Hello everyone!
Wow, it has been a very long while since I last posted! It's been very busy around here, and I haven't had much time to DIY anything for you. But, I wanted
to take a few minutes to wish you all a very merry Christmas.
Now, to make my post a little longer, I wanted to give you an idea for
decorating next December (or November or whenever you start decorating
;-) ). This year, the tree that I usually put in my room was not brought
up with the rest of the boxes of ornaments. So, instead of just letting
that corner of my room stay empty I decided to do something new: I made
a book tree. There are enough books in my room that I could easily pull
this off and still have books to spare. So I did it. Unfortunately, I
could not get a picture to put on here (I still haven't figured out how
to get pictures off my Kindle Fire onto my computer so I could put them
on here), but I can tell you how I figured it out.
Basically what I did was pull most of my books off my shelves and
stacked them around the corner where I would build my tree. Once that
task was accomplished, the fun part began. I started my tree with a
circle of about 5 of my biggest books (this was to make sure I had a
sturdy base) with one in the middle. Then, I took more books and stacked
them around the circle, kind of like building a cone structure with
cups, making each layer a little less wide than the one below it. As I
built up, the books got smaller, and the number of books in each layer
got smaller until I got down to stacking one on top of the other. These I
offset the corners a little to give a little stability and to give it a
little visual interest. This sequence I started once more with a
large-ish book and worked my way down from there. For the top, I took
one of my Christmas books and stood it up with the pages fanned, to give
a little interest and add to the bookish theme. So there you have it,
my book Christmas tree. I must say I will be doing this again next year.
If you have any tips for me, let me know, or if you have done a book
tree, I'd love to hear about it, how big, what theme (if any), etc.
Merry Christmas everyone! May your days be merry and bright!
12/24/2015
9/30/2014
DIY Book Canvas
I am a big reader, and so is my beau (I've got to think of a creative name...). Last year I covered an old cigar box with book pages for his birthday. Unfortunately, I did not think to get pictures until I had finished, so I can't give you the tutorial for that, but I will definitely try and sneak it away long enough to get a couple of good pictures for project inspiration. I had a blank canvas lying around
and a couple of books that were left over from the box, so I decided to combine the two. I've
seen different crafts similar to this with sheet music or magazine
pages, but never with book pages. So, I decided to create my own
tutorial for book lovers, or those who just want to see something new. And now, without further ado, here is my
project.
Supplies:
1 blank canvas (any size and shape will work; I used a 12X12 square canvas)
Book(s) (the number depends on what variety of words you want on your canvas)
Mod Podge
Brush
Exacto knife (this is optional, I have found it makes it easier to tear the pages out cleanly)
Patience
Instructions:
1. The first step is to rip out your pages. I know this can hurt for a book lover, but once you reconcile to yourself that it is for art and you pull out a couple of pages, it gets a little easier to think about. This can be done one of two ways. The first way is the old-fashioned technique of taking a page and just ripping it out. The second way, which to my thinking is easier, is to take an exacto knife and slice along where the page meets the spine. This is faster, as it can remove several pages at once, and helps you take advantage of the entire page.
Once
you're through with this step, you should have a stack of pages. As you
can probably tell from the picture, I had a little too much fun slicing
the pages out of the book. In retrospect, I only needed about 6 or 8
pages total to cover the entire canvas.
2. Once you have your stack of pages, it's time to
rip and have some fun! This is the most time consuming step of this
entire project, not counting the time it takes to let the Mod Podge dry.
What I did for this is I (carefully) ripped along the edge of each page
so I would have ragged edges on each side of my torn pieces. This is a
lot easier, in my opinion, than tearing each individual piece. You can
do either, whichever you prefer to do.
After each page was distressed along the edges, I went to town ripping each page. After a few minutes of ripping, I finally stacked about 3 pages together and ripped them at the same time to save some time. I ended up with a nice little pile of ripped paper that I could then glue to my canvas.
3. Now is the fun step: gluing! This step allows for
the most creativity. Pretty much all you do is start at the center of
your canvas and work your way out, fitting pieces wherever they fit. You
might have to rip some pieces a little smaller so they will work in a
spot, but other than that this step requires very little effort.
When you get to the edge of your canvas, you can either cut the extra pieces off flush with the edge and finish it, or wrap the pages around, which is what I did.
Once you're finished gluing all the pages to your canvas, you can either move straight to the last step, or embellish your canvas a bit. The sky is the limit as to what you can do here.
4. The final step for this easy project is the same as any other Mod Podge project. Keep adding layers of Mod Podge until it is smooth enough for your taste. Once you are finished with the Mod Podge, you can either add hanging hardware or use the canvas' grooves on the back to hang it on a hook.
Here is my (almost) finished canvas. All it is waiting on is whatever embellishment I choose to do, and a hook to hang it on.
And
there you have it! Easy wall art fit for a book lover's room. This
would make a great gift for a reader, or just decor for your home.
If you decide to do this quick and easy project, send me a picture in the comments. I would love to see what my readers come up with!
Happy crafting!
Supplies:
 | |
Book(s) (the number depends on what variety of words you want on your canvas)
Mod Podge
Brush
Exacto knife (this is optional, I have found it makes it easier to tear the pages out cleanly)
Patience
Instructions:
1. The first step is to rip out your pages. I know this can hurt for a book lover, but once you reconcile to yourself that it is for art and you pull out a couple of pages, it gets a little easier to think about. This can be done one of two ways. The first way is the old-fashioned technique of taking a page and just ripping it out. The second way, which to my thinking is easier, is to take an exacto knife and slice along where the page meets the spine. This is faster, as it can remove several pages at once, and helps you take advantage of the entire page.
 |
| My stack of pages |
After each page was distressed along the edges, I went to town ripping each page. After a few minutes of ripping, I finally stacked about 3 pages together and ripped them at the same time to save some time. I ended up with a nice little pile of ripped paper that I could then glue to my canvas.
 |
When you get to the edge of your canvas, you can either cut the extra pieces off flush with the edge and finish it, or wrap the pages around, which is what I did.
Once you're finished gluing all the pages to your canvas, you can either move straight to the last step, or embellish your canvas a bit. The sky is the limit as to what you can do here.
4. The final step for this easy project is the same as any other Mod Podge project. Keep adding layers of Mod Podge until it is smooth enough for your taste. Once you are finished with the Mod Podge, you can either add hanging hardware or use the canvas' grooves on the back to hang it on a hook.
Here is my (almost) finished canvas. All it is waiting on is whatever embellishment I choose to do, and a hook to hang it on.
If you decide to do this quick and easy project, send me a picture in the comments. I would love to see what my readers come up with!
Happy crafting!
Who am I?
Hello crafters and sewers! I thought I'd introduce myself to you. My name is Catherine. I am currently a college student trying to find time for the things that I love to do while making good grades! A few of my favorite things (pardon the play on words there) are sewing (my absolute favorite thing), reading, spending time with my wonderful sweetheart, and just enjoying life as I go along. I have sewn quite a few things. Included in my repertoire are quilts, dresses (I even made my own prom dress), nap mats, sleep blankies, embroidered projects, curtains, and quite a few more that I cannot think of at this moment. :-)
I guess I should tell you what this blog is about. In case you haven't already guessed from the title, this is my DIY blog. I'm kind of new to the craft blog thing, so we'll see how this works. ;-) I'll be mostly introducing sewing projects, anywhere from making something from scratch to making adjustments and personalizing already made items. And for my readers who don't know which end of a needle to thread, I'll also throw in a few craftsy type projects that don't include a sewing machine. ;-) I will go ahead and say that my posts might be few and far between, but I will do my best to keep you updated with fun new projects and ideas along the way.
Well, I think that's enough of an introduction. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure and let you know as time goes on. ;-) Tell me in the comments what types of projects you would like to see in the future, and I will do what I can to include those in my posts.
Happy crafting!
I guess I should tell you what this blog is about. In case you haven't already guessed from the title, this is my DIY blog. I'm kind of new to the craft blog thing, so we'll see how this works. ;-) I'll be mostly introducing sewing projects, anywhere from making something from scratch to making adjustments and personalizing already made items. And for my readers who don't know which end of a needle to thread, I'll also throw in a few craftsy type projects that don't include a sewing machine. ;-) I will go ahead and say that my posts might be few and far between, but I will do my best to keep you updated with fun new projects and ideas along the way.
Well, I think that's enough of an introduction. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure and let you know as time goes on. ;-) Tell me in the comments what types of projects you would like to see in the future, and I will do what I can to include those in my posts.
Happy crafting!
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