Two things you probably do not know about me:
1. I LOVE Halloween but do not decorate for it.
2. I have been obsessed with Russia history since 4th grade.
Bothe are Facts.
Weird huh?
I don’t decorate for Halloween because other than carved pumpkins I don’t care for the stuff. I prefer to just decorate for Fall. In general Fall decor is softer and I get more mileage out of it. Cobwebs not so much.
I was 9 years old and in fourth grade when I saw Peter And The Wolf on movie day and I was absolutely mesmerized. The music, the culture , all of it. That movie also sparked a life long love of Classical Music. And I truly favor the Slavic composers. I can pick out a Tchaikovsky piece in less than 20 seconds. In my early 20’s I read a book my Robert K. Massie and I narrowed the scope of my interest to Russian Revolutionary and pre Revolutionary War and Tsarist Russia.
I have since read several of Mr. Massie’s books on Russian history and can not read enough. Above is the actually book that I read all those years ago. My. Lord. The print is soooooo small. I couldn’t read the thing today if I had a gun to my head. But for some reason I have hung on to this book all these years . So last week I was out in the garage digging through a box of old, yellowing paperbacks for a craft project idea I had in my crazy little head. I wanted to fashion a bunting or two for my shop for Fall but nothing too Fall……If that makes any sense ?
So I opened up the book and carefully tore out about 10 pages from the front of it. I made two angles cuts with my kitchen shears (because once again I had no idea where my non kitchen shears were, I still don’t).
Next, I pulled out 10 more pages, folded those in half and cut them .
Now book pages are pretty thin. Most people make bunting out of craft paper or card stock, a much thicker paper. So I learned fast that if I punched the holes in the pages down from the top and closer together It was easier to successfully feed the twine I was using through bunting pieces.
In the middle of the paperback book were old, antique images of the Tsar, the Tsarina and there five children.
In the bunting piece above Alexis, the heir apparent and Tsar Nicholas as a young man with his family and Father Tsar
Alexander III.
Fall?
Maybe a tad Halloween ish?
Either way, I like how this bunting turned out.
More that that I like that I found a use for a very important book 🙂
Paige
Blogs I love!
http://www.stonegableblog.com
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/?m=1
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net
http://theessenceofhome.blogspot.com
http://seekinglavenderlane.co
http://funkyjunkinteriors.net
Love the craft idea, and agree with the terrible romance of the slaughter of this lovely family, but am so sorry you destroyed your wonderful book. You could have made copies of the pages, saved the book and wonderful images and had stronger pages. You look so much like someone I know from the Ukraine. Do you have Russian heritage perhaps?
Nope. Irish . No worries about the book . The print is so small I can’t read it anyway:)
I recognized the picture from the book. And that made me followmthe link Very good book and put to good use. I like the simplicity of your bunting. I will have to look for some more books by Massie.
What a super easy way to make a bunting! I love the book pages and that they are especially special to you. I do think the aged pages feel like autumn, there’s nothing more cozy than curling up with a good book! Thanks for sharing your technique!
Such a great upcycle.Would work with so many bunting ideas too! Thanks for sharing with our link party!