Salvaging Antique Books for Decor

So if you are anything like me you like decorating with old book.  Leather bound are the best.  But when you find them they are not always in usable condition.  I recently had the good luck to find and purchase a box full of old leather bound books.  About a third of them were usable.

 Which means that two thirds of them were in the condition you see on the left.  This book is just one example of the condition of the remainder of the lot.  So, I gathered my 'faux book repair' stuff and set to work.  Please note that if you have a valuable book, this is not the method to use.  This method makes books solid enough to use in decor and is probably all kinds of archival nighmarish, so keep that in mind before you start.

Above right you see that I use color copied marbleized end papers to cover the fact that I used clear packaging tape to put the book back together. (the original end paper I used for the copies is in the foreground)  I also use Tacky Glue where needed, these along with the spray glue used to apply the faux marbleized paper, are, I am sure, full of nasty acids that will further destroy these books over time.  Since these books are foreign language and old texts, they really have no actual value, other than their 'pretty repaired faces' .... so ....

After taping the cover back on, spray glue applying and trimming the new end papers, and sometimes using  tacky clue to glue on the spine, if needed, I fill the crack (visible above left) with a tiny bead of tacky glue.  Then using the bands that come on asparagus and broccoli, I band the books to let the glue dry.

The bands are great because they cause curved pressure on the spine, which is just what you need, and help to have the spine and front or back boards make contact with the thin bead of glue you filled the crack with helping it to form a bond.

In this picture you see a book with its original end papers in tack, on top of a book with my faux end papers.

Saving these books is great, they look super in stacks, or with statuary on them.  They help you add layered height to your displays.  And they add age and implied education to the scene.

If, however, your books are beyond help, this is what my friend Marci does with the salvageable papers.  Paper a screen or a wall.  Use them to decoupage the inside of an old trunk or suitcase.

A love of books and a desire to be surrounded by them is so comfortable.  You may find other ways to add charm to your antique decor as well. At any rate, have fun saving old books from a fate worse than decorating.

See Grandpa Run and Run and Run ....

Good Morning, and here we are at Salt Lake's Beautiful Rio Tinto Stadium, home of Salt Lake's Real Soccer team, one of the sponsors of the National Guards Annual Minute Man 5K. 

Well, its been a while since my own 'minute man' has been in the National Guard, but since Associated Foods is also one of the sponsors, and employees where encouraged to join in this great fund raiser (funds go to National Guard families), here we are up bright and early on a Saturday morning!

My great husband is a health nut, and to his credit, he was one of about four men from the AFS office out early to beat the road bed.  There were plenty of folks from the feminine side of the AFS aisle, however...

Here we see Scott with several gals sporting 'Follow Me to Fresh Market' t-shirts that were allotted to able and willing employees.

Here Scott chats with one of the other three like minded men from the office, as a Guard cannon detail awaits the 'shot' that will start the race .... you gotta admit that having the National Guard sponsor a race does mean some really cool benefits.  I heard one of the runners later say 'Heck, that was my best time ever, I mean who wouldn't run fast with someone shooting big guns behind you!!

The friendly National Guard gunners even offered to take my picture with the big gun, though when my former Guard Guy looked at it later he said that as cannons go it was pretty puny ... really? (Its way bigger than the one my friend Steve Kew has !)

 And here they come... Scott was off his best time by almost a minute due to the hill that he is just running down from at the end of the race....

A little chatting it up with old friends and new, and that does it for our Minute Man 5K .... and we are off for a little junquing!!

Of course I can't leave off without mentioning a few really cool things about attending an event sponsored by the National Guard .... first and foremost is the band that was playing all day, dressed in fatigues ... there was also a bb gun shooting range in the truck behind them, a climbing wall, and a big old tank just for ambiance.   We definitely need to bring the grands with us next year!! I know that Ian the king of camo would absolutely love it!!

Oh and Congrats to Scott for finishing 260/689 overall and 8th in his age group!!  CONGRATS to the GRAMPS!!



Reinventing Vintage Hats

This funky straw hat that you are seeing from underneath, had already had some sort of reinvention by the time it came into my hands.  The brim had  been cut and hemmed so the it was very narrow on the back, wider on the sides and front so that it was shaped like the Edwardian bonnet I wanted it to be.  This is what the outside of the hat looked like.  I wanted to use antique lace, so I dug into my stash and found an antique lace collar that was almost the same wides as the brim on the three sides.  By gathering the 'inside' edge of the collar, I was able to shape it and sew in along the outside brim on the underneath side of the hat. I then sewed on antique lace streamers to the sides with a few bit of greenery under the brim, as is typical of a regency bonnet.  I really like how it turned out.

 This bonnet may not look like much, but it was perfect for my friend Robin who has a larger than the norm for women, head size.  This hat, from the 50's is a sort of 'perch on the top and hold it in place with wire clips on each side. (sorry they don't show.)

 I actually dyed the hat but only the trim turned a pale green, which was fine.  I added some antique milliner's netting across the top to soften the look of the hat, and folded in back around the front brim, pulling it tight on the sides, underneath and then used a hot glue gun to attach it inside.  Next I arranged a spray of cream colored, vintage looking, flowers on the hat gluing them over imperfections on the hat itself.

 Next I took some gold shimmery ribbon, to pick up the gold in her dress, and tied the streamers onto the wire side clips that would hold it to her head.  This was mainly so that if she didn't like the streamers she could just take them off.  The gold ribbon, however was perfect and made the confection match the dress very well. 

Before taking this last picture I had her tip the hat to the side.  I know that was not customary in the Regency period, but I thought it looked cute, perhaps a bit Scarlet O'Hara-ish.

The Jane Austen, Summer in the Garden event that we attended was great.  We were both glad that we had worn hats, as it really finished off our outfits very well.  Thanks for your interest in Hat Reinvention!!