Ask me how I know this omg. But fortunately, concrete pavers are just as useful as they are ubiquitous. There are lots of places where concrete pavers can come in handy other than, you know, paving things. Such as in the garden! Unlike my painted rocks project, these pavers are a little big to serve as plant markers. However, these concrete pavers are the perfect size to mark out space in your garden, whether it’s to save a spot for a future planting or tell you where it’s okay to step. But plain old concrete pavers are so boring and concrete-colored! Fortunately, these particular concrete pavers are also appealingly book-shaped… so books is what they’ll become! This project is a super fun way to kick up your artistic creativity, even if you don’t consider yourself super artistic. It’s suitable for older kids on up, but if you’ve got some young kids who want to get in on the fun, give them some paint and let them exercise their creativity, too. Every garden needs a few abstract artistic touches, after all!
Materials
To make concrete pavers into painted books, you’ll need:
concrete pavers. Check out your local ReStore or Facebook Marketplace, where you’ll find these in endless shapes and sizes. Mine are about 4″x8″, but you could go all the way up to 16″x24″ if you wanted a whole painted book garden path. And if you can’t find exactly what you want, don’t be afraid to DIY them! paint and primer. The best base layer for these pavers is regular house paint, ideally a paint+primer combo. I don’t know if you’re as dithery as I am about what colors to paint my walls, but I have a shocking number of indoor house paint samples, and fortunately, they’re PERFECT for this project! You can use house paint for the whole project, but artist’s acrylics and paint markers also work great over those base layers. These oil-based Sharpies are especially good for details and handwriting. polyurethane sealant (optional). If your pavers will be exposed to the weather, it’s a good idea to coat them in water-based polyurethane sealant. I prefer the brush-on version, not the spray can kind, for projects like this.
Step 1: Wash the concrete pavers, then prime them.
Concrete pavers are FILTHY! Scrub them outside with dish soap, a scrub brush, and plenty of water, then let them air dry thoroughly. When the pavers are dry, you can give them their first coat of primer. Because all my house paint samples have the primer included, in this family project everyone primed their paver with the color they also wanted to be the base coat of their brick. Not everybody got exactly the color they’d most want as the base color, but I have a lot of blues, greens, and whites in my stash of house paint samples, so we made it work. Let that base coat dry.
Step 2: Paint books onto the concrete pavers.
This is where the fun happens! I wanted to do Anne of Green Gables, so I pulled up a picture from the trip I took with my kids to Green Gables National Heritage Place. It was a magical visit, and now I’ll remember it every time I spy that painted book paver in my garden. However, as you can see, it also works well to copy from a real, live book in front of you. Notice how my partner didn’t forget to decorate his book spine–I had to go back and do mine later when I remembered, oops! The most important details to add are the title on the front cover and spine of your concrete paver book, and painted pages on the top, bottom, and right sides. I just painted my pages white, but my more artistic family members used the paint markers to add more details to look like individual pages. The concrete pavers will have some rough edges and chips, but that’s part of their charm. Just do your best!
Step 3 (optional): Seal the painted book pavers.
If you want your painted books to last for a few years, then seal them with water-based polyurethane. But if you’re using them somewhere low-traffic and out of the weather, it’s not necessary. Place your painted book concrete pavers around your garden to both mark out space AND remind everyone that books are vacations for our imaginations.
