Comics/Graphic Novels

Amazing DIY Comic Book Craft Ideas For Old Comics

Hattie Kennedy

Staff Writer

Hattie is a comics scholar and obsessive reader from Brighton(ish) but living in Glasgow, Scotland where she is working towards a PhD in Canadian Studies, more specifically about Québécois comics and politics. Mostly she reads comics about other peoples’ lives because she’s nosy like that. She is an enthusiastic, if not experienced, seamstress and could win Olympic Gold Medals if only Procrasti-Sewing and Procrasti-Baking were recognised sports. A not insignificant percentage of her free time is spent worrying about whether her cats like her as much as she likes them. She is resident Quebec Comics Monkey over at Graphixia where she likes to lay claim to being more Canadian than she really is. Twitter: @HattieK

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Hey comics fans! I’m about to move into a new house and so am filled with the joy of home décor DIYs. Even though lockdown is easing here in the UK, I’ve been mostly staying home and trying to work my way through my crafting stash. Recently my attention turned to the stack of comics I had identified to donate…‘Maybe I should do some decoupage’ I thought to myself. Here are some great comic book craft ideas for things to DIY with the comic books you don’t want any more but just can’t bear to let go.

Decoupage Your Walls

I used to work in a bookshop/café in Glasgow and entertained myself by trying to persuade the boss to let me decoupage the toilet walls with covers from books that were too damaged to sell. I never won this battle, but my love of DIY continues and I reckon our new downstairs loo would look smashing with some comics-themed wallpaper!

Here’s a great DIY guide for decoupaging a guitar. I am sure it would also work for walls.

N.B. This method also works on a much smaller scale – look at this video guide for a cool way to decorate your comics storage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWBsk3dybc0&feature=emb_title

DIY Comics Puppet Theatre

I recently gave hand puppets to a friend’s children, and the hours of fun they have had with them has been a delight to see.

It made me think about making simple puppets by gluing lollipop sticks to the back of characters cut out from comics. I’m even going to make a puppet theatre for them to play with! This DIY tutorial seems pretty simple and would work really well with 2 dimensional paper puppets!

Earrings

I am a huge fan of these DIY comic book earrings and the tutorial is pretty easy to follow. I’m tempted to make some The Wicked + the Divine–themed ones with different members of the pantheon on each side.

DIY Bunting

My friend’s mum has party bunting that she shares with all
her friends and family. They made it out of old clothes and take it in turns to
use it for parties and events in their families.

Bunting made from old comics would be amazing, a really satisfying DIY to follow, and also give you something to read over your boring cousin’s shoulder.

Also, how cute are these DIY Hearts?

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

You didn’t think I was done with decoupage yet, did you?

How about this amazing tutorial for covering your shoes with
comics books?

And how about these DIY comics sneakers?

Plant Pot DIY

I really love this plant pot made from a can and some comics. My spider plant is having loads of babies right now, so a wee DIY session making few of these could come in handy.

Just Frame Them…

I’ve got a lot of new wall space to fill and not much money, so this seems like a super cute way to fill up some of the spaces!

I hope you’ve found some inspiration from these comic book craft ideas. I’ve ordered some Mod Podge and some IKEA frames and have a happy few weekends ahead of me!