arcs and Crafts: Dreaming of Springtime

By Julie White

Now that the holidays are over and my Christmas ornaments are packed up I’m at a loss with how to decorate my home. It is currently snowing outside and the thermometer reads 8 degrees so I definitely want to do something to brighten things up inside. It’s not springtime yet but I can pretend!

I’ve seen some beautiful garlands, lately, and handmade bunting that I’ve wanted to try to create. There are many different styles using paper, cloth, yarn, etc. so I’m starting with paper but will try the other mediums in the future. I was browsing the (huge) book section at my local ARC Thrift and was inspired by the bright illustrations in some vintage Little Golden Books that I spotted.

Each of the books I picked out at arc was 99cents with a pink tag, which was half price that week. I rarely buy anything full price at arc, which is one of my favorite things about their thrift stores and colored tag system. I picked out the illustrations that I liked the best from each book and ripped them out. (As an avid reader this felt almost sacrilegious but I pressed on for the good of the project.)

Once I had my pictures selected I cut one page into the shape that I wanted and then used that as a guide to cut the rest of the pages.

In order to string them up, instead of using glue or tape, I took thread and began sewing through each page. I sewed up from the back on one side and then down from the front on the other so that it was attached but each piece was still able to hang naturally.

The thread worked very well and was so thin that it didn’t detract from the pictures at all.

I decided to leave the extra thread on the ends for now in case I want to add on.

Once I’m sure that it’s totally complete I’ll tie a little loop on each side so that it can hang between nails or tacks in the wall.

This is the finished project hanging underneath a vintage painting I bought at arc Thrift a while ago and have in my dining room. It turned out so beautifully that I’m planning on making more for decorations at an upcoming baby shower. This is one of the cheapest crafts I’ve ever done with the four books costing me 50cents each at arc, and plenty of pictures and pages left in each one to continue crafting with them. I’m excited to try my hand at more garlands made of different materials from arc in the future.