Make Vintage Style Books (Part 2) With Crackle Paint

Here is a row of my restyled books in my bookshelf. They aren't antique collectors' editions, they are all modern hardbacks that I've redone for a vintage look. Please note-no books are destroyed making them over like this. They are all still readable!

In Part One of this post I showed how I decoupaged pretty papers to hardback books using Mod Podge, hot glue and paint. Here's a link...

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-to-restyle-books-to-look-like.html

Here in Part Two I'll show you how to use a cheap and easy crackle technique with Elmer's school glue and craft paint. You can give your books a cool antique look and upstyle your bookcases and decor.

Here is a set of three books redone in black and red and a little bit of gold paint. See how cool they turned out? For these projects you will need hard back books, craft paint, hot glue, Elmer's school glue and paint brushes. You probably already have everything on hand in your stash!

 First, choose your book and paint the whole cover in the base color you want to show under the finished crackle. I used black craft paint on this book, then added fake "stitching" with hot glue. The ruler helps get the "stitching" straight and evenly spaced. Note-It took two more coats of black paint to cover the title on the spine.

Once the craft paint is dry I painted a coat of slightly watered down Elmer's school glue over the whole cover. Dollar Store school glue also works for this technique. Brush the glue on in an even layer then let it dry for a few minutes. For the next step the glue MUST BE TACKY. If it is NOT STICKY the top layer of paint will not crack!

Using a soft bristled brush and long strokes in one direction ONLY, add your top coat in your choice of color of acrylic latex craft paint. Do NOT brush back and forth or dab your paint. Use long even strokes going one way for an even crackle texture to form.

Within a few moments the cracks will start to show. I LOVE watching this part!

Once the crackled paint was dry, I added precut labels to two of my books and a skeleton key to the other. Then I dry brushed black paint over all the edges and the "stitched" spines to bring out the details. I also added gold metallic paint to one label.

Here's another look at the three finished red books. For additional texture on the bottom and top books, I first Mod Podged crinkled up tissue paper before painting the base color, then proceeded with the glue and paint crackling. The dry brushing at the end really highlights the crinkled paper, making it look like old leather.

My livingroom colors are turquoise, red and brown, so these books are PERFECT for making my livingroom pretty and colorful!

My books have never looked this GOOD! I did not spend any money on restyling these books since I had everything on hand in my stash. Mod Podge, hot glue, paint, tissue, Elmer's glue and pre cut labels.

I'm making them in sets of three in different colors and trying them out for wedding decor. We have three family weddings this year and these will look beautiful on the reception tables.

And more...

and even skeleton keys for Halloween!

And last but not least, turquoise with black patterned papers, including damask!

This is a fun and inexpensive way to add beautiful color and texture to your home's decor. Try it, you'll like it!

Little Red Shelf For My Craft Room

I bought this little flea market shelf years ago and as I pondered storage for my studio I saw that it would be a neat addition. I knew it would be a nice shelf for jars and storage, once I restyled it.

These are the colors of my craft studio redo, with a bit of black and white thrown in the mix. I already had several turquoise shelves, so I chose to go with red this time.

And I'm very glad I did! Here's the little shelf in it's restyled glory with a gloss red finish and Mod Podged shelf. Flowers punched out of the same paper style it up and also adorn the pretty glass jars.

Even after using Orange Glo, WD40 and acetone, the labels still left sticky residue on the jars, so I decorated them with torn book pages, rosettes, yo yos, buttons and more punched flowers, using hot glue.

I layered on bits of lace and sealed it all with Mod Podge. I like it. I like it alot!


And here she is on my work table along with my other handy tool holders. I love that bright spot of color. I'll keep it there until another spot calls out for a nice pop of red.


Another bit of blue would have been nice but boring. That little red shelf is just right.

As for the rest of my studio redo, it's coming along nicely. I'll be posting a few of my other storage projects as I go along plus a full reveal when it is finally finished.

I'll be posting this on the parties in my sidebar. Come check them out, you'll see lots of creativity out in blogland!

Turquoise Shelf For Craft Room Redo

We've been in our new digs for 10 months and it's time I truly set up my craft room the way I want it. It is not just a hobby place where I can create whatever my heart desires but also the production studio for all my Etsy wares. I dithered about the colors and gravitated towards red, black and white, until I saw this fantastic color combination.

I love ALL the colors used in this wonderfully organized craft space. I even made a necklace for my shop in these colors. LOVE them!

I see this mix of colors everywhere now. What a bright mix of cool blues and hot reds. I'll also throw in a bit of pink and cream and of course, my recycled book page storage boxes.

This is the most recent storage solution I've come up with. The Welding Man built it for my space, and I've added the foam core backing to each shelf. Sturdy, but plain and boring. I got out my Apple Barrel paint in turquoise and burnt umber and went to town.

Here is the top, painted and antiqued. I love the way the burnt umber ages the edges. The other shelves are still drying, but you can see the great color.

You knew I'd be throwing some recycled book pages in here somewhere, and that's what I used to "dress" the foam backer boards. I just love the way this looks with the bright shelf color.

I like it. I like it alot!

I wanted an aged, vintage, rustic look so I layered glaze and a lighter turquoise color until it looked just right to me. This pic shows the colors lighter than reality. The true color is below.

And here it is, loaded up. I use glass jars for almost all my small supplies and I love having them all out where I can see them. One of my best buys ever was a case of 1/2 gallon size mason jars, they are wide mouth and large enough to hold alot. I've used 3 of them on these shelves plus lots of quart and pint size jars.

And here it is in place, right next to the door and butted up against the side of my enormous steel tank desk. It's a good start and now I'm energized to tackle the rest of my room.

As you can see the organization hasn't extended any further than this. Trust me, I didn't show you the real mess in there. I have so much stuff and I use it ALL! But now I have to decide, how much do I want to paint turquoise and how much red?