Vintage fairy soap fairy tales pages and illustrations make whimsical nursery and classroom decor. They’re also ideal for art/junk journals and endless craft projects.
Vintage children’s book pages and illustrations have a unique charm that simply doesn’t exist in modern publications. Antique book pages are perfect for unique wall art. They’re also great for numerous DIY projects, including but not limited to, art/junk journals, greeting cards, home decor, Christmas ornaments, scrapbooks, and decoupage.
It’s no secret around here that I’m crazy about the look of old book pages, including dictionaries and hymn books. I’ve released a handful of additional book page sets as well, including dessert recipes, Christmas cookies, a French primer, an algebra textbook, and a Latin textbook. I’m so excited to bring you another collection of vintage book pages today, which features lovely full-color illustrations.
The vintage fairy soap fairy tales pages and illustrations I’m featuring here come from the Fairy Tales booklet published by The N. K. Fairbank Company to promote their Fairy Soap product. It’s copyright 1898. I’ve included the front and back cover pages and first and last interior pages as well as the stories and illustrations for 11 fairy tales. I’m also offering sets of ATC size cards and journal tags that I created with the Fairy Tales pages. Enjoy!
How to use vintage book pages and illustrations
When you’re looking for old book pages and illustrations, generally, you already know how you’re planning to use them. If you’re searching for more inspiration or simply looking for additional ideas for your new vintage printables, consider one or more of the following projects.
- DIY wall decor. One of the most popular ways to use antique book pages is to create unique wall decor. Fairy tales with accompanying illustrations are especially fitting for nurseries, kids’ bedrooms, classrooms, and libraries. But there is no limit to the possibilities for these pages. You can use them as is or overlay them with text and/or PNGs or transparent background images.
- Christmas ornaments. Old book pages are great for making Christmas ornaments for your own tree, to sell at craft fairs and/or online, and to give as gifts to family, friends, and teachers.
- Greeting cards. You can use antique book pages as backgrounds and decorative elements for a wide variety of greeting cards.
- Glass or bottle cap magnets, using the technique I honed for my sheet music glass magnets tutorial.
- Pendant necklaces. You can also use the above technique to make necklaces instead of magnets.
- Tile coasters. The method that I developed for my vintage sheet music botanical coasters works for any vintage papers. Coasters are another application that lends itself well to text and/or image overlays.
- Art journals and other mixed media projects. Old book pages are a very popular material for art/junk journals and mixed media art. They work beautifully on their own or layered with stamps, ink, paint, and more.
- Scrapbooking. Antique book pages make beautiful background and decorative elements for both physical and digital scrapbooks. They’re also perfect for DIY scrapbook embellishments.
About the vintage fairy soap fairy tales pages and illustrations
You’re welcome to use the Fairy Tales pages and illustrations as well as ATC cards and journal tags for as many personal projects as you want, which includes classroom use. You may also use them for limited runs of commercial projects (5,000 items or less). Commercial use DOES NOT include made-to-order sites, such as Zazzle and Society6. Commercial digital items must be flat, finished products (i.e., not Photoshop files) consisting of your original content. You are not authorized to sell any of my Fairy Tales items as is, either as individual listings or as part of larger collections.
Additionally, please don’t distribute the download files. If family, friends, or co-workers are interested in their own book pages, ATC cards, or journal tags, please send them a link to this post, so they can download their own files. Thank you!
Full book pages
I’m offering the complete set of 26 full-size vintage Fairy Tales pages. All of the pages are 2700 x 4100 pixels. The set includes the front and back covers and the first and last interior pages. The first interior page features a fairy acrostic poem spelling out Fairbank’s Fairy Soap. Each fairy tale has an accompanying full-color illustration. The book includes the following fairy tales:
- The Mermaids
- Two White Kittens
- Tom’s Bath
- Fairy Linen
- A Song of Sleepyland
- Cinderella’s Wedding
- The Fairy Girl
- Goldenlocks
- Little Mistress Housewife
- Two Foolish Chickens
- The Wise Old Fairy
I’ve split the full book pages into three ZIP folders to give you large files in an easy-to-download format.
ATC-size digital collage sheet
I’ve created nine ATC size cards from the Fairy Tales pages collection.
Please note: It gets confusing having lots of white space in blog post images, which is why I added a black outline around the preview image for the 8.5″ x 11″ page. The digital collage sheet download doesn’t have a black border.
[Fairy Tales – ATC-Size Digital Collage Sheet]
Journal tags
I’ve created 12 journal tags from the vintage fairy soap fairy tales pages and illustrations set. In addition to scrapbooks and art/junk journals, they’re perfect for an endless array of DIY projects. Each tag measures 2.5″ x 4.2″ (750 x 1250 pixels). The journal tags ZIP folder contains two 8.5″ x 11″ pages for easy printing.
Please note: Again, the above preview image has black outlines around the pages. Your 8.5″ x 11″ page downloads below don’t have black borders.
[Fairy Tales – Journal Tag 8.5″ x 11″ Pages]
Extracting and downloading the full ZIP folders
I’ve created ZIP folders for all of the vintage fairy soap fairy tales page and illustrations content that I share in this post. Zipped folders allow me to offer high-resolution files for crisp, vivid printing and to protect said files from potential theft. Extracting and downloading the ZIP folders from Google Drive is a fairly straightforward process. Please note that it does take a little time to download each folder completely, particularly the full-page book sets.
- When you click on the download link, select the Open with ZIP Extractor option at the top of the page.
- The folder will open in a new window. The files will download.
- Once the files have downloaded, click Extract Now.
- When the files have extracted and uploaded, click View Extracted Files.
- Double click on the folder.
- To download, select the files you’d like to download. Click the three horizontal dots More Actions button. Choose Download.
I suggest moving your downloaded files out of your downloads folder and into your main photos folder. I also recommend making a second copy of the files on an external hard drive or cloud storage drive. Keep your files in a folder titled “Vintage Fairy Soap Fairy Tales Book Pages” or something similar, so you’re able to find them again quickly.
Now you’re ready to use your new vintage printables for home decor and endless craft projects!
Printing vintage book pages
When you use old book pages to make your own wall art and other home decor, my personal go-to for at-home printing is Finestra Art Paper. I always use Finestra because the paper features an acid-free, matte surface to dry ink rapidly, creating crisp, vibrant images. I prefer the results that Finestra offers over regular printer paper, card stock, and presentation paper.
For all other journal and DIY projects, my paper choice is white card stock. When you’re using antique book pages for greeting cards, scrapbook embellishments, and mixed media art, it’s not as important that the images are really vibrant. For projects that involve multiple coats of diamond glaze or Mod Podge, such as tile coasters, glass magnets, or pendant necklaces, you won’t be able to tell any difference in the finish of the paper. As such, it makes sense to use card stock, which is less expensive and still high-quality and very durable.
[Disclaimer: There are a few affiliate links in this post. Thanks for your support!]
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More free vintage book page printables:
Head to the free printables section of the blog for additional vintage book page printables as well as other vintage printables, including lots of sheet music and postcards.