Jeremy May’s book jewelry. Images via My Modern Met.

If you’re like me, the walls of your home are obscured by hundreds, nay thousands, of thick, musty, outdated reference texts: The 1903 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. Things to Know About Boll Weevils. Urinalysis and You. A day ago, I would’ve told you the only way to get rid of these books was to burn them. But now I’ve learned that you can turn them into jewelry. It’s easy:

1. Carefully tear out hundreds of pages and laminate them together.
2. Using your hands and the same unalloyed will that led you to hoard these books in the first place, form the laminated paper into a ring, bracelet, pendant, or necklace of your choice.
3. With your safety goggles on, take a power sander to your jewelry and buff it until you achieve a lustrous, glossy finish.
4. Or just call Jeremy May. He does this for a living and is better at it than you are.

May, an artist based in London, is showing his book jewelry—created using a vastly refined version of the process above—as part of a group exhibition called “Read and Worn: Jewelry from Books,” at New York’s RR Gallery through April 24. You can see more images below and at My Modern Met.