Make This Easy Last Minute Advent Calendar

Here is an easy last minute Advent Calendar that anyone can make. This project uses vintage book pages, but you can use pretty scrap book paper, as well.

It is so easy to create these pretty little advent envelopes.

Upcycle Clothing Tags into Unique Gift Tags!

This is a fun little project where the hard work is already done for you, so all you need to do is the fun stuff? Don't you love projects like that?

I find myself hanging on to nicer quality clothing tags. Some of them already have rivets and twine or ribbon or acetate layers, etc.

Create One of a Kind Card Stock {Masterboard} From Scraps

What do you do with all your creative paper scraps? Those bits left over after punching or die cutting or trimming your paper? Those intricate die cuts that didn't quite work out? Embossed papers that cracked or tore? Stuff that really isn't useful, but it's still really pretty?

Every so often, I will gather up a collection of bits and pieces that I've been hoarding, and use it to create a masterboard. A masterboard is simply a decorated sheet that can be cut apart and used in other projects. To create a masterboard, you need a substrate. Your choice of substrate will depend on the finished purpose of your masterboard.

For instance, if you are creating a masterboard for scrapbooking, you may want to keep your materials archival. If you are making cards or crafts, archival qualities might not be important. My favorite substrates include cereal box sides, ugly scrapbook paper, packaging, mailing cardboard, and junk mail.

I've even used those heavy card stock weight handwriting strips that teachers use.

How you decorate your sheets will also depend on how you want to use the piece. You can layer materials, paint, stamp, or doodle. I usually do a little of all those things.

This is also a great way to use up small amounts of leftover paint. My favorite way to add paint is by spreading it with an old gift card or a stiff piece of cardboard.

Since I like to layer scraps on my masterboard, I use all-purpose white glue. It's inexpensive and can be purchased by the gallon. I have a smaller glue bottle that I refill from my gallon jug. The glue can be spread with an old gift card. Your choice of adhesive may depend on your finished application.

Glue all your layers down really well, then use a brayer, if you have one, to flatten it out and get good adhesion. To protect my brayer and to get good contact, I sometimes use an old sheet of fun foam over my masterboard while using the brayer.

I keep layering collaged items, paint, and ink until I'm happy with the finished piece. I do not seal the top of the piece.

I've used heavier masterboards to cut up and use for business cards. If you cut them out after the glue is mostly dry, but the paper is still cool to the touch, you can run the pieces through your embossing machine for beautiful results that are very sturdy. Or run them through the machine between your shimmed plates to flatten them out perfectly. Embossed pieces can be lightly inked on the raised areas for very pretty effects.

Lighter weight masterboard is perfect for cards or tags. The possibilities are limitless. I know of an artist who creates his own masterboard from found ephemera, presses it perfectly flat, then screen prints over it! His pieces are beautiful.

You might enjoy this post about weaving stars from vintage book pages.

You might also like this post on how to use up and upcycle old notecards.

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 Draw a Spiral Rose

There are lots of ways to draw a stylized rose. Here is a fun little rose that anyone can draw -- even if you don't know how to draw.

Start by drawing a spiral, lightly, in pencil. Now, attach the bowl of the flower to the spiral -- basically, sketch a "U" shape that flares out at the top, where it connects to the spiral.

My Favorite Junk Journal Binding Tools

When I was in college, we created altered books in one of my art classes. As the instructor described the project, I felt as if a chorus of heavenly angels was singing in my brain. The project was a mix of repurposed vintage stuff, and art, and good old handcrafts. Can anything be more perfect than that?

That particular project was created similarly to this  Dollar Tree project, that I shared earlier. 

How to Draw Faces When You Can't Draw

Most of us are okay with doodling simple flowers and shapes, but the idea of drawing faces can be a little intimidating. It doesn't have to be. With a little practice, you can be doodling faces, realistic or stylized, in no time.

You can draw on anything, from the ubiquitous paper napkin, to computer paper, to sketch pads,  to vintage book pages.  The face above was drawn on an old atlas page.

Make This Scrappy Christmas Tree Card!

Do you need to send out some last minute Christmas cards? Did you run out of cards before you made it through your mailing list? Here is a simple card idea that does not require special Christmas papers or dies or stamps. Making these cards couldn't be easier!

Upcycle Leftover Sets of Notecards, to Create Useful, All-Occasion Cards

We've all got them. Maybe they're stuffed in a drawer somewhere, maybe they're in a closet, or maybe they're in the "donate" box in the mud room.  Every thrift store has them, too. They are the (often unopened) event specific thank-you cards. "Thank you for the wedding gift", "thank you for the shower gift", "thank you for the baby gift", etc.

The other day, I was looking at a package of these notecards at the Goodwill, and it occurred to me that these cards can be upcycled as card bases for all-occasion cards!

Creating an Art Index Card A Day!

Are you doing the Index Card a Day challenge? This is a challenge to create a small piece of art on an index card, every day, for the months of June and July.

This challenge is the brainchild of Tammy, over at Daisy Yellow Art. You can go to her website for challenge details.

10 Pretty Vintage Book Page Christmas Decorations to Make

You can get a head start on your handmade holiday gifts and decor, and recycle some vintage book pages with these easy tutorials!

This little slipper, cone, and top hat ornament were fashioned from vintage book pages and junk mail!

This shadowbox star was crafted from rolled from pages from a vintage prayer book.

If you're looking for a super quick project with lots of impact, this Christmas Tree banner might be perfect.  Use washi tape, or use up your paper scraps!

Here is another quick layered garland, using a recycled Christmas card and book page pompoms.

Always a classic, this Scandinavian inspired woven star is made from folded strips of vintage book pages.

These honeycomb ornaments made from encyclopedia pages look lovely hanging from the mantel!

This Celtic inspired star is an adaptation of the popular Scandinavian or Finnish Star.

If you love a good dollar stare project, you might want to give this ornament tutorial a try.

Here is yet another version of the Scandinavian woven star -- originally made from birch veneer, and containing a light inside, these were hung in windows during the holiday season. Children learned to weave the star from paper, as well, to decorate inside their homes.

Strips of vintage book pages and pretty buttons are all you need to make these pretty snowflake ornaments.

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 daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Make a Planner From a Vintage Book

It's that time of year again! I don't know about you, but I've always measured years by when the school year starts. As a kid, I loved getting a new book bag and pencils and notebooks. It was so exciting to get a new schedule and a clean slate!

As a mom, back to school time was bittersweet. I was always sad to send my babies off, but I was excited for them in their new adventures. Along with the school year also comes new scout troops and new sports teams and new music lessons and so on.

What to Put in Your Smash Journal

I recently shared a tutorial on how to put together a smash journal, using items from the dollar store as well as "found" items you may already have around the house. The post was getting pretty long, so I decided to break it out into a tutorial, and a flip through that included ideas for what to include in your own smash journal.

Basically, if you can figure out a way to bind it, and it fits (more or less), then you can use it in your journal! Don't feel limited to paper, either -- you may find cool pieces of plastic from packaging or old report covers that can be re-purposed.

How to Create an Altered Book the Lazy Way

Do you long to create art, but don't have a lot of time or experience or art supplies?  Art journaling or altered books might be a perfect way to explore color and texture and different art mediums without investing in lots of expensive materials, and you don't need any artistic skill to get started!

You can probably create an art journal or altered book with items you already have around the house, or with a few minimal purchases. If you have kids in the house, you can borrow their glue and paints and markers.

Make a Special Bookmark from a Damaged Vintage Book

Earlier this year, I rescued a damaged vintage home decor book. The front and back covers were transformed into a portfolio for my planner. The spine was just too fragile to use for the planner, and had ripped away from the book.

For those of you who enjoy rescuing vintage books, here is a pretty project to make from all those damaged or fragile old book spines. It couldn't be simpler to do, and you can easily whip up several to sell or give as gifts in an afternoon.

Start by gathering up your supplies. You will need:

• An old book spine
• Eyelets
• Eyelet Setter
• Fabric Scrap
• Stickers or text cut from old books -- whatever is handy (I used stickers and a piece of text cut from the same book the spine was taken from)
• Decoupage Medium (I used Mod Podge, that I shared about in this post about favorite craft resources)

If the spine is still attached to the book cover, carefully remove it. Remove any bits of glue or threads from the spine and trim the sides evenly. Cut a piece of scrap fabric to fit the inside of the spine, and adhere with Mod Podge. Let dry. Now add stickers or paper scraps or book text to the book mark using your Mod Podge. You can add a protective layer of Mod Podge to the front side of the bookmark if you would like.

Using a hole punch and eyelet setter, add an eyelet to the top of the bookmark.

Tie on a piece of ribbon and you are done!

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Thanks for stopping by!

How to Create Altered Art Jewelry

Here is an easy and fun jewelry DIY that uses altered dog tags. These little necklaces take absolutely zero jewelry making skill and go together very quickly.

Altering dog tags is a great way to get your feet wet, if you've been thinking of trying your hand at altered art. Altered journals and canvases can feel a bit intimidating, but dog tags are only about one by two inches in size, so you can finish a project in under half an hour.

Make a Pretty Snowflake With Book Pages and Vintage Buttons!

I love vintage buttons, Christmas, and vintage book pages, so of course those loves often intersect at this time of year!

Here is a simple way to use old book pages and buttons from your stash to create pretty snowflake ornaments.

These ornaments are simple to make, using the humblest supplies. They would look pretty hanging on your Christmas tree, or they would make a special gift for an ornament exchange.

Because so many people are on a sugar overload at this time of year, or have health issues that don't allow for sweets, I often make a "batch" of ornaments for Christmas gifting. Who wouldn't want to receive one of these sweet little vintage book page snowflakes?

To make your own snowflake ornaments, you will need to rescue an old book. I used an old Reader's Digest diverted from the landfill. Since snowflakes have six sides, you will need to put together six sections. Each of my snowflake sections consisted of three loops of strips. The strips were the length of the book page and one-half inch wide. Each loop consisted of three strips of paper stacked together, for a total of 54 strips to make one snowflake.

Glue your stacks together to form loops, then bend two of the loops, as shown, and glue the three pieces together. Create six sections, then glue the sections together.

After all the sections are glued together, go back and secure any wobbly sections with more glue.

I glued a small piece of scrap paper to the center of my snowflake, to make it extra strong (a glob of hot glue would also work). I also added glitter glue to the edges of the strips.

To add a special touch, I went through my tin of vintage buttons, to decorate the center of the snowflake.

The buttons were secured with hot glue. I stacked two or three buttons together and glued them to both sides of the ornament.

The ornaments turned out really pretty!

To see another ornament idea using vintage book pages, click here.

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