DIY Shelf Paper

When I was living in Italy, one of the most beautiful items I used to ogle over was paper. Sounds a little strange? Well, not really if you consider the history of Florentine stationery. Beautifully crafted patterns were available on notebooks and journals, as well as other office accessories, and they were in many store windows in Florence. I used to spend so much time admiring them all. Two sites I would recommend are Rossi 1931 (that carries the paper I use for this DIY) and Il Papiro Firenze.

Single sheets of paper were available for purchase. They would come in huge pieces and I used to think, one day I will use them for something very special. I bought a few sheets that were very classic and kept them…for some day.

And then when it came time to prepare my first baby’s nursery I had an idea. I wanted to bring the vintage storytelling into the room is some way. So I decided to create shelf paper for the drawers. Each drawer contains one classic fairytale. The sheets I used had Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Snow White. It’s a simple way of adding some magic to the room. And now my three children are old enough to open up the drawers and see the story underneath their clothes.

I ended up going to my local Staples with the paper cut to the size of the drawers and them had them laminate the sheets. This way they would be protected from wear and tear. As you can see, I also left about a half inch border just for the laminate. This was mostly to makes sure once it was laminated that I could cut the edges if I needed to.

I didn’t tack the sheets down so that one day the pieces can be taken out and placed somewhere else, like on a wall or as a table cover.

I love seeing them every time I put their clothes away. It reminds me of my trips to Florence and having an idea of something special one day. I can’t think of a better way to make those papers special and my children love them.

If you want to do something similar, there are lots of beautiful sheets of paper at craft stores now. The choices are endless thanks to the wonderful world of scrapbooking 🙂

So what do you think? I’d love to read your comments below. And if you have any other suggestions for my other sheets of paper (yes, I have more) let me know.