My Bookish Christmas Trees

Up until it was time to decorate for Christmas, very few of my books had made it into the house after having moved at the beginning of October.  Decorating needs changed all that.  Here are some ways that my books are keeping me company this Christmas:

If you have any paperbacks (or magazines) lying around that you've been thinking of donating, it's easy to turn it into a Christmas tree instead.  This particular one is super easy—no cutting, no gluing...only simple paper-airplane type folds and a lot of spine-breaking/bending.  Fold each individual page, starting with the top corner...bring it down to align with the inside of the spine, crease, and repeat.  Then fold the bottom flap up to align with the lower edge of the page, making the bottom flat.

My 12-year old helped me make this tree.  She had a wonderful time stacking books by height, and needed to make sure that the cover of her favorite book was peeking out (A Monster Calls, bright blue cover near the bottom.)

We hosted a large party this last weekend with the theme of White.  Never before had I realized how little white I own...I surround myself with a lot of earth tones and some bright pops of green and orange for the most part, so trying to make my house seem white was a challenge.  It spurred the idea of turning my books backwards so the pages were showing.  Although it's terribly trying to not be able to see which books are on my shelves, it's a nice effect.  I couldn't leave them all that way though—books with green spines allowed me to make another bookish tree whose presence eludes most visitors.  That, somehow, makes it all the better.  It's like my little secret.  Except that now I've proclaimed it to the world.  But still.

This is actually the first year that I've incorporated any book trees into my Christmas, but it has been such a warm, wonderful addition that I think I must do it every year now.  There are so many more great ideas out there, it would be a pity not to enjoy them all!