Welcome back to our 12 Days of Crunchy Christmas Crafts for the whole family! So far, we’ve made: pinecone bird treats, gingerbread nativities, “snowed-in” candle crafts, fruity festoons, foraged ornaments, some homemade bathtime bliss, and repurposed Christmas card tags & boxes!
If you’ve been with us for a while, you may recall that our family loves giving new life to beloved but worn-out books by making them into bunting (below). So, for days eight and nine of our Christmas crafting adventures, we went back to our roots with two NEW crafts to repurpose old books!
Let them eat BOOKS.
Our family culture kind of revolves around books. We plan homeschool units based on what we will be reading next. We make meals inspired by favorite books. We cap the homeschool day with reading and then cap the evening the same way. We save movies for after we’ve read the books. We write book reviews. We even celebrate the kids’ birthdays with books. Nerds alert!
Over the years, we’ve partied with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Frog and Toad, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh to name a few. For Goldilocks’ fifth birthday party, we had a Little House in the Big Woods Shindig, complete with bonnets, aprons, attempted (and failed) old-world butter churning, and a fiddle-jigging dance party. For decorations, in lieu of balloons and streamers, I used some of the leftover illustrations from our Country Christmas Book Bunting to make THESE.
I’m not sure what to call them exactly, but we love these illustrated wood round placards.
A few of these charcoal-on-wood characters I keep out all year long. Then, the whole collection joins the ranks at Christmastime along with our beloved Little House bunting, because Christmas is just cozier when illustrated by Garth Williams. Thus has our home’s holiday theme gradually become “Little Christmas House in the Big Woods.”
This year, we decided to use the remaining stack of Ingalls-Wilder pages to continue our little theme onto the Christmas tree! So, here they are: two homemade ornament ideas for book-loving families like ours!
Day eight . . . Mini Book Log Bibelots!
For me, these little logs sing a song of simplicity and delight. A mere glance, and their chorus is clear: “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
DIFFICULTY (aka Happiness Meter): Easy-Peasy
MESS METER: minimal
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- old book with lovely illustrations to repurpose
- log rounds (my hubby cut ours from a birch branch)
- mod podge
- paint brushes
- q-tips
- electric drill
- twine
- fabric scissors
TIME NEEDED: 1/2 hour for a whole pile of lovely little log ornaments
KID RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 stars;) Simple and fuss-free, this craft is easy even for the littlest crafters! Plus, for book-loving kids, it is just pure delight to hang beloved illustrations on the Christmas tree!)
PARENT RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 stars;) I don’t think I will ever make enough of these. They are simply ADORABLE and the easiest ornament craft yet by far.)
1.) Gather supplies.
2.) Select small illustrations from the pages.
3.) Make rough, jagged outlines in water with q-tips around the illustrations.
4.) Tear with your fingers and let dry.
5.) Drill holes at the tops of your log rounds.
Ok, maybe not at the table like Papa did. Moving on.
6.) Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the rounds and press on the illustration.
7.) Cover with a thin layer of podge and stroke smooth.
Goldilocks’ poor little finger! She got a little scissor-happy today.
8.) Let dry.
9.) Pinch twine in half to a point and string through the back of your ornament.
10.) Loop ends through, cinch tight, tie, and snip! Then display on your Merry Little Christmas Tree!
The sky is the limit with these! You could use old Christmas golden books with color illustrations or go black and white like we did. I better not brainstorm this one otherwise I’ll think of about twenty Christmas tree themes! 😆
Day Nine. . . Oh my Literary Stars!
DIFFICULTY (aka Happiness Meter): Extensive (ages 8 and up with help)
MESS METER: minimal
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- old book to repurpose (words only)
- scissors
- pencil
- templates (provided)
- optional bedazzles, puff paints, and mod podge
- mini hole punch
- twine
TIME NEEDED: 20 minutes per ornament
KID RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5 stars; The Captain really enjoyed this. Sadly, Goldilocks could not do it. But she had fun snipping paper until she cut her finger. It is wild to watch the star come together, but definitely difficult and fiddly.)
PARENT RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5 stars; Ok, so these are a bit challenging for adults also. But the result is so dreamy! The title “Oh my Literary Stars” came to me involuntarily when my son held out the first finished star in his hand.)
1.) Gather supplies.
2.) Print & cut your hexagon stencils (don’t worry, we’ve got you covered)!
Here’s the book-page-sized stencils we made:
*Print onto CARDSTOCK
3.) Trace out your literary stars.
4.) Cut out.
5.) Ready, set, FOLD! (get comfy)
Step One: fold pentagon in half, the top being a point. Rotate and repeat four more times.
Step Two: fold each base (flat edge) up to the crease lines above the center, that is, the creases that extend up like star arms. Make sure it’s even and that the corners both meet those upward-facing creases. Crease. Unfold. Rotate and repeat four more times.
Step Three: fold up two side-by-side bases (flat edges) at the same time to the existing creases and make a pointed arm. Crease, unfold, rotate, repeat four more times.
Step Four: put a finger on each flat edge of the pentagon and begin drawing together to a close in the middle. Think lotus blossom.
Step Five: MAGIC! Press a finger down where all the edges meet. Keep pressing and a star will literally pop into shape! That is, if you did it right. It took us three tries.
Step Six: Flip over. Whew! That one was easy.
Step Seven: fold each star arm in half to where the bottom point of the arm reaches the center point and extend up to make a sharp point at the end of each arm. Crease, rotate, repeat four more times.
NOT GETTING IT? It’s not you, it’s the stars. Here’s the video tutorial we watched three times: Fold an Origami Star {in 5 simple steps} – It’s Always Autumn
6.) *Optional: Add a dab of puff paint, or glue on a bedazzle!
7.) Gently punch a hole, loop with twine, tie, and snip.
8.) Adorn your tree with Literary Stars!
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” –Matthew 2:10
Thanks for crafting with us today, friends!
Love, ~Candace Arden
