Pinterest Project #1- Art Made from Children's Book Pages

 Ok, so I am not sure if this really counts as a Pinterest  Project because apparently I did not actually pin my inspiration picture and I can not find it with the keywords that I can think of... But either way, it is a DIY project for our Children's book themed nursery! So here goes...

I started planning decorations for the nursery by thinking of my favorite children's books. And of course Eric Carle and his Very Hungry Caterpillar popped into my head. Being a kindergarten teacher, I can easily find books within my own library that are... well lets say... They are very well loved! So much so that they are falling apart! 

I decided to give this much loved book a new purpose in my son's new room. Therefore, I started this project by taking the book apart. The spine was already falling off so I didn't have to do much there. I took my seam ripper and carefully ripped out all the stitching that held the book together. 

After that, I cut a few of the pages apart and rearranged them on the 11 x 14 inch canvas in different ways. Originally I was going to hang the project landscape, but after multiple attempts at rearranging I found that portrait allowed me to get all the parts of the book that I wanted on the canvas. 

Once I had decided upon a layout, I trimmed the edges with my paper cutter to make it smoother, cut off the holes were the stitching came through, and crop the parts of the pages to the size that I needed for the finished project. 

After this, I took a much needed ice cream break.... Then, back to work. 

I arranged the parts onto the canvas to make sure that everything lined up correctly. I then took all the pages off and tried to decide where to start. I decided to start with the smaller pieces at the bottom. I covered the bottom of the canvas with Mod Podge and the arranged the pieces on top. I covered it with parchment paper and placed 2 large cook books on top of it. I was trying to get all of the edges to lay flat. 

After about 30-45 mins, I removed the books and parchment paper and covered the top with the Mod Podge. 

I repeated this part with all of the other pages to be added to the canvas. After it was all said and done, I allowed the canvas to dry overnight. Well this morning, this is what I found. 

The picture really doesn't show it, but there are brush strokes on the canvas. I wasn't too thrilled about that. So I went to the handy dandy internet to try to find a solution to my problem. I them went shopping for a softer, finer bristled brush to try it again. I lightly sanded the canvas and applied a much thicker coat of Mod Podge with the new brush. 

After the entire canvas was finished, it had a white coating to it. 

After drying 2 days, (and me getting distracted), we finally hung the project in the nursery. Here is the finished project.

Things that I would do differently when I do it again:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar book that I used has thick, glossy pages. If I were to do something like this again, I would use a book with paper pages. I think that it would stick better to the canvas and not buckle. (there is one bubble in the project)

2. I would use a roller brush. I have read online that it eliminates the brush strokes. There aren't many on the project, but there are a few.