DIY Farmhouse Stacked Hand-Stamped Books
Follow my simple step-by-step tutorial and learn how to create affordable, easy, personalized DIY Farmhouse Stacked Hand-Stamped Books using Dollar Tree books, chalk paint, stamps, twine, and faux flowers.
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DIY Farmhouse Stacked Hand-Stamped Books
Hey everyone! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen the farmhouse stacked hand-stamped books that’s been trending on the internet for a couple years now. I first saw it on Etsy and I thought it was so cute!
Today I’m sharing an easy tutorial on How to Create DIY Farmhouse Stacked Hand-Stamped Books yourself at home, and they couldn’t be more simple to create.
Even better, they’re very affordable to make with books from the Dollar Tree or thrift shop, and you can customize them exactly how you want.
These stacked hand-stamped books can easily be customized with your family member’s names or favorite phrases, and your choice of colors, flowers, and greenery to fit in with your home décor aesthetic.
If you want to know how to create these cute farmhouse style stacked hand-stamped books, then keep reading for the full tutorial below and all the affordable products to use.
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How to Make Easy DIY Farmhouse Stacked Hand-Stamped Books
One of the best things about these stacked hand-stamped books is how easy they are to make! They also don’t require a ton of supplies and most likely you already have some of these at home.
Supplies You’ll Need:
- Books (Dollar Tree, Thrift Stores, and Yard Sales are great for getting books for cheap!)
- White Chalk Paint
- Matte Mod Podge
- Paint Brush
- Rubber Wood Stamps
- Black Ink
- Natural Jute Twine
- Faux Flowers/Greenery
Step 1: Remove Book Covers
To get started with these hand stamped books, start by removing the covers off of each of your books. You can use hardbacks or paperback books, but I personally chose to use paperback books and they were super easy to remove.
Below is what your books will look like once the cover has been removed.
Step 2: Apply White Chalk Paint
Next apply white chalk paint to the spines of each book and to the cover of the book that you will have on top.
I loved using chalk paint because it is a little thicker and you only have to apply one coat. It also helped give the books a rustic farmhouse look that I was going for.
I used regular household paint brushes to apply the paint to the books and it worked great!
If you don’t have chalk paint, you can also use regular white paint, but you might need to apply a couple of coats to cover everything well.
Allow your books to fully dry before beginning the next step. Mine probably only took 15 minutes to dry, but feel free to wait longer.
If desired, apply a coat of clear, matte mod podge to the cover of your book to seal the paint.
Step 3: Hand Stamp Your Letters
Next it’s time to determine what words you will be stamping onto your books. I plan to do a personalized set with our family’s names next, but for this set I chose one of my favorite phrases “Love Lives Here”, and I think it looks so cute!
In case you need some inspiration, I’ve included a list of ideas below:
15 Stamped Book Sayings:
- Love Lives Here
- Home Sweet Home
- Faith Hope Love
- This Is Us
- Love Never Fails
- Thankful Grateful Blessed
- Bless Our Home
- Bless Our Nest
- Life is Beautiful
- Happy Ever After
- Always Be Kind
- Love You More
- Be Our Guest
- My Happy Place
- God Is Good
Once you’ve chosen the phrase you want to use, begin hand stamping each letter onto your books one by one with these rubber stamps and black ink.
I recommend practicing on a sheet of paper a few times until you get comfortable with using the stamps and know how much pressure to apply, how much ink to use, and the correct letter spacing.
I actually tried doing it a few different ways with applying all 4 letters at once and applying them individually, and found it a lot easier to apply one by one.
Tips/ Important Things to Keep in Mind:
- The harder you press, the more bold the print will appear. If you want a more faded look, press lighter with your stamp.
- Unless you want the stamp edges to appear with your letters, wipe around the stencil with a wipe or rag before applying your stamp.
- It’s okay if your letters aren’t all straight, but try to keep them evenly spaced apart, using your stamp as a guide.
How Do You Stamp a Book Straight/Even?
The key to stamping a book straight and keeping your letters evenly spaced is:
- Taking your time
- Stacking your books first to figure out positioning
I recommend holding your stack together and figuring out exactly where you need to place the beginning letter on each book. You can mark it with a tiny pencil dot, if desired.
In the photo below, you will see that I applied my words to the right of the books, and did almost a stair step design with the words “love lives here”. I also made sure to place the letters not too close to the edge.
If you are a more visual person, you can always take some scrap sheets of paper, stamp your letters on them, and then figure out placement that way.
I also want to add that it’s okay if your letters aren’t perfectly straight, and I actually did mine a little more uneven on purpose. I really wanted it to look more farmhouse rustic and I think the imperfections are actually really beautiful and give it a nice charm.
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Step 4: Distress Your Books (If Desired)
If desired, use the leftover ink on one of your stamps and gently brush along various spots around the edges of the book, underneath the letters, and on the book spine.
You don’t need a lot of ink here to give it a nice distressed look, so apply sparingly and build up if desired. Remember less is sometimes more!
Step 5: Tie Your Books Together
Next, it’s time to tie your stacked hand-stamped books together. I recommend using natural jute twine for this step because it looks great, is inexpensive, and is very easy to work with.
You can also add ribbons underneath the twine or use it instead of twine, if desired.
Start by first tying your stacked books across and placing the bow tie either on top or towards the front of the book. I did two wraps, but you can wrap around as many times as you want.
Next, add a tie across the top of the book and tie into a knot or bow on the underside of the books. The bottom right photo will show you how the finished tied book looks.
Step 6: Add Floral Details/Embellishments
Last but not least, it’s time to decorate your stacked hand-stamped books with faux flowers, greenery, or embellishments.
I chose to use a beautiful pink flower I had in my faux flower collection and some greenery, and I love that it adds a simple, yet beautiful touch to these books.
You can cut flowers off a bouquet or use floral picks and stems which are already a small size.
Simply place your flowers and leaves underneath the twine and position to your liking. If desired, you could hot glue it on, but I decided to keep mine unglued in case I want to change it out for the seasons.
Popular choices to decorate your books with include lambs ear, beads, or seasonal elements.
The possibilities really are endless with how you can decorate your books, so have fun with it and let your personality and style shine!
I absolutely love how these stacked hand-stamped books turned out and I adore how they look on my book shelf! I can’t wait to make another set soon with our family’s names. 🙂
Hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial for how to create Easy DIY Farmhouse Stacked Hand-Stamped Books! Do you love the look of stacked hand-stamped books too? How would you personalize a set for your home? Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for stopping by! – Cara
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