Wedding, Tea, Birthday Party Centerpiece - A New Idea

Here I go again.  Someone just needs to take these stupid books away from me.  I guess I am just feeling sorry for the poor things.  With the introduction of electronic readers these paper books are going to go the way of the VCR and the home telephone line.  There are so many books out there someone has to plan for their inevitable demise and find a new use for them.

So here is my latest idea.  Use old hardcover books to create a centerpiece for a wedding table.  Perhaps the same idea could be used for a tea with the ladies or even a girls birthday party.  This was my first rough draft using thrift store lace & flowers, yard sale beads and some card stock paper.  I threw in part of an old bracelet for a little punch.

 

Of course you can decorate this with all sorts of colors, or themes but I thought it would be quite unique.  For stability I used an old hair crimper to bulk up the books pages to ensure it remains open and standing no matter what impact might befall the table.

Here are a few progress photos.

 

I cut the book with a jigsaw.  My hope is to find a cheap scroll saw on Craigslist.  This will give me the options to try some other ideas I have for these poor dead trees.

Use a thinner book.  It's easier to cut.  I suggest leaving the bottom of the "skirt" as wide as possible for strength and stability.

I added plain card stock paper to the center binding, and printed card stock paper to the front and back of the dress.  Stay away from the thin scrapbook paper on all of these projects.  It wrinkles and tears too easliy.

I sprayed glued the larger pieces of lace on.  I didn't want to cake it with layer upon layer of Modge Podge.

I trimmed the lace back.  Next time I think I will wrap it instead.

I found that the best way to add bulk and keep a nice appearance what to crimp at the lower end of one page of the skirt and the upper end of the next page.  It was faster than trying to crimp everything and leaving part of each page straight kept the crimping from gathering together.

If anyone has theme suggestions, or if you create your own, please share here.  New ideas are always welcome.

Happy Crafting.