Loopy for Christmas (and a giveaway)

This little project is straight from our childhood; a paper chain. Even now, children make colorful chains to count down the days to Christmas, my youngest child still among them.

The slight twist is that I used paper taken from an old French book "Les Malheurs De Sophie" (The Troubles of Sophie) that I purchased at the Porte de Clignancourt flea market in Paris. I looked the book up on Wiki and found that a film & ballet had been based upon it as well which is kind of cool. (forgive some of my photos, I think my camera is about to die since it also flipped out on me over Thanksgiving)

For my chain, I used 8 sheets from the book and cut them into 2 inch strips. The pages have a lovely, creamy aged quality and are still quite sturdy.

I used very basic tools, especially since losing my bone folder in a class, so I improvised with a rub-on tool. :)

After cutting my little pile of 2 inch strips, I scored a line down the length of each strip and folded them on the score line. ~This is a super easy project, but not the most mind engaging, so it's perfect to do while watching your favorite Christmas movie.~

Once all of the strips were folded in half lengthwise, I ran a line of glue down one side and pressed. While pressing the halves together, I also ran my fingers along the paper in a curling motion, so that when the glue dried, the strips would already be predisposed to forming a loop. (if that makes any sense, almost like curling ribbon)

Since I'm not the most patient of gals, I skipped the drying part and went straight into stapling my strips into loops connecting them as I went along. The Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (or whatever it's called) is great for this. The little staples have a nice hold and fit the tone of the project.

When I had attached all of my loops together, I cut lengths of seam binding to tie to each end for hanging. The 8 pages translated into about 8 feet of paper chain. The glimpses of French text and aged paper would go very well decorating all through the year as well as Christmas time. If you'd like, you could also finish the edges of the strips with distress ink or vintage glass glitter, but be careful not to weigh the loops down or the draping effect might be lost.

Want to know about the giveway? Read on...

And now to give some elements of this project away! We all love happy mail, so I'm going to send someone 8 pages and 1 illustration from this vintage French book as well as seam binding in deep green, silvery white and red so you can choose which you would like should you decide to make a paper chain and use the rest for other projects. I also have a page or two of vintage sheet music and vintage Christmas cards & seals to tuck into this little package as well as some recently unearthed Heidi Swapp product that I likely bought more than once (hey, I get excited about cool stuff or some came in a kit).

To be entered into the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post. For another entry, link this post in your blog (but only if you want to share the opportunity with a friend or two!) and include that in your post. My trusty assistant will draw a name from Santa's boot next Friday, December 11th. Bon Chance!