d.i.y.: vintage book bunting.

I love vintage books.   Especially ones with illustrations, the shading of vintage black and white prints is just so wonderful!  The only problem with these lovely novels is that the images and text are trapped inside, only to be seen by those who actually make the effort to read them.  And while I love reading and being immersed in the worlds that words create sometimes I just want to enjoy a book for the beautiful object that it is - which means unleashing all of its pages in some sort of craft! 

I chose to make some sweet paper bunting out of one of my favourite Nancy Drew books - the Clue of the Dancing Puppet.  I adored Nancy Drew as a child and I still have a good collection of my mom's old vintage yellow Nancy Drews.  Don't worry, I had two copies of this particular volume, so one is still in readable condition!  Bunting is a fun and simple way to show off some of your favourite stories and makes for a charming and whimsical backdrop for all kinds of parties and sweet things! 

Things you need:
_an old book you don't mind cutting up. [or you could always scan and reprint the pages to keep your book intact!].
_white glue and a glue gun.
_olfa/exacto knife and ruler [not pictured].
_scissors.
_buttons, lace, fabric, buttons, stickers, paper diecuts and other lovely things to embellish your bunting.
_ribbon. [not pictured].

1_cut out your desired pages.  i chose a mix of illustrations and text, i cut out 20 pages but you can do as many as you like. i also found it easiest to cut out the pages by scoring them with my olfa knife instead of just tearing them out.
2_cut your pages into triangles. i estimated the centre bottom point and then cut from each of the top two corners, but you could make a template or measure each page if you wanted to be more exact.
3_decorate, attaching elements with white glue.
4_cut a piece of ribbon to the approximate length you want your finished bunting to be. remember that you will leave spacing between each of your triangles and will want some extra on the ends to tie it on to things. i used 1" wide ribbon and chose to make two strands with 10 triangles each.  evenly space the triangles and glue to the wrong side of the ribbon with hot glue, gluing so that the top edge of the triangle is in the centre of the ribbon.
5_fold down the top edge of the ribbon and affix to each triangle with more hot glue.

I really love how this project turned out, the illustrations make me smile every time I look at them!  This bunting is currently hanging in my dining room waiting for our next family gathering at Thanksgiving!

ps. see those cake pops? there might be a recipe coming up soon so stay tuned!

Have a lovely week! xo, T.