.png)
One of my favorite hobbies is reading and I am firm believer that if you don’t like to read, it’s only because you haven’t found the right book yet. Between the six of us, we are a family of readers, which I absolutely love.
Last year my son convinced our family to set a “books read” goal which we’ve never done before. Each of us picked a number for ourselves and as a family we committed to read 150 books. I tried to sweeten the deal by telling everyone that if they wanted, I would make each of them an ornament for the Christmas tree with the “books” they had read this year inside. I have to tell you - these are the best ornaments ever!! It’s a quick, fun project but what a fantastic way to remember our year of reading.
These ornaments would also be fabulous for any book lovers, members of a book club, to encourage new readers, Battle of the Book participants, librarians, you name it!
Let me show you how to make an easy template that will make this process simple and fast.
Watch the video tutorial:
Supplies for a Book Ornament:
This post may contain affiliate links which means at no extra cost to you I may receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links.
Ornament – the size you need will depend on how many books you want to put inside. I used a 3-inch plastic ornament and put in 41 books with room to spare.
If you need space for more ornaments, a four-inch ornament was less than half filled with my 41 books.
Foam core board – this one is 3 mm wide which I think is the perfect width to look like a book.
OR
Optional:
A lighter to burn the edges of the ribbon so it doesn’t fray.
Make a Book Ornament Template:
Let’s get started making a template that will make this project 100 percent easier!
Go to Canva.com and create a free account if you don’t already have one. Although they do have a paid account you can sign up for, you won’t need it for this project. This website is one of my favorite crafting tools because it makes it so easy to create printables and images.
Once you are into Canva, click on the “Create design” button in the upper left corner. A box will open that allows you to select what type of design you would like to create. Select “custom” and then type in 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches tall and then hit “Create new design.”
When the new blank design has opened click “Elements” and in the search box above type “rectangle frame.” You should be able to find a rectangle with a landscape graphic inside. Click this to add it to your project.
Next, click and drag one of the corners to shrink it down until the measurements are .8 inch wide and 1.2 inches tall. This is how big your book covers will be. You could make these smaller or larger depending on how many books you are adding to the ornament. This is just what worked for me.
I like to place this rectangle to the left and within the margins so I know it will print out without getting cut off. Click on the rectangle itself and a small menu will pop up above it. Click on the duplicate button to create a copy of the rectangle. Line the new rectangle up just next to the original with the sides just touching. Repeat this process until you have eight rectangles in that row.
Click on the screen and drag a box over all eight rectangles and then click the duplicate button again. Position the second row of rectangles just below the first eight so they are just touching. Repeat this process until you have eight rows.
This is your template! If you are adding more than 64 books to an ornament, click on the duplicate page button just above the page you are designing on the right side. Continue adding pages until you have enough for all the books. It’s a good idea to make a copy of the page either way because then you have a blank canvas ready to go when you want to make a second or third ornament.
Adding Book Covers to Your Design:
Let’s add the book covers! The fastest, easiest way to do this is to use a Goodreads account. This is a free website where you can track all your books, add ratings, read reviews etc. Open a second tab on your computer to go to the website and if you haven’t already, sign up.
Next, add all the books you’ve read to what Goodreads calls a "bookshelf." This bookshelf is going to save all your book info in one spot.
When you’ve added in all the book titles, WITHOUT CLOSING THE GOODREADS TAB ON YOUR BROWSER, click on the split screen button in the upper right corner of your browser. It looks like a rectangle with a line through the middle. Select the tab with the Canva page on it and BAM – you’re looking at both Canva and Goodreads on the same screen.
Within Canva, click on the "Uploads" button on the left and drag and drop the book covers from the Goodreads side of your screen to the Canva side in the upload box. In moments you can have all of your book cover images uploaded to Canva ready to use.
If you don’t want to use a Goodreads account, you could find the book covers online and save the image of the cover on your computer. You could then upload those images into Canva.
You can close the split screen and use just Canva now. Click on “Uploads” and you should be able to see all of the book covers.
Click one of the covers and drag it over to a rectangle frame. It will automatically drop into the frame and size it correctly. Just continue adding book covers until all the books are on the page. If you have less books than rectangle frames, just delete the extras.
The next step is to download the design you just made. Do this by clicking on the "Share" button in the upper right corner of Canva and pressing the "Download" button. From the "File Type" drop down menu you want to select "pdf print" and then press the purple "Download" button. This will download your design into your download folder on your computer.
Next up is to print two copies of the design onto sticker paper. You want to put the book cover on both sides of the foam core board so any which way you turn the ornament you are seeing book covers.
You can open the file and print it on your home printer or save it to a USB drive and take it to a print shop which is what I do because my home printer doesn’t print as well as I’d like it to. I take the sticker paper with me and just ask them to print my design on the sticker paper.
Cutting out the Book Covers for the Ornament:
Let’s attach the book covers to the foam core board next.
Peel off the sticker backing off one of the copies and carefully adhere it to the front of the foam core board.
Now use your Cricut TrueControl blade, cutting mat and cutting ruler to carefully cut out the book covers. If I make two passes with the blade it cuts all the way through the foam core board. I cut one row at a time so it’s easier to find the correct book to adhere the back covers.
After each row is cut out, it’s time to cut out the back covers. You could use a TrueControl blade, paper trimmer, or scissors to cut these out. It will obviously be a bit easier since you are only cutting through the sticker paper.
Peel off the sticker paper backing and carefully place the cover onto the back of the corresponding book. I find it easiest to use a pin pen weeding tool to grab the sticker paper backing and peel it off.
If you have any white showing from the foam core board on the front or back of the book, just use your TrueControl blade to slice it off. If you’re very careful, you don’t even need the ruler.
The next step is one of the best parts – putting the books inside the ornament! Once you have them all inside, use a bit of Krazy Glue to secure the lid or halves of the ornament so it doesn’t open accidentally.
Next, it’s time to tie the hanging ribbon to the top of the ornament. I thread a 12- inch-long piece through to make hanging loop and tie it. Trim any excess and use a lighter to lightly burn the cut edges to prevent fraying.
If you want to add the number of books to the outside of the ornament, it’s time to open design software. Since I have a Cricut, I use Design Space. While you’re at it, get the text ready for the name and year to be put on the ribbon too.
Pick a font and type the person’s name, the year, and the number of books in separate text boxes.
Size them up so the name and year fit onto the ends of your ribbon and the number of books fits on the front of the ornament.
Cut the name and year out of heat transfer vinyl and the number of books out of adhesive vinyl.
Attach the vinyl with transfer tape and weed the heat transfer vinyl so it's ready to iron on. If you need help with any of these steps, you can watch a tutorial for vinyl here and a tutorial for heat transfer here.
Now make a bow with the ribbon leaving fairly long tails. Iron the heat transfer onto the ribbon ends, cut any excess and lightly burn the edges so it doesn't fray.
Use a Glue Dot or glue gun to adhere the bow to the front of the ornament. I like to use half a Glue Dot or more hot glue to stick the ends of the ribbon to the front of the ornament with the middle popped up. I think it looks a bit fancier.
Don't you just love these?! I love them so very much and I might have to make myself one every year.
Don't forget to subscribe so you are notified when new projects come out!
Happy crafting!