Children's Book Decorations

One of my favorite things to do is make something new with something old.

I hate to throw something away that might be useful, as you may remember. And I love making things for parties or decorations. These flowers (and the banner down below) satisfied all my re-using, re-purposing, fancifying needs.  Plus, they added some cuteness factor for a work event celebrating the service of some of our VISTAs. They were much easier to make than you might expect.

You Will Need:

-Book pages from something your children no longer read (or that have very few words on them so they serve little education purpose to a tutoring program like these)

-scissors

-buttons

-hot glue and sticks

-bamboo skewers

Cut a strip of the page at least 2 inches wide and 8 inches long. Cut fringe in roughly quarter inch increments down one short side about 1-1/2" into the strip. These pages had a little weight to them. For thinner pages, you may want to leave more area uncut so it doesn't tear easily. 

Once all the fringe has been cut, hot glue the uncut end of the strip to the top 1/2" of the skewer. I cut my skewers to different lengths for a little variety. Wrap the strip tightly around the skewer and hot glue the end. It will look a bit like a tassel. Fold down the fringe and hot glue a button to the center. Done! Each flower takes about 5 minutes start to finish.

I also made bunting for the same event but I forgot to take pictures of the finished product :( For that, I cut the pages in triangles. Printed out individual letters that spelled out "Thank You" which I cut into circles. Glue the circles to the center of the triangle and thread some string (I used twine) through them. For fun, you can add a button between each triangle so they more closely match the flowers.



This might also be fun to do with a thrifted version of your favorite children's book. Mine would be "The Oak Inside the Acorn" by Max Lucado. Or anything Dr. Seuss. Or the "Giving Tree." Oh children's books, how I love you all...

Would you be able to use these for a work party? What would your favorite children's book be? I'd love to know!

Sheila

Weekend Inspiration: May Flowers

Today is the last day in May. Can you believe it? For some reason, it seems like the weather in the South usually goes from cold to sweltering with little in between but that was not the case this year. It was a bit cooler than usual so it didn't feel like spring for a long time. Or maybe I'm just too used to Florida weather and South Carolina is a different story all together...

To celebrate the end of the month this Weekend Inspiration theme is May flowers! Get it? April showers bring May flowers? I'll tell my inner 7 year old to quiet down now. 

Apricot Blackberry Shortbread Tart with Basil Cream inspired by the colors and life of May flowers at Cooking Melangery.

Wouldn't this little pair of fresh flowers be pretty to wake up to on your nightstand? This is just one in a whole blogful of gorgeous photos on A Rosy Note.

A flower pot card! How cute! On Life with Terri.

This would be so easy to make: an upside-down umbrella or parasol and a few bunches of flowers. But how long could it last though? From Random Thoughts.

Speaking of door decor, how about this non-wilting wreath from The Charmed Life? It might have been intended for Christmas...but whatever.

Is there ever a bad time of year for cookies? On Lila Loa.

Sunflowers = favorite flowers. These are for sale here, but could be easy to DIY-- Future post idea?

A picture index of different materials you can use to make flowers on Eileen Hull. The map pages and sewing pattern are my favorites.

Crochet flowers as party favors. These are made for a wedding but could be used for just about any spring or summer event that needs an extra thank you. From Aphrodite's Wedding Blog.

...So then what does June bring... Mosquitoes?

What is your favorite flower? More importantly, can you keep it alive or are you a plant murderer like myself? I'd love to know.

Sheila :)