Easy Vintage Prints & Stuff to do with Old Books

So I was cruising ETSY the other day and came across these awesome vintage prints on pages from old reference books, so I decided this can't be hard (it's not) and it's in no way expensive.

Things you will need:

* Printer
*Old reference books
  I went to Half Price Books and found two reference books that were cheap and had old looking pages.
* Exacto Knife or Rotary Cutter
* Ruler 

 1.  Select a page and cut it away from the binding of the book.

2. Square edges of paper.


















3. Pick out Image to be printed.... you can google "Free vintage images" you get a lot of good sites but make sure you are using a royalty free image.

4. Print Image on paper.  A few things to consider before you print. Measure the paper before you hit print, after trimming the page out of the book you will find it's not exactly 8.5" x11" like a piece of printer paper. DON'T USE THE PHOTO SETTING!! You are going to get an ink saturated image and because this book paper is old and delicate the ink will bleed. I had the best results setting the printer to quick draft.








5. Your done! Now you can frame or collage your vintage prints....


How easy right?

Color Prints come out well too but, I suggest using and image with high contrast colors. The picture I took looks way better that what came out of the printer.

The Only Type of Animal Trophy allowed in this house.....

OH DEER!!!

Cute Huh?

I can't stop making these mounted trophy deer! This is such a an easy and fun craft project. I got the pattern from the Chronicle Books Blog but I made a few modifications like no foam core, because I despise using a exacto knife. Below is the pattern and some of my modifications. Today I'm making a large and a small trophy deer to put in my dining room I think these will fit perfectly in the awkward space above the buffet beside the mirror...... I also think these deer will become reindeer during the holidays maybe with a piece of ribbon coming out the bottom to hold cards....maybe.


I think some cool ideas for mounting these are glueing them to small craft mirriors, or glueing them to a picture frame.... leave ideas and comments!!!!




 Small Deer Pattern: This is about the length and height of a ball point pen.

right click and save image

right click  and save image (print 2 of the neck and head templates)



Large Deer Pattern: 8" x 10" format one graphic per page.... THIS IS BIG ONE Antler to antler is about 14 inches..

Print 2 of the neck and head templates

OK now you have the images here are a list of supplies you need:

Heavy card Stock (80lb)  - I am using pattern scrap booking paper the size is 12"x12"

Scissors - it's good to have a small pair  to cut out the detailed areas.

Glue ( I use Elmer's no wrinkle clear glue)

Moving on:

 I'm going to make a the large scale Deer.



Cut out pattern loosely around the fine lines.
This will keep your hand from cramping up 
in the future:) 



I decided to use two sided patterned card stock for my large deer head.

You can see that I just cut the excess paper off then glue the pattern to the paper.I do this so that the edges don't separate.





After the glue has dried, cut out the shape.
Unless you are using foam core (I'm using card
stock) DON'T CUT OUT THE RECTANGLES!!



Between the rectangles do your best to cut up the center and stopping at the red line. 
These are slots to connect the pieces of the deer head.

Now that your piece is cut and you have cut up the center of the rectangles, apply glue to the deer pattern side of the piece and glue it down on to another piece of card stock.



This is the product when flipped over... it's starting to look cool.





Now that the glue has dried, cut out the piece and use the cuts you made up the center of the rectangles as a guide to cut the other side of the piece.

Repeat all of the steps on each part of the pattern.... 

THINGS TO REMEMBER........



For the sides you will need four sheets of paper and don't forget you have to make 2 of the sides!





I thought this looked cool.



 

The head and antlers are too wide for one sheet
of the 12"x12" paper so I glued to sheets together.
To do this line up the patter so that there is no visible
interruption in the pattern (just like wallpaper) make a

registration mark, lay down the glue and then line up the

second piece of paper with the registration mark.

*wait until the glue has dried completely*

 

After I cut out one side of the deer head i noticed the

antlers were a little droopy. So, to reinforce the antlers I

used a piece of poster board to add an extra layer of sturdiness to the antlers.



So now you have cut all of your Deer pieces you can assemble. I recommend putting the "mount", "nose" and, "body"  first then add the antlers last...

 

Finished! I did notice that when you go to hang this on the wall the mount is not as strong to hold up the rest of the head. To remedy this I punched holes in the middle of the antlers, body and ,mount and strung a ribbon thought the holes nailed it up on the wall and covered the nail with a bow. 



Here is one using the smaller template.



To hang the smaller Deer is took off the Mount and put a thumb tack through the back. Then reattached the mount and stuck it in the wall.