The gift of giving... in (awesome) recycled book form

December is upon us!  Giving gifts is by far more exciting than receiving them, in my book. I love seeing people's faces as they realize how much thought (or effort, or both) was put into making their gift!

I've been pinning things on Pinterest for a while now, and thought I'd share a few of my favorite cheap and simple, yet neat and crafty gift ideas for the special writers and/or readers in your life. Enjoy, and feel free to share any of your ideas in the comments!

1) Candle in a jar at I Love This... -- a jar covered with a beautiful page of beautiful words!



So simple and yet, so beautiful! You can go to a used book store and purchase a book for hardly anything at all, or keep your eyes peeled for book sales at your local library (sometimes they hold used book sales for fundraisers). Another idea, believe it or not, is walmart.com. They sell very inexpensive classics for under $2. Most people have at least one jar sitting around... and you can buy tealights at your local dollar store!

2) An envelope made of book pages at Vintage with Laces (could be turned into a sachet, decoration, a small gift bag, totally your choice).



Again, it's easy to find used, older books that would look perfectly vintage for this! A little sewing and any kind of beautiful stamp and you're done! (Or, if you prefer not to sew, you can always get two sided tape at your local 99 cent store and use it, instead!)

3) Book business card holder at Morning Creativity.



This is totally good for both ladies and gents! I can see this on a desk, or at a coffee shop... it would be a neat conversation piece anywhere!

4) DIY makeup bag at Love, Design + Sunshine.



This. Is. Awesome. As soon as I saw it, I began to come up with ideas. You can make this for someone who loves to write (with writerly words or quotes from their own book/s); use quotes from a reader's favorite book/s; or, you could even do quotes from favorite movie/s. And if sewing isn't your thing, you can always look around and find a solid-colored, nice-textured plain makeup bag, and write on it!

5) Repurposed book spine bookmarks  at Green Paper:



Aren't they awesome? And so easy to make! This is another one I think would work fine for guys or gals!

6) A heart shaped corner bookmark tutorial on youtube by thecheesethief.com:



Gorgeous!

7) Rustic book for that special someone from tipjunkie.com:



This could be made for anyone-- it could be a journal, you could notate everything you like about that special someone inside, copy down favorite quotes from books they love, and so on! It is definitely a gift that anyone would cherish. (Kids could even compile pictures drawn for that special someone, or write a book for a parent!)

8) Last (but definitely not least), I found a page on Renee's website (Rustic Crafts and Chic Decor) that is chalk-full of a compilation of awesome book craft ideas and where to find them. Here are a few...







So... do you see anything you'd like to give as a gift? How about something you're aching to make for yourself now?

Gifts don't have to cost a lot. As you can see, all of the above items were done with little money, and a lot of TLC. And that's what makes them so special! :)

Jessica