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!
I am absolutely in luuuurve with these. They're wonderful, and I really appreciate the how-to guide!
Oh snap! Perfect for little hands and keeping the rings safe all the way to the alter. Love it!
I love this! How creative!
These are beautiful and I'm thinking about using this for my wedding! Thanks for the tutorial! 😀
What an awesome idea! We're not having a ringbearer but this would rock no matter who carries them.
I want it, and i'm sure we're not having anyone bear our rings!
very cool idea!!
This is wonderful! I love the idea. As another option for bringing books into the wedding, I printed out our vows and stuck them inside books by Nathaniel Hawthorne, so we each had one which we read our vows (which were Walt Whitman's poem Song of the Open Road!) out of, and it was wonderful! A big hit with the guests, too.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3832155966_cc…
Very neat.
What a wonderful idea! My fiance and I want to have our two year old son carry our rings for our upcoming wedding in Oct, and this is such a great way to keep the rings safe, plus I'm a big reader so it fits. Thank you for the inspiration and the how-to-guide 🙂
I love this idea! For our wedding (one year tomorrow), our ring boy had this awful cushion to use which he threw across the room every time he was given to hold. We ended up tying a ribbon around his toy (the one he carries EVERYWHERE) which was a dog. The ribbon went around the dog's neck, and he carried it up to my husband and one of the groomsmen who was his dad, and handed the dog over, the rings were pulled off, and he got his dog back. He also ran around the room while we did our vows, but for me, the fact that we used his favourite toy in the whole world made it all the more special.
Nice blog. Really the comments are interesting to read. Do more updates.
Very cool idea Jen! I do like the book idea its different and unique. I was trying to come up with some ideas for (my second wedding that we are planning ) rather than using a traditional pillow for my husband's little cousin who is going to be a ring boy. I do like books& magazines and my husband likes to collect comics so maybe I could come up with something since we are having a desination wedding in california.
Very cool idea Jen! I do like the book idea its different and unique. I was trying to come up with some ideas for (my second wedding that we are planning ) rather than using a traditional pillow for my husband's little cousin who is going to be a ring boy. I do like books& magazines and my husband likes to collect comics so maybe I could come up with something since we are having a desination wedding in california.
I am In love with this, and I think I have decided to do it at my wedding. We aren't going to have ring bearers, so for bridesmaid and groomsman not to have to carry a froofy pillow will be a great relief to them
Wow, that's super creative and so much fun to reuse later. I love it! Thanks so much for sharing, I'll be linking.
This is how my fiance proposed to me actually! So it might be really nice to incorporate into the ceremony.
oh is it even possible for me to geek out any more than this. i absolutely love this!!!!! i was thinking of using some of my books for centerpieces too…
I’m doing this with an old “Fellowship of the Ring” book. It ties in nicely with my love of Lord of the Rings–and Frodo is the Ringbearer. Hahaha. I’m a lover of Lord of the Rings and puns, so it’s perfect!
yaay amanda!! i love your idea too, its gonna be great!
I love this idea and I’m so going to make one! My dad suggested using a real book (no decoration on the outside) and the first thing I thought of was “The Taming of the Shrew” lol
what an awesome idea…love it!
Ooh, I like this idea a lot! We aren’t having a ring bearer but since we’re doing a ring warming we wanted something to keep the rings in or attached to as they get passed around. This works perfect for us! And one of our friends just learned how to do bookbinding so no books will be harmed in the process. Just trees… Poor poor trees.
slightly altering this idea by using a ‘Lord of the Rings-Fellowship of the Ring’ book and leaving it uncovered
OMG! I love this!!! I am a librarian and this is such a perfect idea. We are doing a “travelled to Italy” themed wedding and I can just see a book decorated with a Venetian gondolier or something of the sort! Thanks so much for this.
You’ve sparked a great idea here! My daughter is getting married this spring and wants to include a “Handfasting Ceremony”. This would make a fantastic way to present and to keep the Handfasting Ribbons before, during and afterwards.
Brilliant!!
Thank You!
Awesome, I’m totally making one for our son to hold! 😀
I am absolutely stealing this idea for my wedding. Now which book to use?!
I just bought the book for this today to use for our rings! We’re using “Secrets from the Treadmill: Discover God’s Rest in the Busyness of Life” since I’m a Christian and he has this theory about relationships being like a treadmill from back when we met in high school. Thanks for the great idea!
This is awesome! I have to try this!
Thank you so much for this idea! I have turned a beautiful journal that my Mum had bought years ago into a wonderful ring book. Thanks for the inspiration!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmckerras/
We decided that, since we’re atheists and there won’t be a Bible for our friend-officiant to hold (AND we aren’t having a ring bearer) we’re going to get a copy of a book that means something to both of us (like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and make a ring book for her to hold. It serves a purpose to the wedding, plus it gives her something to do with her hands!