Making Old into New

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun."

2 Corinthians 5:17

 

I love taking old things and making them into something new.  I love journals, scrapbooks, and smashbooks.  Therefore, I decided to put my loves together.  I took an old book and made it into a new scrap/smashbook journal.  I used ModPodge, a sponge brush, scrapbook paper, X-acto knife, hot glue, stickers, and other embellishments like ribbon and lace.  (The one you see in the pictures was a gift I created for a friend of mine.)

 

I began by cutting out chunks of pages throughout the book.  The reason I did this was to allow space in the scrapbook.  (It also saved me from gluing a lot of pages together.)  Next, I took my sponge brush and Modpodge and lightly glued pages together.  (Be careful not to get the pages too wet as this will cause the pages to wrinkle.  Smooth out the pages as you glue them.) The amount of pages I glued together varied.  I mostly glued in-between the sections of the chunks I had cut-out.  I glued enough pages together to feel like the adhered pages had some thickness and weight to them. 

 

After I allowed the pages to dry, I took my pre-cut scrapbook paper, which was cut to the size of the book using a page I had cut-out during the first step, and I glued those in on top of the already adhered pages.  I left some of the pages from the original book uncovered to add character to the scrapbook I was creating.

 

Next, I embellished the pages using hot glue, ribbon, stickers, etc.  I also Modpodged and embellished the cover and binding of the book. 

 

Once finished and all had dried, I added a note and some pictures to begin the journaling for my dear friend.  The old became new and personalized.

 

I believe there's something in all of us that loves a good makeover.  The desire to become new comes from within our spirits.  It's the resurrected life we are all searching for.  It's in Christ Jesus alone that this can be found.  Allow Him to cover you with His gracious love, to take away your sins, to embellish you with His glory.  Allow Him to make what was old, new.

 

 

"So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!"

2 Corinthians 3:11