Ornate Splendor: Glass Glitter

Friday, October 18, 2013

Drilling holes in books?

"Are you sure no one wants these?" I asked our church secretary. She was sure. A stack of old books that were completely falling apart, missing pages, and otherwise damaged -- and no longer needed at our church....really? I could just have them? YES! I can always use old pretty books in a project somewhere. This project had been bouncing around in my brain for a few months. So this morning I got to work on the picture in my head.

A few minutes after my (fabulous) husband left for work, he came back home because he had forgotten something. "What are you doing??" he asked with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm drilling holes in books!" I answered cheerfully! "Okaaaaay....um...just remember to put the safety goggles on if you're using the drill..." was his answer. He's getting used to my "unique" ideas, I think.

Quote from the movie "Toy Story"....."Oh, great! Now I have GUILT!"

This was stamped inside one of the old books..."Cultured people will not write in song book," ....but, you know, technically I'm not actually writing in the books....only cutting them up....drilling holes in them...enhancing them...really!

So I got over my guilt, measured where I'd like to drill the holes.

Auditioned a few laces, some beaded trim, some cedar branches, peacock feathers (just the wispy parts of the feathers, not the "eyes"), and some vintage rhinestone jewelry.

This is the first time I've used glass glitter. I love it!

I sewed the lace pieces together, and then sewed them on to the book covers- yes- I tried the sewing machine to see if it would work to sew the lace pieces on to the book covers. And it did! I hot glued the cedar and feather wisps to the top of the laces, then hot glued the letters on to the book covers. Then, see that wicked looking needle in the photo above? I used that to thread the ribbons through the holes in the book covers. Much easier than pushing the ribbons through. I think it's called a "canvas needle." Anyway, the eye of the needle was big enough the put the ribbon through, thus making the job much easier!