Make These Easy Mini-Book Pendants!

If you are looking for an easy project for gift giving this holiday season, look no further! These sweet little book pendants are the perfect project for the book lover in your life.

I decided to figure out how to make them when my friend Cheryl from the Amber Waves Band reached out to me looking for a product to sell at concerts that supported their new Storyteller CD (by the way, if you don't have your copy already, you can buy it via CD Baby here). This is not a sponsored post, I just love this band and their music.

After a bit of brainstorming, the idea of Storyteller Necklaces emerged.

We talked about which materials would be best, and settled on sustainable reclaimed leather, and reclaimed vintage book pages. A quick trip to my closet yielded several old purses and belts that were perfect for this project. Score!

Start by cutting out your books pages. I used a paper cutter and was able to cut several thicknesses at one time. The tiny book pages shown here are about one inch high by about two inches wide. The sizes of your leather pieces may determine the size of your little books. Basically, cut your little pages twice as wide as you want your finished pages to be, because you will be folding them in half.

Once you have cut out your little pages, you will fold the pages in half to create "signatures" just like a regular book has, except these will not be sewn (unless you really, really, really want to sew them). Instead, they will be glued.

Simply run a very thin bead of glue down the center of each fold line to glue the sheets together. The thin bead of glue shown in the picture above is actually a bit too much glue.

I found that four or five sheets was enough to make a believable signature. Fold up each signature as you go, so they will dry in the right shape.You can trim them up as you go, or just leave the signature edges a bit organic, as I did.

Next run a very thin bead of glue along the top of the folded edge of the signatures to glue them together. Each little book will probably consist of between three and five signatures.

Next, you will lay your stack of glued together signatures onto the piece of leather you have chosen for the book cover.

Determine to what size you need to trim your leather, so that it wraps around the spine of the book and is slightly larger than the pages. Cut out the leather with a pair of sharp scissors.

Using any clear drying glue, adhere the insides of the book to the inside of the book cover.

The book will want to splay open, so weight it down while the glue dries. I found that my coffee cup worked well for this.

When the glue has dried, you should have a perfectly lovely perfect little mini-book -- too perfect, actually. Using the edge of an old pair of scissors, rough up the edges of the pages and the leather. You don't have to do this, if it hurts your heart to damage something so perfect, but it gives the little tomes a lovely patina.

You can create single book pendants, like this little blue book. We added another layer of interest to it by wrapping it in a contrasting strip of leather. Use a sharp awl and a wood block to pierce the leather at the top of the spine to add a jump ring to attach the pendant to a necklace.

Another wonderful option is to stack two or three little books together to create a pendant. For the pendant shown here, each book was pierced with a sharp awl, using a wooden block to protect my table. Then, a pin head wire finding was inserted through all three books and a jump ring was then attached.

This is what the bottom of the pendant looks like.

Wouldn't this be a fun gift to make or receive?

If you love working with vintage book paper, you might like this post about making mixed media flowers.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on throughout week on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Amanda

How to Dye Bottle Brush Trees to Look Vintage

Years ago, I began collecting vintage Putz houses. I just loved the pretty pastel colors of all the little bottle brush trees growing up next to a cheerful mica covered cardboard house or chapel.

I figured out how to bleach them (see that tutorial here), and experimented with ways to dye them. One year I used koolaid powder to dye my trees as well as cotton batting for vintage style cotton ornaments.  While I liked the results of koolaid dyed trees, this year I wanted the trees to have a little more "pop". I couldn't be more pleased with the results!

Start by bleaching out store bought green bottle brush trees. You can find that tutorial here.

Use any acrylic craft paint you have on hand. Pour about a half-dollar sized puddle of paint into a bowl, and add two to three tablespoons of water. You are looking for a thin consistency -- something a little thinner than half and half, but definitely thicker than coffee.

You can use an old fork to dip and roll your trees until they are coated. Then pull them out of the thinned paint and set aside to drain and dry. Avoid letting wet trees touch each other if they are different colors, or you might end up with yellow trees with green spots. Just saying....

Next, you will want to blot your trees. I used paper towels. (As a side note, mixed media artists may want to save paper towels to use on canvases and in art journals. I dry mine out and file with mixed media ephemera for later projects).

Continue blotting your trees until you no longer see puddles forming underneath them as they dry.

Once your trees are completely dry, you can play with them to your heart's content!

Make lots of colorful trees to use in Christmas decor and in ornament making. They are just so pretty!

Have fun coloring your trees! Mix lots of fun colors, and experiment. There are no rules here.

Have you ever bleached and colored your own bottle brush trees? Or maybe you've even made your own trees from jute and wire? Let me know in the comments. If you like what you've read here, be sure to subscribe, so you won't miss any upcoming tutorials. Also, please share a link on Pinterest or other social media!

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Yesterday on Tuesday, Project Inspired

Materials to Use for Mixed-Media Art

Have you ever looked a piece of mixed-media art, or an art journal, and wondered how on earth the artist thought to use the materials they chose? The options are endless!

I've been getting back into mixed media projects lately, and shared this art journal guest book this summer.

Art journals and art canvas backgrounds can be made from just about anything! I save all my paper towels from other paint or ink projects for use in mixed-media projects. Simply dry them out and stack them with other supplies.

If you like to sketch while talking on the phone, or as a way to unwind at the end of the day, or to pass the time while waiting to have the oil changed, save those doodles and drawings in a file to add to your mixed-media journals.

Simply cut out around your sketch, and glue them into your journal or onto your mixed-media canvas. Other great materials include book pages (they don't have to be in English), scrapbook paper, and children's books. I love using vintage book pages, because it gives great background texture. You can always dry brush a bit of paint over your background to tone it down, if you need to.

Game cards are great for backgrounds or letters and words can be cut from the cards and added to your art.

Vintage ephemera adds a unique touch. I love this buttonhole technique brochure found at a local Goodwill Store.

Keep on the lookout for vintage greeting cards, as well!

Vintage wallpaper is amazing, as are vintage clothing patterns. Use the envelope or use the tissue or the instructions from inside!

Occasionally, a sketch gets developed a bit more -- in this case, I was experimenting with a set of oil pastels from Daiso Japan. Daiso Japan is like a Dollar Store, but everything is $1.50. I was pretty impressed with how well the oil pastels performed, considering the price!

Art and journaling doesn't have to be expensive. You don't need to run to the store for all your materials. You may find exactly what you need in an old box of letters or in in your recycling bin, or on the notepad next to your phone. What do you have in your art stash?

Make a Travel Paint Set From an Altoids Tin!

Here is a great gift idea for the artist in your life! Create a little travel paint set, using student grade paints.

I use mine for art journalling when I'm on the go.

Vintage Sewing Patterns!

I don't often share thrift store hauls here on the blog, but I am doing the happy dance right now about my latest big find!  I have always loved vintage sewing patterns and pick them up whenever I find them cheap, so I was tickled to find several dozen patterns at the Goodwill recently. Most of them were ninety-nine cents for a two-pack, then another 50% off, so I got most of them for a quarter each!

I'm pretty excited about using these in mixed-media art and in craft projects, as well.  Seriously, though, the fashion illustrations are just so gorgeous, I think vintage patterns are just perfect just as they are!

Have you ever crafted with vintage patterns? What did you make?

I am busily looking up copyright information on my patterns. Some of the envelopes or illustrations seem to be under copyright, but others have fallen out of copyright. Copyrights are not usually a problem for crafting using an original pattern or envelope, but can be an issue if you are planning to make copies of the copyrighted portions of the pattern. For more information about copyright for crafters, click here.

I am loving the white boots this gal is sporting with her "above the knee" skirt!  Looking at the culottes makes me want a pair. We had to wear culottes in gym at my parochial school in the eighties, and even though I pretended to hate them, they were actually super comfy -- and since they had to hit right at the knee, nobody ever worried whether their thighs looked fat. They were wide enough at the bottom to catch a cooling breeze, too! This was kind of a big deal in Arizona where I went to school. Of course, our culottes had modesty flaps, front an back, but those flaps worked great for fanning ourselves after a run. Who knew a sewing pattern from the sixties could make me nostalgic for the eighties?

I am itching to do something with all these patterns!  What would you make?  Would you keep them as they are and use them to sew vintage style clothing?

Would you cut the patterns up and use them for a home decor project or a mixed media project? Let me know in the comments!

How to Alter an Altoid Tin

I have a confession to make:  I may be an Altoids tin hoarder. I love them so much. I use them to organize jewelry when I travel, to keep art supplies handy, to make sewing kits and first aid kits and so on.

The date on my Creme de Menthe mints said 2009 -- I told you I was a hoarder! I remember buying the mints because I really liked the green color of the tin.  I recently altered this tin to create a watercolor kit for art journaling on the go. Are you an art journaler?

Here is a simple way to alter an Altoid tin. Start by creating a pattern for the top of the tin, by making a pencil rubbing.

I did not want to wait for paint to dry, or to worry about paint chipping, so I kept the original green color and used alcohol based markers to age the metal and to cover the white areas that I thought might peek through after I decorated the top. Alcohol based markers and inks work really well on metal. You have a little bit of work time, for blending, but it dries fairly fast.

Next, I adhered some scraps of patterned paper to the top, using the rubbing I made as a pattern.

Another, smaller piece of decorative paper was glued on top of the first piece, then the whole thing was sanded and distressed, and got a bit more "antiquing" with my alcohol markers.

The bottom of the tin got some decorative paper, as well. Hint: rubbing alcohol will remove the date stamps.

I adhered a piece of hem tape to the tin to create a pretty tie -- if I ever drop my tin, I would hate for its contents to fly all over the place.

Add a cheery note over the hem tape, to secure it well.

You're done!  This is such a simple way to alter a tin -- you can make them to give as gifts, filled with treats or anything you can think of!

Entertaining in This Imperfect Life: Lessons We've Learned

We live an imperfect life. Pretty much not one thing in our lives is perfect. We have lived through four renovations in the last five years, and two of them are still ongoing, but even before that our lives were imperfect. It's true.

Our family loves to entertain. We love huge back yard cookouts, and intimate game nights and everything in between. For years I pressured myself to make every single party spectacular. Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE to create well-decorated events, but sometimes the pressure to create awesome parties can take away from your own enjoyment.