Bookish Crafts {3}

I love pictures, a lot. Finding new ones to hang that reflect some of the things that I love is always so much fun. The other day while browsing Pinterest I stumbled upon a picture that I want, really bad.
And not only can I have it, I can make it! Which makes it even cooler.

(photo found on decorhacks)

A white shadowbox frame gets turned into a piece of art that really reflects my love for books. Simply cut out a heart from where ever in the book you like, could be a passage you enjoy or somewhere random. Make sure you use enough pages so that when you fold the heart in half the pages separate nicely as they do in the picture to give you the 3-D effect.

I have been thinking about using a passage from Pride and Prejudice, the part where Darcy expresses his love, for this project but I know it might be hard for some of you to cut even a heart shape out of book pages. Fear not, there is somewhat of a solution to this if you do not wish to cut up just any book:

I would suggest using one of those really old falling apart books that you can find at a used bookstore or an antique store (just check the copyright and make sure you're not cutting up a first edition of something valuable). I have found tons of old books that the covers are ripped off or the pages are falling off the binding that would be perfect for this project. 

Upcycle and repurpose a book to give it new life :)

Happy Crafting!

Bookish Crafts {2}

With Christmas now less than two weeks away some people may be trying to cram in some last minute Christmas shopping. That can get a little bit stressful, especially if you aren't sure what to get certain people.
Well, if you have a Harry Potter lover that you still need a gift for, how about a homemade Snitch ornament for their tree?
Tiny Apartment Crafts has one of the best tutorial for this.

This project looks so easy (which is a major plus at this busy time of year) and would look great hanging from any Christmas tree. When I make mine I'll probably end up hanging it up somewhere in my room when the tree comes down, because I don't know how I would put it away in a box for a whole year.
If you do make one...or a couple of these, I would love to know how it turned out.

Happy Crafting!

Bookish Crafts {1}

Right up there with my love for reading, I have a love for crafting and design. So the past few weeks I have been looking up projects that combine the two.

The first project I found on Pinterest. With the recent release of the last Harry Potter movie on DVD I felt a bit sad. It wasn't until the release of the 3rd movie that I got into Harry Potter and ever since then I have looked forward to each new movie every year. Now what am I going to look forward to next year (other than The Hunger Games)?
Well, I have decided to have a Harry Potter party. It is going to be 3 days, like one day a week for three weeks. And each day some friends and I will get together and are going to watch a couple of the movies, eat some food and just have fun.
So I have been looking up ideas for the party and I thought this would be an appropriate first project since everything at Hogwarts starts with an owl dropping off an acceptance letter to you.

At first I was thinking of handing them out as invitations, but I settled on having them set by the door as a "Welcome To My Awesome Harry Potter Party" note.
All you need is white balloons, one for each of your guest (and yourself, of course), white ribbon, a permanent marker, and notes to attach at the bottom. Oh, and I guess helium if you want them to float. All of that can be found at your local Walmart.

I haven't done this yet, so I'm not sure if it would be easier to draw the design on before or after blowing the balloon up, so I think I will try both.

Pretty snazzy though, right?

What with the holiday season being upon us I think I will have this party after the first of the year, so if you have any Harry Potter party ideas, let me know about them! And I will also post more when I find some other good ones to do.

Happy Crafting!