It all began with a fifty-cent purchase

A few weeks ago I picked up this old book at a garage sale for fifty-cents.  The cover was missing and I didn't even look inside to see the title.  I bought it with plans to make a book-page wreath.

I pulled the book out last night because I needed a few book pages for a little project I was working on.  I opened it up and saw this:

I know it's hard to read - it says HOMES OF AMERICAN AUTHORS, DATED 1854.

It includes chapters on authors such as Bryant, Emerson, Longfellow, Hawthorne and many more.  The most amazing part is that the book has illustrations of the breathtaking homes!

These pages are on a thicker paper and show their age beautifully.











I wanted to make some type of art using these illustrations and I came up with this:

I embellished the corners of the old window with these half-spindles that I painted:



I'm trying to decide if I might want to embellish further - perhaps with antique lace and buttons...I'll keep you posted!