You know what time it is. Awwwww yeahhhh, it’s time for the Monthly DIY Challenge! Say whaatttt. You guys know that these monthly posts are some of my faves! In case you’re new, here’s the deal: on the 2nd Wednesday of every month, me and my amazingly talented blog friends make something based on a common theme and/or material. Here are some of my fave past challenge project materials: Michaels crates, plumbing pieces, balsa wood/craft plywood, cork, Modern Masters Metal Effects kits and air dry clay, and Royal Design Studio Stencils. This month we are working with a really awesome sponsor: The Leather Hide Store!
*Be sure to stick around to the end of the post so you can see all of my friends’ amazing and interesting projects AND AN AWESOME GIVEAWAY!*
We were given free leather as compensation for this post. All ideas, opinions, photos, and tutorial are my own. For my full disclosure policy, click here.
This month we teamed up with The Leather Hide Store! They sell quality pieces of leather and full hides that you can use for upholstery, craft projects, and more! You can find their great Leather Upholstery products at wholesale prices. Definite score!
I’m not a very handy upholsterer (is that a word?) or furniture maker, but I’m definitely a crafter! So I decided to make an awesome DIY modern leather book holder. I love books, and I love the modern style, so this was the perfect project for me! If you want to make your own, this is what you’re going to need:
Modern Leather Book Holder Materials
- Leather Upholstery (this is similar to the one I got)
- Ruler
- Pen
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Stapler
- Plastic or wooden ring
- (Optional) Gold pleather
Step 1
For this project we will be cutting two equal strips of leather. Using a ruler and a pen (in this case I used a fine point brown sharpie so in case I messed up it wouldn’t be too visible) Draw 3 parallel straight lines across your letter, all about 1.5 inches apart.
Step 2
Take your scissors (a pair intended for fabric will work best) and cut along the lines you made in step one. You should end up with two even, same sized strips of leather!
Step 3
Look one of the straps of letter through your plastic or wooden ring, making sure it makes a nice loop and the ends aren’t twisted. Top one end of the strap with some dabs of hot blue and then press the other end of the leather on top of it, making a nice circular loop on your ring. Repeat the process for the other strap! For extra stability, also staple the leather straps in place.
Step 4
This step is optional, but I wanted to jazz up my leather book holder a little bit, so I decided to cut some pieces of gold foiled pleather and add them to my ring and straps. Just a little bit of hot glue and they’ll stick right on! Et voila! A gorgeous DIY modern leather book holder is born 🙂
I love how modern it looks and how easy it is to store books up an out of the way on the wall while making them into a sort of statement art pieces! Also great for stray magazines that you just can’t part with yet 🙂
I just want to make a whole bunch of these and make a giant wall of leather book holders! How cool would that be??
Now that you’ve checked out my awesome leather book holder, head on over and swoon over all of my bloggy friends’ awe-inspiring projects! You seriously don’t want to miss out.
And remember how I said at the beginning that there is a GIVEAWAY?! WELL HERE IT IS! 🙂
The winner will receive one full leather hide of their choice from The Leather Hide Store’s “Our Collection” or “Special Collection” – your pick! How cool is that? Open to US and Canada residents.
Love the project? Pin it! <3
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you for next month’s DIY Challenge!
Oh my goodness! SO creative Erica! LOVE how this turned out!
Thank you, Kristi! I’m definitely in love with the look 🙂
Such a clever idea! And it looks so good in your house!
Thanks so much, Nicole! I really love how it fits in 🙂
This is such a unique idea! The gold stripes are perfect.
Thanks, Amy! It definitely needed that final touch of gold to make it perfect and totally me 😉
That sure is a fun project! I can see it being used several ways. Thanks for the how-to!
Thanks so much, Randi! It totally could be used to hold any number of things 🙂
What a brilliant idea, Erica! So unique and stylish!
Thank you so much, Tara!!
This is amazing!!! And I love the added gold!
Thanks so much, Bre! I totally thought of you while making this – I feel like it fits in with your style! 🙂
I have never seen anything like this, and I LOVE it! SO clever and creative. Great work on this project, Erica!
Thanks so much, Bre! I really love how it turned out 🙂
OMG I LOVE this!!! So creative and cool!
Thanks, Em!!