Book Wreath Made Of Vintage Mini Books

It’s Thrifty Chicks Monthly Project Challenge time! Yay!

I’ve been so looking forward to this month’s book challenge, but then as it was nearing I was having trouble narrowing down my ideas to one that I was really excited about.

I was all over the place, and I honestly had no idea what I was going to do until a few days ago.

Then it happened.

A rather novel idea (haha) actually hit me in a dream in the middle of the night… and it woke me up. Not sure where it came from, but I don’t question these things… I’m just grateful for them.

I guess since I don’t have to dream of a white Christmas, becaue we usually have those, I’ve been dreaming about this book project challenge instead.

Whatever works… right?

So, what was the idea?

 

A book wreath… not a book page wreath, but an honest-to-goodness book wreath using honest-to goodness-books.

 

On the second Wednesday of each month I join some very talented blogging friends for a project challenge, and with a different theme each time it’s really a lot of fun.

If you missed any of the past projects you can find them here.

I’m so excited to see what my blogging friends have come up with for this month’s book challenge.

There are links to their fabulous projects at the end of this post so be sure to check them out.

 

So when this idea woke up up in the middle of the night I really wanted to get up and start on it right then and there.

I’ve never seen an actual book wreath before and I wanted to start combing through my antique and vintage book collection, that I keep in my repurposed bifold door shelving units, right away.  This is always the fun part of creating for me… figuring out the how of making an idea come to life.

But since I’m not the only one living in this house I decided I’d better wait until morning and, safe in the knowledge that I finally had my idea for this challenge, I drifted off back to sleep

 

In the morning I very excitedly gathered my supplies and started to think about how to make the magic happen without harming my small vintage and antique books in any way.

Enter one of my favourite things…. jute twine/cord. As far as I’m concerned it goes with everything… doesn’t  matter your design style.

The 12″ wreath I’m using is from my stash. It has a plastic frame so using small light books was very important. If you start with a wire wreath frame you could wrap it with whatever you wanted before adding the books.

 

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I went through my mini hard cover books and chose the ones that I thought would fit together best. I like to do a dry fit of most projects when possible.

I have quite a few vintage soft leather covered books, but I didn’t want to use those for fear of damaging the covers.

 

This step is important:

The jute cording should be wrapped under the top part of the frame. If it’s wrapped around the entire frame the books will sag down.

 

Here’s my bottom layer done and standing up in my craft room.

The jute cord should be tied just tight enough to be snug, but not super tight. You don’t want to do any damage to the covers of the books.

 

When I added the top layer I tied the jute in simple bows.

 

Even though I’m using small books you can imagine this is a little heavy once they’re all added.

At this point I decided that it would be a good idea to join the books.

 

So I tied opposite books together with the jute and tied the knots in the centre.

I thought this jute star thingy looked  kinda cool, but kinda messy too.

 

So to finish it off and Christmas it up I put together a few different light reflectors from my collection.

 

Then I glued a vintage mini ornament into the centre and glued the whole thing onto the twine.

 

So here’s my finished book wreath… straight from the dream world into the real world.

And I’m very happy to say that none of my vintage books were harmed making this wreath. Newer small books could of course be used if you happen to find some.

 

I’m pretty sure I’ll be keeping it out all year long, but I’m thinking I might move it into the living room after I finish that room’s makeover… which I won’t even be starting until the new year.

Right now my book wreath is hanging on the door between the living room and my recently made over aqua and red kitchen.

I love how it pops against the white background.

John and I are both big readers and we love having books around as part of our decor as well. This is a fun way to display a few so we can enjoy seeing them in a different light.

 

Please pin and share it!

 

Now be sure to check out what my friends did with their book projects.

Here are the BEFORES.

Just click on the links beside the blog names to see the fabulous afters.

1. Shoppe No. 5 – How To Create A Holiday Vase By Recycling A Bottle
2. Adirondack Girl at Heart – Vintage Christmas Card Artwork + Free Printable
3. Lora B. Create & Ponder – How To Make An Easy Book Tree
4. Little Vintage Cottage – DIY Secret Book Safe
5. Thrifty Rebel Vintage – That’s mine.

 

Thanks so much for reading, and until next time…

keep on keepin’ on!

XOX