Christmas in February: Book Ornaments

The purpose of my Christmas in [Insert Month Here] blog series was to complete bookmarked Christmas projects throughout the year, since the holiday season is often too hectic to explore all the seasonal crafts that I want to. 

I didn't really intend to go out and find new projects to try!  But as you already know, you can't turn around in the art and craft world without finding scores of "must-do" ideas. 

The other day I stopped in JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts to buy a new jar of gel medium. The store was out of the medium, but here I was with my 40% off coupon in hand; I couldn't just let it go to waste!  Against my better judgment, I walked down the art and craft book aisle, and spotted Constance E. Richards' book, Books and Journals: 20 Great Weekend Projects, from The Weekend Crafter series.  When I saw her book ornaments, I knew I wanted them to be my Christmas in February project.

Here are the book ornaments, closed and secured with a bead.

The project required paper folding, which, as you may recall from earlier efforts to fold a handmade matchbox, is not my strong suit.  But happily, Richards' instructions for folding were clear enough for even me to successfully follow. 

Here is what one of the book ornaments looks like when opened up.

Here are three of the four book ornaments I made, opened up to look like snowflakes.

I did a web search to find some other crafters who have created similar book ornaments.  If you don't have the book I used, but would like to see how the fold is achieved, you can look at the photos in this blog post at Oh My!  Handmade Goodness.  The Oh My! version does not involve cutting the book into shapes, and it creates a more formal book cover using bookboard.  To see the folding in action, check out this video from Wonder How To; she creates a version that is twice the size of my books, but much thinner. (She folds one square and puts it into the book covers, while I folded three squares, glued them together, and put them into the book covers.)

One final look at my book ornaments for Christmas in February.

I found another post at Style Me Pretty describing how to make miniature leather-bound book ornaments, and now I'd like to try that project, too!  There is also a cute kids' felt version in this Helping Little Hands post. 

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Check out previous posts in the Christmas in [Insert Month Here] series:

Christmas in January:  Recycling Christmas Cards