiting for the promised love story though... :)

That's it! Quite the variety, no? What have you been reading lately? This reading binge, along with my kindle might have gotten me motivated to keep this up! :)

The Hunger Games

(source)

Ahhhhhh! This series is my new Twilight! And it came at the perfect time - just as the Twilight and Harry Potter movies are coming to an end. All credit goes to my awesome sister-in-law Jenn who has been hounding me to read this series For. Ev. Er. and then ended up getting me all three books for my birthday. (Thanks!!)

I finished the first book in two days on the plane (it would have been one if I didn't have so much going on) and loved it. Such a creative and suspenseful story. I would highly recommend it! Aaaaand... they are already making a movie. Yes!

Husband just started reading it last night and he is already almost done. I have to get going on the second one now so he doesn't keep bugging me to get it done! I just hope it's as good!