Good Material in Old Places - Finding an Art Journal

Once upon a time, somebody wrote a book about making housework simple. I love it! This book was eventually available in the public library. A lot of people wanted some help in how to make their housework simple...so for years and years, this precious housekeeping book was checked out over and over and over. Eventually, the poor thing was just worn out and tired of helping people make their housework simple. Because, after all, housework is housework--it is what it is! So, the worn-out book threw itself in a stack of outcycled library books set to go to the semi-annual Friends of the Library sale. It was looking for a new life.

Later, at the sale, this precious, worn-out housekeeping book saw me wandering around the many tables of beautiful outcycled library books. It called out to me, "Hey Lady! Over here! I like your embroidered shorts and butterfly flipflops! You seem creative! Look at me, I'm a cool old housekeeping book...take me! Make me into something beautiful! Look! I have a hard cover and I'm spiral bound! Paint me! Color me! Glue things on me! I'm only 50 cents!"

So, here I am with the perfect ready-to-repurpose art journal. Since I actually love homemaking, I think this art journal already has its theme in place. I have collected a few very old Homemec Textbooks--starting with my own from eighth grade. Our homec textbooks were so old that year, they decided to outcycle them, and let us buy them for a quarter at the end of the year. After finding my old textbook 20 years later in my mom's attic, I started noticing old homec textbooks at flea markets. I have a precious one from the 1940's! 

Now, I can't really bring myself to repurpose my old homec book--as I just want to keep it the way it is. I like to look at it! But I'm thinking with this old library sale book, I can write my own homec book, my own way, art journal style! I'm kind of excited, and full of ideas. I think I'll get started, one page at a time. Maybe over the next year it will be completed...no rush. I also found this Plantcraft book at the sale.

It has some great pages and illustrations to use in my art journal project!

Here's another little precious book I found--an old "reader" from 1901! I don't quite know what to do with it! I guess I could put it away somewhere, but what's the point? I'm so tempted, instead, to use the pages somehow since it's already falling apart.

Missing its front cover--it's in bad shape.

Love this page in the old reader.

Somebody colored the back cover! What year were crayons invented?

Don't you love library sales? The best place to find your future old art journal! A great way to contribute to the prosperity of your local library! I can't wait to color, create and write in my new old housekeeping book.

 I'm having an Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch theme week! Tomorrow I'll be dreaming.