Too Pretty to Toss Project

If you’ve never picked up a calendar by Papaya, you’re missing out. Most of them feature their iconic floral designs, made even more beautiful with gilded accents. Just looking at my calendar makes me happy, and each year I found myself a little sad whenever it was time to toss the old one and put up a new one. I wanted to be able to keep my favorite designs and put them on display, but having the dates so prominent was a bit of a hindrance. Then I remembered my trusty friend gesso, and knew exactly what I wanted to do.

There was a period of time where I put a messy coat of gesso on just about everything. Plain notebooks and folded note cards were never safe from it. I realized I could cover the date up with gesso and turn the calendar page into a background or frame of sorts. Just a couple coats were all that was needed to obscure the date. I had some dried lavender left over from a different project that I wanted to display somewhere, and realized how perfectly it went with the calendar page I chose. I used washi tape to adhere the lavender to the page, which means it will very easy to remove the lavender whenever I want.

This is one of those quick and easy projects that gives instant gratification, which is something most of us crafters live for. One coworker suggested that the calendar portion could be cut from the page using a craft knife, and the leftover page be used as a matte for a photograph or beautifully penned quote. I think I’ll try that next!