Vintage Book Page Garland

Have you seen the book page garlands that are the rage right now?

I've never seen one for sale around here but I imagine you can buy one somewhere.

(California again probably....LOL)

They would be pretty difficult to ship I guess because they're delicate.

Anyway, I've been wanting to make one for the longest time.

let me tell you, blogging will get you to do stuff but the shop has 
lit a fire under my tushie BIG TIME!!

Lots of the things I've wanted to do but haven't are getting made for the shop!

It's nice because I can just do one...if it sells, I can do another!

Not nearly the pressure of doing a show or being at a market.

Yesterday I made the garland. Super easy.

It's over 6 ft long and took an entire book.
 I don't remember exactly how many pages were in the book but it was 200+.

This doesn't require a pictorial step by step, so I'll just tell you what I did.

Tear out the pages in a book...CAREFULLY.

If you use an old book, the pages are brittle so bend the binding back hard and go gently.

You'll find that they are attached with thread and the pages will tear along the binding...
that's good. 
You want that torn edge because it looks great. 
You can cut them out with a razor knife but I personally don't care for that look as much.

Once you have your pages torn, get a piece of ribbon, string, whatever that you want to use.

I used a piece of smooth twine that I think was macrame twine. 
I found it in a thrift shop and bought it because it was a brownish taupe color. 
It's a nylon blend.

I think you could use a rough twine but it might tear the paper more so I'd recommend something smoother. You won't see it except for at the ends.

Fold your page in half crosswise (bottom to the top) but don't crease it all the way. 
Just press a small crease in the center of the fold and make a snip with scissors.

I learned that a round hole allows the pages to turn too much. 
A flat snip instead lets you control the every which way turn of the individual pages.

Snip your pages. Tie a loop at the end of your twine for hanging. 
Then tie a double or triple knot about 4 inches away from the hanging loop. 
This will be where the pages will stop. 

Next, you need to crumple your page a bit. You'll have to test and see how your particular pages will handle it and just use your judgement. I just held my page in both hands and squished a little to crumple the edges. 
A couple times I crushed too hard and made my little slit tear open into a hole. 
I discarded those and just tried to be more careful with he next.

Start sliding them on your twine. You might need to wrap the end of the twine with a bit of tape so it will slip through the slit easily without tearing the paper.

Keep threading.....tie a stop knot at the end and make a hanging loop......done.

I worked on a  lot of stuff yesterday for the shop.

Here are some of my candles.

I love re-purposing those tall, glass, religious candles you find everywhere.

They burn cleanly and for a LONG time.

The glass offers a nice surface for all kinds of treatments.

I created this paper wrap out of a few images I had.

I collaged them, made laser copies, trimmed them to fit and glued them to the candle.

I trimmed the top with ribbon and a vintage button.

My sweet SIL gave me these tags as a gift and I used them for the candles.

What do you think of my creations yesterday?

Off to the shop to work a bit more!
Don't forget the giveaway!
Winner announced Friday!
Parisienne Farmgirl Magazine
here

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