Book Page Wreath DIY (Part I)

Last week I saw a post on The Inspired Room about a wreath made from the pages of a book.

I popped over to Living With Lindsay and read her tutorial, then watched her video on how to make one.  She shows you how to roll the paper and how to avoid burning your fingers to death, which is a good tip.  Now, I had a lot to do, but all of a sudden the only urgent thing in my life was to get to the nearest dollar store and make one of my own.  As in, tonight, before I go to bed.

Lindsay was right.  It really costs only $2.00.  Now that’s my kind of project!

Lindsay’s video and tutorial are far better than what follows, but for what it’s worth here’s how I did it.

At my dollar store they only had 2 kinds of books:  dictionaries and Bibles.   The idea of tearing up a Bible didn’t sit well with me, so a dictionary was what I came home with, along with a foam wreath.


I didn’t have any craft paint that wasn’t all dried up, so I used a dark brown ink pad to rub the edges of the pages.  After I’d finished, though, I wished I’d had paint.  I think it would have been a little more noticeable.


I also found that tearing pages out of the book didn’t work too well.  My binding was too good, I guess.  I ended up using an exacto knife to cut my pages out of the book.    It was 11:30 pm when I finally started this project.  I plugged in my glue gun, took a deep breath and started.


Soon I’d gone all the way around.


I turned the wreath over (again, check out Lindsay’s blog) and kept going.  After a while, I had a wreath!  Hooray!


I pinned a piece of ribbon to the back and rushed to the wall to hang it up.  It is so light that I just used a thumb tack to pin the ribbon to the wall.


What do you think?  I like it!


I hung it in my family room, between two pieces of furniture.  I’ve been planning to hang something circular there for a long time.  Well, here it is, I guess.  (And yes, I know there’s one piece on the top that is sticking out too far.  Beginner’s lesson learned:  stick that paper down in deep more quickly or it dries where it paused.)  That’s okay.  I’m not into perfect.  (I might be lying here, just a little, because I’m really a perfectionist, but I’m overcoming it.  Having 8 kids sort of forces me to do that.)


I realized a few things after doing this.  Mine is more gray.  That’s because the dictionary I used had newsprint pages.


It got me wondering:  what about a book with gilded pages?  Or a vintage book with red edges to the pages?  or what about an old book with yellowed pages?  Or a book with crisp white pages?   Changing the kind of book you use could change the whole look!  Kind of fun.  I think I’m going to make another one after I go scan the thrift store for old books.

Editorial note:  To see part II, which shows how the wreath looks using 4 different books, click here .

Meanwhile, I decided to try an experiment with my wreath:


I got a long piece of orange ribbon and very loosely tied it in a knot around it.


And that’s how it stayed.   You want one of these, I promise.  They’re fast, cheap, simple and fun.  Try it!

Placemats turned Tablerunner DIY

I was at the dollar store with my friend when I ran across these placemats.


I liked their crisp blue and white color and the stripes.  But I really didn’t need placemats, and remember:  at my house things like that have to come in sets of ten!  Then I remembered my laundry room.  I’ve been looking for a super simple runner to put on top of one of my dryers……..  you know how those  moments go, when inspiration strikes.  I put four of them in my cart and brought them home!

I decided to rip open the seam on the short ends so that I could stitch the entire length of the runner closed at the end, and have it look like one long, tidy seam.


I left the long sides as they were and decided not to unstitch them.  I could handle a thick seam if I ironed well, I thought.  Since this cotton weave frays easily, I also didn’t want any raw edges underneath.  I placed right sides together and stitched the four placemats together lengthwise.  Notice I’m not sewing the sides with the open seams.


Next I pressed the seams open on the back and flipped the runner over to press it once more.


Finally I folded the long sides back under and stitched them up!  This is what the back side of the runner now looks like, with the thick seams connecting the placemats together pressed open, and the hem down the side folded over the seam and stitched up.


The top side of the runner looks like this.  I like how tidy the seam looks.


Ta-da!  Only about 30 minutes in all.


Excitedly I took it to my laundry room to see how it would look…..


Perfect!  I wanted something to protect the top of my dryer from being scratched by my vintage metal basket, and I wanted it to fit the style of the room.


Just what I pictured.  I really like how it’s so simple looking.  The placemats are 100% cotton, but not a quality weave.  Still, they work great and have the look of linen toweling.  The perfect fit for my space.


Simple, inexpensive, and done in 30 minutes.  I like it!
You could do this same thing with lots of materials instead of placemats.  You could use kitchen towels, linen napkins, vintage handkerchiefs, etc.  The sky is the limit (that’s the way creativity works!).

HH

I love white paint!

I really, really love white paint.  It can take anything and make it beautiful.  Well, most anything.
I’d been slowly accumulating old picture frames from the thrift store, so I finally laid them all out and got to painting.

They started in various shades of gold and brown. (And, yes, that’s an obnoxious vinyl tablecloth that I use to paint on) IMG_8439 (Large) This gold one I’m really excited to work on.
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I quite like this frame, too.  Great detail!
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And this mirror was a find!
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I confess I did no priming at all, just went right to work on them with my white paint and a brush.
I just paused every hour or two to brush another coat over everything until I was satisfied…

Just look at this great collection now!
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I’m so pleased with how they turned out.
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Most of them will end up on my dining room walls with family photos in them, but the mirror is already on the wall!
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Sigh.  I love my living room…
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I also love this sweet face.  She had to try one on.
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I just wish you could hear her little voice saying “cheese” IMG_8502 (Large)2 “Tseez!”  I love those pudgy little hands…
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Too bad you can’t hang that on the wall!  Ka-yoot!

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