Olympia Le Tan inspired wallet

Difficulty:

Cost:

The wee book I used cost me $6.50, I wouldn't recommend spending more than ten dollars on a book for this DIY although you may have to trawl second hand book shops until you find something you like the look of. 

Hi there, it's Amy. Unlike Ali, I am still in the throes of exams, she got to go home aggggeeees ago! So it's rather dangerous because she has entrusted me to venture alone into the realms of craft and see what I come up with. I have been inspired today but the fabulous Olympia Le Tan clutches that are seen in the hands of the rich and famous! Fortunately, the wee wallet I created cannot even put a scratch on the price tags of the real deal.

I would quickly like to mention that my mother is a librarian so yes, I fully comprehend that many of you may think I am ruining a perfectly good book. In response I would like to say...

 but, fashun?

Tools:

A craft knife

A glue stick

A ruler

Materials:

A hard cover book

( I got three!)

Method:

The book that I chose to use has beautiful gilded pages so I wanted to try and preserve those. I began by ruling one cm margins on the first page of my book. 

Then, using a craft knife, I cut down into the pages of the book along the lines I had ruled. This step is really the trickiest, you have to keep going until you have managed to cut through all the pages. I pegged my book together at the corners to ensure all the pages stayed together. 

When you have cut out the pages you should be left with a thin border of pages. It does not matter at all how ruggedly you have cut the pages (as you can see I hacked away until the job was done) as this will all be covered up later. 

The final step is to take some of the cut out pages and line the inside of the hollow you have created. I cut up the pages into different sizes to create a decoupage look. It is important that you line all sides of the hollow, as this is ultimately what will hold all your pages together.

You may have to line an area more than once, if you make a mistake, or don't like how it looks, you can always put another layer of paper over it, that's my philosophy anyway. 

Fin! This book is the perfect size for an iPhone and there is room left over for a few credit cards and a lippy. This book would make a fabulous gift, or, as my flatmate Petra suggested; you could use it to hide your phone in and text in class without the teacher noticing. 

Enjoy that book destruction! (Sorry Mum!)