Hello lovely book nerds! I am a huge fan of crafts and DIY projects! It seems that I am always heading to my local craft store to stock up on supplies for my next project. I love to crochet, knit, make jewelry, sew, and so much more. Whenever my favorite season comes around, Autumn, I like to spice up my crafts with some pumpkin flavoring, it’s not just for coffee! I have been working on this blog post for a while, rounding up and finishing off all of my bookish autumn DIYs. I hope you enjoy and find some inspiration along the way.
This post includes sewing projects, crochet, painting, and more. They were all so much fun and range in difficulty and time. I hope you can find your next fall project!
Book Sleeves!
Book sleeves are everywhere nowadays, and for good reason! They are super useful, protective, and cute! So, this summer I decided I wanted to learn how to make them. I found this incredible video on YouTube, followed it, and now I have a stack of book sleeves!
Of course, as autumn came around I realized I needed a book sleeve for the colder season! So, I made my usual trip to the fabric store and picked out the perfect fabric, after A LOT of deliberation (there were a lot of cute fabrics). I found the cutest fabric with little orange pumpkins and black cats.
I am a little bit obsessed with my spooky book sleeve, I have been using it constantly since I made it. My sewing is nowhere near perfect, but they are a lot of fun to make and are super useful.
Bookmarks!
I made two kinds of bookmarks this year! I have a little bit of an obsession with bookmarks lately, and I realized I have none dedicated to Halloween! So of course, I DIYed them!
The first ones I made were these super fun watercolor bookmarks. I cut some cardstock into rectangles and went crazy with watercolor. I probably made 15 other bookmarks, these are just a few of my favorites. They are far from perfect, and I definitely need to work on my handwriting, but I love them. They add a little pop of Halloween every time I open my book.
Next, I tried my hand at a friendship bracelet style bookmark. Do you remember making these when you were younger? I used to make them ALL THE TIME, I still had a bag of the string in my closet. This bookmark was a little more time consuming than the other ones, but it was actually a lot of fun. I found the pattern here if you want to try your hand at it. It is a really fun activity to do while listening to a spooky audiobook!
Bookish Pumpkin Carvings!
This one, I am seriously excited about. I am a massive fan of The Hunger Games series, so of course, I had to theme my pumpkin carving to the books! I decided to carve this design into a fake pumpkin because I wanted to keep it forever. On one hand, I am glad I did this because this design took A LOT of work, so I get to enjoy my work over and over again for years to come. However, on the other hand, the foam pumpkin I used was super thin, and a lot of those tiny connection you can see in the picture below broke while I was carving, so I had to glue them back together. Maybe this wouldn’t happen on a real pumpkin…
When I made this, I printed out this pattern and taped it to the pumpkin. I then took a pin and outlined the entire thing. Finally, I started carving.
When I finished, I bought a fake tealight candle to put inside (because mine is foam) and it looks fabulous. I love turning the candle on and turning off my lights while watching a spooky movie.
Bookshelf Décor!
I am particularly proud of these little pumpkins! A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about how I decorate my bookshelves for fall. Well, I guess I wasn’t finished yet, because as I was perusing Pinterest, I found this adorable pattern for these tiny pumpkins. I knew they would look fabulous on my shelves. They were super easy and fun to do.
Bonus!
This one isn’t bookish, which is why I am putting it as a bonus. But, I am so proud of these adorable scrunchies. I have been wearing scrunchies a lot recently, as they have come back into fashion. I found a video on Youtube, followed it, and made my new accessory for the month.
This one may not exactly be bookish but I was too obsessed with it not to mention! I have been seeing scrunchies everywhere and a few people are making Halloween ones! When I went to the fabric store for my book sleeve, I found these two adorable spooky fabrics, bought 1/8th of a yard and made them! I wear them probably too much, but they add some spookiness into my hair.
I am so proud of al my Autumn DIYs that I managed to finish this month. They were a lot of fun, and they add so much holiday joy to my life. Now I need to start looking for winter DIYs!
Let me know if you try any of these, I would love to see pictures! Also, give me recommendations for more DIY projects you are loving. I am always looking for inspiration.
Yay for awesome DIYs! I make my own booksleeves/pouches as well! But I didn’t even think about making bookmarks! You’ve made me want to try something else now! (I’ve been thinking about candles…buuuuut)
I am such a fan of DIYs! It might be a problem haha. I love book sleeves! They add just a little pop of fun! And yes to candles! I made my first candles last Christmas, and it was so fun and oddly satisfying lol! I would love to make some holiday scented ones!