Hello peeps, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!  2015 is almost ready to close its final page in history, and today I’m sharing one last Project Challenge for this year.

I DID IT!  I managed to pull it off every single month and create something to share with you out of a given item, something different each month.  I was pretty determined to see it through for the whole year and I DID IT!

This month our category was vintage books or sheet music, and I’ve created some pretty fun place card holders made out of old books.  I’m really quite happy with how my creations turned out, and I’ve been so excited to share them with you.  I almost gave in to the temptation to give you a sneak peek on IG but I refrained. 😀

I am just over-the-moon about these.  And they really don’t take long at all to make.

Seriously.

Here’s what you will need:

An old book (preferably with pages that are not crumbling when folded)

Utility knife (for cutting the spine of the book)

Band saw (or whatever you want to cut the folded pages down to size with)

Hot Glue Gun (and glue sticks)

Toothpicks (or tiny dowel rods cut into short pieces)

Ribbon (plaid ribbon is super fun, but you choose what you love!)

Washi tape (if you don’t have washi tape scotch will do)

This was my inspiration for this project.  I bought this several months ago from a boutique shop a friend owns.  She had made these out of small old books and I just liked the way it looked.

As I was contemplating what to create out of an old book for December’s project Challenge my eyes landed on this and I thought ‘hmmmm, I wonder if you could create little place card holders using that technique.’

I was sure I could, so one evening I pulled out an old book and started in.  I had little (as in tiny) place card holders in mind, but the book wasn’t small so I ended up with larger holders than I first envisioned but I like them so much better this way now that they are created.

Step 1.  Fold each page in half, tucking the edge of the page into the center fold at the spine of the book.

Step 2.  Continue folding and folding and folding.  It really doesn’t take long at all.  As the folded pages stacked up I soon realized I would not need even half of the book.

Step 3.  Use a utility knife to cut the book apart, cutting down the spine of the book.

Step 4.  Continue folding till all the pages are folded to the center.

 You can see in the photo on the top right that I cut the book down even farther – you really only need about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of spine to create these.

Step 5.  After all the pages are folded to the center begin folding again, turning each folded, outer edge to the center again.  This creates a bit smaller size and makes them just right for using as place card holders on your table.

Here they do not have the bases added yet – I added those later, but before we had our Christmas dinner with the girls.

After the pages are all folded, cut the long strip into 2 – 4 pieces depending on the size book you used and the finished size you want the place card holders.  I folded two pieces of the book and my husband cut each long, folded piece into 3 place card holders.  I ended up with six place card holders.

Now it’s time to add the name cards!

The last page in the book I used was a heavy-weight page, with a lovely aged patina to it.  I cut it up in strips and cut a ‘v’ shape in each end to create little banners.

You could use a Sharpie paint pen to write names.

I ended up pulling out a set of Cavallini stamps and stamping the names on the banners.

Washi tape is a fun way to attach the toothpicks to the banners and to attach the toothpick to the pages of the holder so it stays upright.

You could totally use a small dowel rod cut into short pieces instead of toothpicks for this instead.

As I looked at my little place cards all neatly folded and fanned out perfectly I noticed the book cover and how cool it was.  And I decided it would be the perfect thing to make some little bases to attach the folded book page place card holders to.

These are also a cute way to display your business cards.

I marked on the book covers where they needed cut, just a bit larger than each place card holder, and my husband cut them out for me on the band saw.

Hot glue was the perfect thing to adhere the folded book pages to the book cover base.  I made sure I used a lot of hot glue and pushed firmly, especially in the center.

They are perfect and with the sturdy, book cover base they can be stored and used over and over.

 They can be detailed with different ribbon for different occasions or the name cards can be changed out easily – just remove the washi tape and tape in a new name card.

I used them on the table when we had Christmas dinner with our girls last weekend.  We celebrate with our little family early since we have family from out-of-state who usually come in over Christmas and New Years.

Jill

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