Recently I found myself at Arhaus with a friend. We both joked that there was nothing that we could afford in the store, but we loved the inspiration. I knew I would walk away with at least one idea that I wanted to imitate. As I tell my girls, copying is one of the highest forms of flattery. While shopping I absolutely fell in love with the folded books that were all over the bookshelves. Oddly enough, these books were not for sale. After talking to the saleslady I learned there was a decorator who came in and put in a lot of finishing touches to make the “rooms” look complete. This book craft was one of the decorators projects. That was fine with me since I knew it was something I could easily recreate.
One of my local libraries has a book sale the first Saturday of the month. I purchased four books for 50¢ each. It was a bargain! I considered my thrift store shopping tricks, but I knew the library was going to be cheaper. They often have books for a quarter (and they actually did….but they were romance novels and that was the one genre that I didn’t want. I felt like a traitor knowing that I was about to (basically) ruin those books. We love reading in our house. Books are for reading, right? Well, I love books so much I want to decorate with them too!
To make your own folded book decoration you need a folded book, a hot glue gun, and some yarn or jute. I love the jute wrapped around a piece of burlap or burlap ribbon. An embellishment like these burlap flowers are similar are the perfect finishing touch.
To get started, fold the cover of your book in half. Then start folding page in half and tucking them into the middle of the book. Groups of about 10-20 pages are perfect. As you are folding and tucking you will see a semi circle start to take shape. When you have folded all the pages and both of the covers you are ready to make the two covers touch. getting the book to form a circle can be a bit challenging at first, but it is so worth it! Using the jute or string you will be able to secure the book in a circle. Add some embellishments and accessories!
This craft is the perfect book shelf decoration. You can use it as a teacher appreciation gift (I did!) or gift to a fellow book enthusiast. My girls added their own little touches to their teacher appreciation book gift. In addition to this, I tucked a printed gift card into the middle of each book (taller than the book, so not to be missed).
So, what do you think? Is this a craft you will do too?
If you like this craft, be sure to check out this super simple jewelry box makeover!
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Leandrea is a married mom of two girls, ages 13 and 12, living in Atlanta, GA. She is passionate about helping people save money one coupon at a time. Read more