Offbeat Bride reader Marya created ring books as a ring pillow alternative. The book-loving, English major in me is freaking out all over them! Luckily for all of us book-lovers, she gave us the DIY details.
Being the book geek that I am, I couldn't resist bringing books into the wedding! Here's the step-by-step creation of my own ring bearer books…
Things you will need:
- Hardcover books. I bought used hardcover children's books because our ring bearers are two and four-years-old. A full sized book would have been too much for them.
- Modge Podge glue
- Paint brush
- X-ACTO knife
- Your choice of paper to wrap the books.
- Ribbon
- Sewing pins
Step 1:
Glue the pages together. I used Modge Podge because that's what I have and what I use for everything!
Some instructions will tell you to glue the side and then glue to the back page of the book. For the sake of adding paper/ribbons, do this at the end. (I followed the standard method and ended up undoing things… trust me, leave gluing the pages to the back cover to the very end.)
Step 2:
Cut out the treasure/secret compartment using your X-ACTO knife.
This is where not gluing the back cover will make your life easier because you'll be able to access the back of the book and tidy up the corners.
Step 3:
The next thing to do is to wrap the book. I used the technique my mom taught me in elementary school with brown paper bags. I didn't take pictures of this process but here's a how-to with good visuals and instructions to help you out.
Step 4:
Add your ribbons. Make sure to iron the ribbons before attaching them.
This is what mine looks like with the first ribbon added:
And in the inside (I used some extra paper I had to make sure the ribbon didn't come apart):
I used the two ribbons, but alternately considered gluing the white ribbon to the book and then wrapping the second ribbon as a bow around the book (like you'd wrap a gift). And then using the bow tie-off to secure the rings to the outside of the book. But, since we have young boys carrying the books, I decided the rings would be safer inside the book.
Step 5:
Getting the secret ring compartment ready for the rings. Secure a smaller ribbon to the inside with a simple sewing pin so that it can be pulled out to remove the rings.
Alternative: If you want to use books instead of bouquets
Just omit the first few steps and skip directly to wrapping the book — add ribbons and flowers and you're done!