It's Craft Time! - Paper Book Vase

I want to make one of these pretty vases from old books from Sweet Paul. There is a great tutorial here. I was especially impressed with the price tag of this little gem. The book cost me $.49 cents at the thrift store and the little knife was $1 from the Dollar Store. Cute, Thrifty, Easy -- My kind of project!
 

My version didn't turn out as pretty. I started out with my template, but widened it. Turns out the skinner version would have been better. (The Dilbert book makes me laugh inside. I used to work at a large corporation and swore that Scott Adams sat next to me because my office was so much like what he wrote about.)

This is how my first attempt looked (yes first, as in multiple).I had a bit of trouble. As I cut through the layers of the book I unintentionally started to angle the blade of the knife, leaving some odd angles in the middle. I took the scissors to it and cut small chunks at a time and it looked better.

On my second try I rounded the bottom corner. It still looked like a blob. On my third try I cut the top part on an angle and lopped off a chunk of book. 

Here is how the final version turned out. 

 

Still not very vase like. I had to "fluff" the book up because the pages globbed all together. I could have tried a fourth version; however, my attention started to wander and I decided I was done. Will I proudly display this piece of art? Probably for a week or so (just because I'm stubborn), but long term it will be stored in the recycling bin. 

Did you try the project? Leave a comment and let me know how your version turned out! 

Update: I wrote this post several days ago. Since then I had a quick visit from my brother (who has very expensive taste and isn't into crafty stuff). He saw the vase and said it looked cool. Cool! Maybe mine is just lonely. I think it won't have to live out it's days in the recycle bin after all. Stay tuned for versions #4 and #5.