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Hi guys! I am super excited about the project I am sharing over at Craftaholics Anonymous this month. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I love coming up with fun new decorations every year. This year I took an old book from the thrift store and gave it a "magical" makeover. Head over to Craftaholics Anonymous to get the free cover image printables and learn how to make your own.
Happy Halloween Crafting!
Amy
Hi guys! I adore the look of old books and book page art. Over the
years I have amassed quite a collection of old books from thrift stores
that I like to use for little projects around my house. Don’t worry —
none of them are valuable, though I did find Gary Cooper’s autograph on a slip of paper inside an old book one time! Most of my stash have
already had their covers removed and used for other projects, so all
that is left are the beautiful old, yellowing pages that are so perfect
for vintage-style home decor projects like this one. I have used these
book page garlands all over the place lately — in my dining room, in my
office at work, and to decorate for a vintage paper doll themed baby
shower. They are quick, easy, and inexpensive — the perfect crafting
trifecta!
You will need:
- an old book that you don’t mind tearing a few pages out of
- a printer
- decorative paper {optional}
- twill tape or ribbon
- tape and glue stick
The first thing you will need to do is set up your computer to print
on the book pages. I have an older version of Microsoft Word that I
like to use, but any word processing program will work. Your screen
shots may not look exactly like mine, but the process will be very
similar. Chose the book you would like to use and carefully tear out
enough sheets to make your garland — one page per letter. Often the
margins will not be equal {which drives me crazy!} so I trim the edges a
bit to make sure the text is centered on the page. Measure the length
and width of your book page. In this example, my page is 3.75 inches
wide by 6.5 inches long.
Open up Microsoft Word and click on File in the upper left corner, then
choose Page Set Up. In the box that pops up. you can adjust the page
margins and size. The first tab in the box is for the margins, as
shown above. I like to set all the margins to .5 inches. If you would
like your letters to be printed lower on your page, simply adjust the
top margin until it looks the way you want.
The second tab in the box lets you adjust the paper size as shown
above. Your book page is most likely not one of the standard sizes
listed, so choose “Custom Size” and enter your width and height in the
boxes below. Click OK and you’re all set. The shape of the printable
area should change on the screen to match your book pages, just like
magic. Choose your font and size then set it to center justification. I
almost always use a typewriter-inspired font like Linowrite
at 200 pt. for my book page garlands, but any font will work. Just
make sure it is big and bold enough to stand out against the small text
in the background.
When you go to change the size of your font, 200 will probably not be
a choice in the drop down box. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that
for years I didn’t know you could make text any size you want by
highlighting the box and typing in any number then hitting enter. When I
realized that, it was a major face-palm moment. Duh! Please tell me
I’m not the only one. . .
Anyhoo . . . Type in the message you want on your garland — one letter per page — and print it out on your home printer.
I wanted to give mine a little more interest by cutting the bottom into a
shape, so I drew the design I wanted lightly in pencil on one of my
pages. You can get as creative as you want here. I went for a simple
point, using a ruler to keep everything straight and symmetrical. You
only have to draw it out on one page because you can use that first one
as a template for all the others. Use scissors or a paper cutter to cut
out the design.
For this particular garland I decided to add a little color as well, by
mounting the book pages onto decorative paper with a glue stick and
cutting it out with a narrow border on each side. This is completely
optional since the garland also looks great using just the book pages.
Once all of the letters are prepared, assemble the garland by folding
the top of the page back about 1/2 inch over the twill tape or ribbon
and taping it in the back with scotch or masking tape to secure it. Be
sure to leave 12-18 inches of twill tape or ribbon on each end of the
garland for hanging or to tie a decorative bow. I clipped this one up
to my chicken wire memo board with mini clothespins and embellished it with tassels made out of cute cocktail napkins.
That’s all there is to it. friends. Book page garlands are so easy and
inexpensive you can make a new one for any holiday or special event!
Have a great day!
Amy
Hi guys! A few weeks ago I shared my new recipe and meal planning binder that was filled with cute recipe cards I had made for all our favorite meals. Today I am responding to several emails requesting that I post the recipe cards here on the blog, too. I am happy to share with y'all! These are some of the most-requested meals in our home that I hope will be hits for you as well.
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