Making a bag out of a book

Once upon a time I had an extraordinary amount of time for crafting and I crafted many a thing... once upon a time.  Back then, life was all 'what will I make next.'  Anyway, as you'll find, a common theme in my makings of things is making them as a gift for someone else.  It's really the reason I've gotten into so many varied types of crafts.  Also, once upon a time, I took up sewing for a moment (before realizing how horrible I was at it).  Using a very nifty how-to, found here, I was able to make a friend of mine a bag recycled from a book.  As pained as I was to rip out the pages of a book--I can hear my high school English teacher yelling "book abuse, book abuse!"--I did it for the art of crafting.  My version is a bit different from the tutorial (ugh, ugly big wooden handles... really?).  I added buttons on the outside and, on the inside, little "windows" for 2 pages from the book that I couldn't destroy.

This page reads "The world is dark, and light is precious/
Come closer, dear reader/You must trust me/I am telling you a story."

Also, I didn't just trash the sheets I savagely ripped out.  Instead, I blended them up into pulp (along with colored construction paper) to make paper and, in turn, these snazzy little note cards.