31 days: Book page garland

I think I’m gettin’ my creative mojo back! Today’s post isn’t technically Halloween, but it is part of my Halloween mantle (which you’ll see later this week), so I think it counts :)

I love working with book pages. Maybe it’s because I’m a writer and I love being surrounded by words where ever I can squeeze them in, but I also love the look of the written word on a page. For this project I used nearly an entire hard back book from the Dollar Tree, some left over coffee for staining the pages, and my trusty stapler. Oh and staples – lots and lots and LOT o’ staples. I coffee stained mine by crumpling them up, wetting them with coffee, then drying them in the oven. After the first batch was dry (it only takes a few minutes), I did the batches of freshly stained pages while the next batch was drying. Since I used 2 cookie sheets, I could do 8 pages at a time – so the timing worked out perfectly for my project. You could do all of them then sit down & watch a movie while putting it together – I just wasn’t that patient.

Once your pages are all dried & stuff, then crumple them long ways into somewhat of a fan shape and put a staple or two to keep them together. Make some tighter, some looser, really vary them for the best effect.

The more the merrier! I worked in batches of 8 (just like in the staining.) I’d staple 8 pages individually…

then staple them together in a line, layering them in front and behind of each other.

Once I had two sets of 8 sheets done, then I layered them together and stapled them.

These sections look nice and full once you’ve got all those sheets on there. After I had all my double layer sections, then I stapled the sections together end to end, overlapping just a little so that it was one continuous garland.

Staples – lots and lots and lots o’ staples. It’s kinda like the Frankenstein of garlands I think…

All those pages & staples really make the layers and layers worth all the effort….

I tucked the staple side down onto the mantle – but watch out! Those staples can be sharp if you don’t get them in all the way (and I thought it would be easier/better than hot glue!)

Look at all that ruffley paper – yum-o! It’s the perfect anchor for my big old Halloween mantle… which you’ll see more of later this week.

Want to see more of my 31 days of Unlocking Creativity – head on over to see all the posts.

Don’t forget - The One Month To Win It auditions for season 6 start today!

And – Crafting with the Stars voting starts today – so much fun going on in blogland – woo hoo!

P.S. Linked to my buddy Kim’s Get Your Craft On Linky Party