More Catalog Inspiration

As I was flipping through Pottery Barn's April catalog, I came to a screeching halt when I saw this photo.

The table was not what caught my eye... sorry Pottery Barn.

It was the books.  Specifically the stamped numbers on them.

I have lots of old books scattered around my home and I also have book innards (as I like to call them) lying about too.

When I make journals I use unloved library books, purchased from the library. I gut them and use the covers/spine as a base for the journals. So I have a lot of book innards.

Just what I needed for this project.

 Because my books were too bright I made a tea bath for them and I'm a messy crafter so I did this outside.

And I remembered how hot the bath was when I went to push the book down with my finger.

Of course, I didn't bring out any type of utensil for pushing/flipping the books.

And just so you know, in case you too want to do this, a stick tends to get mushy and quite worthless as a pushing/flipping utensil.  Best to remember to bring out some tongs with you.

Once the books were the color I wanted, I laid them out to dry.

A heat gun helps speed this process up.

Now for the fun part.  The part that this project was all about.

I simply used some number stamps (foam worked best here, because I was able to conform the stamp to the tea warped spine) and Tim Holtz Distress Ink.

Distress Ink is totally the best.

In my humble opinion.

Once the ink was dry (in no time at all) I was able to get to work creating new and pretty vignettes around the house.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

A quick and fun project.

Thank you, Pottery Barn, for the inspiration.