Hidden Treasure

Late last night I ventured into the depths of our closet under the stairs and found a Merriam Webster's dictionary printed in 1800 and purchased by a relative in 1880. I could hardly contain my excitement of this monumental discovery. My family is not known for their sentimental collections, and yet I stumbled upon the oldest piece of history residing in this home. The only question I had is what on EARTH am I going to do with this? The binding has fallen off and it is rapidly deteriorating... simply picking the book up causes pages to fall out and edges to flake off. It clearly isn't fit for use either, not to mention significantly outdated. After failing to come up with a place for this dictionary [after all, it doesn't exactly fit into the decor of my bedroom] I took to the internet and found what I'm hoping will be a very creative way of preserving the idea and the memory without hanging onto the the book in its entirety. 

First off let me say that the idea of dismantling any kind of book at all was horrifying, not to mention something as old and valuable as this treasure hidden in my closet for so many years.

However, the pages were already falling out and my curiosity to see the finished project soon won out.

So before I explain my project, let me show you a few of the pictures I took just moments after extracting it from the abyss under and behind the stairs.

 

Cool, isn't it?

Now for the project.

I got this idea from another blog, but decided to change it up a bit to make it more 'display worthy' in my room. 

To begin with, print off a design [or free-hand a drawing] from the computer on to freezer paper and trace onto any book page of your choosing. After this is done and the ink has dried COMPLETELY, frame and hang it up anywhere you want. 

...But what if I took this a step further?

Instead of framing just one, I want to pull out pages containing words that define who I am and who I want to become. Some I plan on drawing pictures and designs on, but not all of them. Then, [like the picture above] I'll frame and hang them up in a little cluster and have it as a focal point for my wall.

So that's all I have thus far. I have selected a few of the pages, but have yet to begin drawing. Once I finish the entire project, I'll let you know and post a picture or two. I can't wait to see how this turns out!