DIY Vintage Book Ornaments
Attention all book lovers! I have officially found the perfect ornaments for your Christmas tree this year. Handmade ornaments add all the charm and nostalgia as it is, but making these vintage book ornaments is a fun, cheap, and timeless way to represent antique books in your Holiday decor.
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It is the time of year for all the crafting, all the handmade gifting, and all of the Christmas decorations we can squeeze into the big and small spaces. Happy holidays require imagination, creativity, and inspiring a handmade Christmas ornament or two.
As far as Christmas home decor this is one of my favorite projects I’ve done this season. And I am positive I’ll find a reason to make more next year. Making your own mini books is such a fun and easy craft it could easily be a fun children’s craft as well!
How to Make Children’s Mini Book Ornaments
If you really wanted to turn this into a fun children’s activity you may replace the antique book covers with more creative supplies like construction paper, excess glitter, and acrylic paint.
You could use the mini composition notebooks, or you could create a miniature book ornament using paper. Use embroidery thread and sew a book spine, or use a sewing machine. And the best part would be creating your own personalized book title.
Then you could actually write a fun story inside the book. This would surely be the perfect addition to any Christmas tree.
Classic Christmas Books Turned Ornament Tradition
In fact, this would make an excellent holiday season tradition with your children or grandchildren. To either create together or to give as a handmade gift.
I had a great idea after finishing this project how to turn it into a beautiful family memory and tradition. Each year I could pick out a classic book to read to my kids as an advent leading up to Christmas. Then I could make a matching ornament and put the year on the back of it to commemorate it.
Soon we could have a Christmas tree full of different books we’ve read together. And I think that would be a beautiful and meaningful tradition to have with your kids. And then even pass it on to your grandchildren.
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Supplies
This craft really only requires a few supplies, all of which can likely be found at most craft stores locally. In fact, several items are probably available at your local Dollar Store.
- Guillotine Paper Cutter
- Scissors
- Glue Sticks, Tacky Glue, or Mod Podge
- Mini Composition Notebooks
- String or Red Ribbon (black satin ribbon would look beautiful)
- Hot Glue Gun + Sticks
- Sheet of Paper – Card Stock or Printer Paper
Optional Supplies
Step One – Download and Print the Free Pattern
I found and made 12 mini book jackets looking mostly for antique books or authors that I personally love. Also, I wanted to find beautiful antique covers. They just don’t make book covers like they used to.
But of course, if you want to you could make your own vintage book ornaments based on books that you love as well. In fact, you could do your favorite book series like Harry Potter, The Narnia Series, Lord of the Rings, etc. They would even make very thoughtful gifts for your book club!
These printables are available as a free download in the Wonderland Subscriber Library. By simply entering your email address and subscribing you get full access. Please remember these are for personal use only.
These miniature book ornament printout covers are the exact size needed for the mini composition notebooks you can find at your local Dollar General. Or the linked ones from Amazon.
The book size is about 4 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ from the front cover to the back cover. I made them slightly longer so you can glue them on the inside of the front and back cover like a traditional dust jacket.
Step Two – Cut Out
I chose to cut them out lengthwise and leave the extra at the ends to tuck in on either side like a dust jacket. Using my guillotine paper cutter makes short work of the entire process of cutting each piece of paper out.
You could use cardstock, but I preferred regular printer paper for these vintage book ornaments because it is more flexible to bend around the book spine.
Step Three – Gluing the Cover On
After the paper strips are cut out the next steps are to fold and glue them in place.
First, I folded the paper around the book snuggly exactly as it would lay before going back to glue it. Staring at the front.
Then after the front is glued tightly fold the book and glue the back covers to the inside of the book.
Step Four – Adding the Ornament Hanger
There are several options for creating an ornament hanger, I used what I had on hand which was some string. But a ribbon loop with a pretty ribbon bow would look so delightfully fancy on these vintage book ornaments.
First I cut a piece of string about 6″ long. Then I put a dab of hot glue along the top of the ornament inside the hinge of the spine.
At this point, I laid the small pieces of string on top of the hot glue and closed the book. Then I applied steady pressure on the whole book to ensure it glued flat.
I didn’t have any on hand, but you could really make these books look “old” if you used a brown ink pad and dabbed a bit of it on the edges of the book and around the cover. Or, make it even more beautiful with gold page edges.
Ideas for Easy DIY Christmas Ornaments
Creating handmade ornaments is a favorite past-time for our family. In fact, it can be a really fun tradition to make with your young kids or family members of all ages.
- Vintage Cookie Cutters Ornaments or use air-dry clay and create your own ornaments with cookie cutters!
- Dried Orange Slices Ornaments this has nothing to do with books, but they’re gorgeous nonetheless.
- DIY Book Page Ornaments created by cutting up book pages (please don’t use a good book for this craft!)
- Clear Glass Ornament with Book Pages inside of them
Other Great Free Christmas Activities and Resources
- Needing ideas for Christmas Goodie Bags? I’ve got you covered with these 40+ ideas!
- For the minimalist in your life, here are 85 of the Best Consumable Gifts for Christmas. Also, every family with kids will appreciate these ideas as well.
- As far as fun games are involved you can play, How many words can you make from Merry Christmas?
- Share the excitement with your kids with free printable Christmas Countdowns.
- A fun twist on a White Elephant gift exchange, this “pass the gift” ‘Twas the Night Right before Christmas is sure to be a hit.
- Go check out the Christmas lights, but first print off these free Christmas Light Scavenger Hunts.
- Another great fun game for you to play with friends and family this Christmas is a free printable Christmas Trivia with a Board game option!
Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope I have given you some inspiration, ideas for creativity, and maybe a push to start creating your own wonderland one piece or project at a time.
Don’t forget to come back for more great projects like these DIY Projects and many more!
Julie
Meet the Author
Hi, I’m Julie! Mother to five beautiful kids, Homeschool Educator, Writer, Handicraft & DIY Enthusiast, Photographer, Thrifter, and Furniture Restorer. Follow along for fun DIY projects creating a handmade home on a budget! Read more about me here→
