I've not talked a whole lot about altered books so I thought I'd touch on the subject a bit. I go in depth about how to prepare a book to be altered and several techniques but one thing I didn't have space for was themes for altered books. The books loss is your gain ;)
Now you can create an altered book on just about anything be it a particular theme, a chosen medium (paint, ink, stamped, ephemera, etc), one based on a quote, poem or a hodge podge of anything that strikes your fancy!
You may choose to make your altered book monochromatic working with various hues or maybe you have an animal you love ~ shoot you could even create an altered book about shoes.
The possibilities are endless!
Here is a list of Altered Book Ideas & Themes to get you on your way...
Be sure to keep in mind that these themes could also work for themed scrapbooks as well!
Abstract Art
Abstract Thoughts
Actors/Actresses
Adopted Ancestors
Advice
Africa
All About Me
Alphabet
Altered Photos
Anatomy
Ancient Civilizations
Ancient Cultures
Ancient History
Ancient Spirits
Andy Warhol Type Images
Angels
Animals
Antiques (Antique Anything)
Archetypes
Around the World
Art Nouveau
Asian
Astrology
Astronomy
At the Beach
Au Natural
Authors
Automobiles
Autumn
Babies
Barns
Bats
Bears
Bees
Beeswax
Bingo
Birds
Birthdate / Birthyear
Black & White
Boats
Body Parts
Books
Butterflies
Camelot
Carnival
Cars
Cartoons
Cats
Celebrations
Celestial
Celtic
Cemeteries
Chickens
Childhood Memories
Children
Chocolate
Christmas
Circus
Cityscapes
Classical Composers
Clocks
Clowns
Cocktails
Coffee
Collage
Collections
Color(s)
Comics
Costumes
Cowboys (or Cowgirls)
Creative Life
Creepy
Cultures
Cupcakes
Dance
Darkness
Day of the Dead
Desire
Digital
Disguise/Masquerade
Dinosaurs
Dogs
Dolls
Doors & Windows
Dragonflies
Dragons
Dreams
Earth
Eggs
Egyptian
Elegance
Elements
Elephants
Emotions
Ephemera
Eras –60’s; 70’s; etc.
Ethnic
Experiments
Eyeglasses
Eyes
Fabric
Faces
Fairies
Fairy Tales
Famous Landmarks
Famous Women
Fantasy
Farms
Fashion
Faux Postage
Feminine Mystique
Fibers
Figments of Your Imagination
Film
Flight of Fancy (winged things)
Flowers
Folklore
Food/Cooking/Edible Stuff
Footprints
Foreign Text
Fortune Cookie Sayings
Found Objects
Found Poetry
Friends
Game Pieces
Games People Play
Gardens/Gardening
Genealogy/Ancestors
Geometric Shapes
Ghosts
Girlfriends
Gnomes
Goddesses
Gothic
Greek
GrowthGypsy
Halloween
Hand-drawn
Hands
Handwritten
Happiness is…
Harvest
Hats
Hearts
Herbs
Heroes
Heroines
Hobbies
Holidays
Home & Hearth
Horses
House of Blues
Houses
Hymns
India
Insects
Inspiration
Italy
Jazz
Jesters and Jokers
Jokes & Riddles
Journeys
Joy
King Arthur
Kings and Queens
Knitting
Labels
LandscapesLanguages
Lavender
Leaves
Leonardo da Vinci (or any famous artist)
Life Lessons
Lighthouses
Literature
London
Love
Magic
Magical Creatures
Magical Potions
Mardi Gras
Marie Antoinette
Maps
Masks
Medieval
Men (famous/infamous)
Merry-Go-Round
Metal
Mermaids
Middle East
Military
Mixed media
Mona Lisa
Money (foreign or domestic)
Monochromatic
Monsters
Moon
Motherhood
Motorcycles
Music
Movies
My Favorite Things
My Life
Mythological Creatures
Mythology
Native American
Nature
Nature Spirits/Sprites
New York
Newspaper Clippings
Night
Night before Christmas
Numbers
Ocean
Old Wives Tales
Optical Illusions
Owls
Paris
Parks
Past Times
Patchwork
Pets
Photography
Pictures
Pin Ups
Pirates
Play on Words
Poetry
Poets
Politics
Portraits
Postal
Postcard
Printmaking
Puppets
Puzzles
Queen of Hearts
Questions
Quilts
Quotations
Rain
Rainbow
Recipes
Recycled Materials
Reflections
Resolutions
Retro
Retro Ad Art
Road Trip
Robin Hood
Robots & Spaceships
Rock & Roll
Roosters
Rubber Stamping
Rubbings
Sacred Spaces
Santa
School Days
Sea
Seascapes
Seasons
Second Chance
Secret Garden
Self-Portrait
Serengeti
Seven Wonders
Sewing
Shoes
Shrines
Snowmen
Solar System
Solitude
Spells and Magic
Spice
Sports
Spring
States/Countries
Still Life
Storybook
Summer
Super Heroes
Symbols
Tags
Tarot Cards
Tea or Tea Time
Teddy Bears
Telephones
Textures
Theater
Things w/Wings
Time
Time travel
Toys
Tractors
Traditions
Travel
Treasure Maps
Tree of Life
Trees
Trucks
T-shirt Sayings
Typewriter
Unicorns
Urban Life
Vampires/Halloween
Venice
Vintage
Vintage Fashion
Vintage Men
Vintage Nudes
Water
Weather
Where I Live
Whimsical
Wild Animals
Wild West
Wild Women
Wine
Wine, Women and Song
Wings
Winged Creatures
Winter
Witches/Warlocks
Wizard of Oz
Wizards
Women
Words of Wisdom
World
Zetti
Zodiac
Zoo
Thank you for this list!
ReplyDeleteAll in one space, all the collection of idea together, thank you for all you do and for who you are. ♥
~Jill
Thanks for all the great ideas. You always amaze me.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the time and effort you put into this list!!
ReplyDeleteThis list has been a HUGE help! My crafting buddy and I wanted to make some altered books, but had no idea where to start. This list has inspired several different projects for us, thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the list! I went from having no ideas to too many ideas! :P
ReplyDeleteI would like to add one what about the material you use for example what if you used newspaper throughout the whole book?
ReplyDelete