Upcycling Aesthetic: Mushroom Shelf from Book Pages

I wanted to use pages from a duplicate book I had that I didn’t need two copies of to create something fun and artsy.  I was thinking through different ways I could use these pages and then thought about how I could turn then into a sort of wall art.  When looking up different ideas for how to use these pages, I came across these 3D mushrooms made out of book pages and really liked that idea, especially because I like the general aesthetic of mushrooms.

Additionally, I found this shelf that resembled mushrooms growing off of a wall and plan on making my mushrooms resemble this shape more than the rounded, traditional mushroom shape shown above to better resemble a sort of shelf instead of just 3D wall art.

When researching further, I found this mushroom made in the same fashion as those from the first image, just with some color added.  I liked this pop of color that was given to the once sort of bland coloring the pages already provided, so I thought about how I might be able to “dye” or color book pages naturally.

I remember having seen people spill coffe and tea on artwork to make it unique and as those spilled drinks gave a subtle pop of color to the artwork, so I set about doing a test on some of the pages from the book I wasn’t planning on using.  I had a lot of tea available to me, so I brewed one of each kind I had.

After brewing the teas, I dip tested sections of pages.  I only dipped half in order to compare the initial color of the page to the new one post tea dip.

Once they dried I dipped them again, only this time it was halfway into of the already dipped region (a quarter of the page), so that I could then compare how each tea colored the pages after both one dip and two dips.

The above picture has the color results from my dip tests once fully dried.

In summary, I plan on making a sort of mushroom wall decoration that looks like a shelf and is made out of tea colored book pages.  For clarity purposes, the project I am making could be considered part of the Fungi or Mushroom aesthetic.

Sources:

1. Etsy on Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/pin/114560384261911564/ 
2. Roomberry on Etsy – https://www.etsy.com/listing/1647120553/witchy-berry-mushroom-floating-wall?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_b-home_and_living-home_decor-wall_decor-other&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAiA_OetBhAtEiwAPTeQZ4OSIUxJG-hux5qHNwh51nkF9BPn8rsUeCsZBXpJLZVVkvGORzDidBoCZhkQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_12561589161_119138324293_506897881194_aud-1118323511478:pla-307501513391_c__1647120553_12768591&utm_custom2=12561589161&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_OetBhAtEiwAPTeQZ4OSIUxJG-hux5qHNwh51nkF9BPn8rsUeCsZBXpJLZVVkvGORzDidBoCZhkQAvD_BwE 
3. Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hWIK2LYpvEo
4. Me (for all remaining pictures posted)