How to Make a Book Page Garland

Some of my favorite decor items are garlands and banners, and anything made with book pages. I realize there are folks who think you should never disfigure a book, but the librarians say they get more book donations than they need. So rather than throw the books into the garbage only to clutter the landfill, why not recycle them into something beautiful? Today I’m sharing how to recycle a book into a pretty book page garland.

I have a book page garland in my family room, and wanted to add one over the door frame between the living room and dining room.

 

My book page garland is made of crumpled book pages cut into circles.

A long piece of twine threads through the middle of the circles.

 

The supplies you need are book pages (mine are from a romance novel), hole punch, twine, and a method for cutting circles like scissors, a circle cutter, or a circle punch.

 

I used the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter. I like this better than a circle punch because you can cut so many different size circles with it. It’s also much faster than cutting with scissors. You simply insert the blade into the hole for the size circle you want, press down and rotate the small blade to cut the circle.

 

I cut approximately 230 circles 3 1/2 inches in diameter for my garland. That might seem like a lot but it goes quickly. After cutting the circles, punch holes in the middle with a paper hole punch or with the point of your scissors.

 

Then take about 10 circles at a time and crumple them into a wad.

 

Open the crumpled circles back up and string them onto a long piece of twine. I stuck a safety pin through the end of the twine to make it easier to push through the holes. You can string a stack of circles together at one time to speed things up.

 

All that’s left to do is choose a spot to hang your book page garland.

 

Space the circles tightly or further apart on your twine.

There’s really no right or wrong way to do this.

 

Since the twine has a rough texture, the circles don’t slide down and bunch together. Crumpling the book pages also helps to keep them in place on the twine.

 

I love my little hanging lamb. My daughter doesn’t understand it.

I told her she doesn’t need to understand … she just needs to think it’s cute.

 

You can buy different animals or objects to hang from the decorative rod. I found this at a local boutique. I like my lamb and probably won’t swap it out, unless I see a pig or a cow.

 

I think the book page garland would also look great hanging over a window. It took just a couple of hours to make, and you could even work on your book page garland while watching your favorite TV show.