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La joie c'est le partage
{ the joy is in the sharing }

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Painted Books to add French Style


Before I even begin this post, I want to thank all of you who came over from Junk Chic Cottage to visit!  You guys are awesome!!  Thank you Kris for featuring me Saturday.  I was so honored to have been your Saturday Spotlight.  All of you - my readers and followers, lots of new friends - you guys are amazing and you made my weekend.  I even sold a lot of items in my shop, so I thank you, from the bottom of my heart!



Old, timeworn, French books.  I love them but I don't have any.  I did however, find on Pinterest, a cool idea that I'm sure you all have either seen or maybe even tried yourselves - painting books!

Okay, so I started adding of few Easter touches around the house.  It's been so cold, I think I'm trying to coax spring to arrive a little sooner than later!
I have this pretty silver dish that I found at a flea market so I filled it with some moss and added Easter eggs and a faux chocolate bunny.  I put it on the coffee table but it needed some height.  Here is where the books come in.  I like to stack books to create height in some of my vignettes.  It's pretty and it's functional but this dish required larger books.
On Pinterest, I saw people painting old encyclopedia sets.  About a year ago, I found a set of books called "The Young Students Learning Library."  They're basically a childrens encyclopedia set.  I bought them and have been holding on to them to paint "one day"


I painted each of the books with Amy Howard at Home One Step Paint in Robins Egg Blue.
Then I hand stamped the painted books on the covers and spines.  I used StazOn ink by Tsukineko
  so that it wouldn't smear when I antiqued them.
{I'm not paid to endorse either of these companies...I just happen to like these products}








After everything was dry, I just rubbed some walnut ink around the edges and in some of the stamped places to age them a bit.


It was a fairly quick project and I'm happy with the way they turned out.



I think they add just the right height to my flea market dish!

I hope you get a chance to try this!  It was a fun project and you can use these pretty much anywhere in your decor.  They look great on book shelves too!
 {plus, the information inside the books is interesting and fun to read for the little ones}

xo and God Bless,
Kathleen

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13 comments:

The Speckled Hen Cottage said...

In my wanderings through blog land I missed this one about painting books...what a cool way to recycle an old volume or two. Great post - going to try this!

Our Hopeful Home said...

I love this idea! And yours look fabulous! I collect old books, too, for décor and other projects. There was a thrift store near my house that had THE BEST old books for .49 cents each, until they went out of business! I have used chalkboard paint on books before with great results, but not white paint. That will be next! xoKathleen

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

Very pretty! I love the vignette you made.

Lin from A {tiny} Cottage In The Woods said...

Wow ~ this is so beautiful, Kathleen! Love all your French-style stamps. So pretty!
Have a happy one,
Lin

Maureen Wyatt said...

Tres Chic!

Tante Mali said...

Hi Kathleen,
what a wonderful work. You've created a treasure! So lovely and congratulations .. you seems to get realy successfull!
Have a wonderful time and all the best from Austria
Elisabeth

Lady Pamela said...

Your painted books look amazing. I needed some height for a new vignette of mine and I used several copies of my books about decorating with white. I am still working on it, a little at a time.
Thanks again for the inspiration.
*Smiles*

Tante Mali said...

Dear Kathleen,
me again with a big hug and a even bigger thank you!!!!
It's so wonderful to have you around!
Sunny days
Elisabeth

Alison Agnew said...

What a brilliant idea! How many poor, ugly books in the world are just begging for a new cover? I love these frenchy looking tomes and thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded!

Alison
Nancherrow

Tamara said...

Hi Kathleen..
I found your sweet comments. Thank you! and for following.. That's so encouraging. Your books look amazing. I like ALL of your projects. I'm looking forward to more visits with you! I really like the quote about peace. I was going to e-mail but there was a problem opening the link.
Have a blessed weekend.
Tamara

Debbie said...

What a wonderful idea! Your books are beautiful!!
xo

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

I love using books in my vignettes also. These turned out fabulous! I love the vintage feel you gave them! Thanks for sharing with Share Your Cup.
hugs,
Jann

Art and Sand said...

I am in love with this idea.

I think a trip to the attic today is in order (even though it is 93 degrees outside so the attic will be unbearable) to find some books to paint.