The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers

The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers

When you use the word "exquisite" in your title, you're setting the bar for your book pretty high. The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers delivered!!!! Not only are the flowers exquisite, but the instructions are clear and easy-to-follow and there are templates for each project in the back of the book. Let's just say that thanks to this book, paper flowers are officially my new favorite hobby. 

I first found paper flower crafts on Pinterest (surprise, surprise). While the step-by-step photo instructions seemed clear, my flowers never turned out like the ones in the Pinterest pictures (surprise, surprise). I looked at a few paper flower books and after flipping through their pages at Barnes & Noble decided that The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers looked like I was getting the most bang for my buck.

You can see from the pictures on this post that, while I am not going to be opening an Etsy paper flower shop anytime soon, the flowers actually look like flowers! There are 27 different types of flowers featured in the book. Each one comes with a template, a list of materials needed, step-by-step instructions, photos, and tips so that you can learn how to make poppies, roses, and sweat peas (to name a few). 

I can't say enough good things about this book! Instead, head over to my Instagram account @bookfaire to win a copy for yourself!

Title: The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers 

Author: Livia Cetti

Publisher: Stewart, Tabori, & Chang

Published: April 8, 2014

Available: Amazon, Book Depository, and Barnes and Noble
Goodreads

DIY Book Flowers

April showers bring paper flowers...at least in my house they do! 

Now before anyone gets upset that I cut up a book to make this craft, know that all my "free game" books come from the thrift store. It saves me money and I'm able to make something new from something someone else gave away. 

So, here are the steps that I took to make this bouquet of paper flowers.

Before you start, you'll need the following materials:

- Book Pages (duh)

- Scissors

- Floral Wire

- Wire Cutters

- Hot Glue Gun

STEP  ONE

Trim the rough edges from the paper.

STEP  TWO

 Cut your pages into spirals. 

At the very interior of each spiral cut a semi circle to form a base for your flower. 

I played around with the spiral on the left to give that flower a little more textured. 

STEP  THREE

Starting on the outer edge, curl the spiral. 

If you want your flower to have a smaller bloom, twist the spiral tightly. If you want a bigger bloom relax your grip. 

STEP  FIVE

Hot glue the base of your flower to the bottom of the spiral. (The semi circle was important!)

Here's a sample of a few of the blooms I made. 

You can see how different they look depending on how tight they were twisted.

STEP  SIX

Decide how tall you want your flowers to be (this will depend on the vase height). 

Cut the wire to that length and twist the top once around the handle.

STEP  SEVEN

Bend the wire to 90° and hot glue it to the bottom of your flower. 

STEP  EIGHT

Arrange your flowers and put them some place sunny...and filled with books!

The Book Lover's Tree

A few days ago while browsing Pinterest (one of my go-to mindless activities), I came across an amazing ad by Ikea.

Three of my most favorite things: Christmas, books, and build-it-yourself furniture! 

I know that non-traditional Christmas trees are a thing right now–everything from driftwood to drawing a chalk outline on the wall. While they're creative, I'm a personal fan of the traditional tree. And by traditional, I mean farm-fresh, smell great, vacuum-up-pine needles-every-day, traditional. 

But...I couldn't help but fall a little bit in love with these book Christmas trees. 

Click on the image for a closer look at how these book Christmas trees were made. 

Vintage Stacked Book Tree

3-Minute Book Tree

Shelved Book Tree

Spine-Up Book Tree

Evergreen Book Tree

Mother of All Book Trees

This tree was built in Poland, and they included a video showing its construction. You can read about the process and watch a short video here. 

7 DIY Bookends with Flair

   One of the perks of working for a publishing house is the free books! To help organize my current titles, I like to keep them separate from the backlist books. There's a little space on my desk just for them, but lately I feel like I need to tidy up the stack...cue bookends!

   I want something nicer than the basic metal bookends you find at an office supply store. Turns out anything nicer costs over $40. I just want something to hold my books up and add a little artistic life to my desk....cue Pinterest!

   Pinterest has a ton of great DIY ideas, and I've included my top 7 favorite DIY bookends below. The one idea that's missing from the list is jars. I love jar bookends because you can fill them with so many different things, but that's a-whole-nother post for a-whole-nother day.  

   If you see an idea that you like, click on the photo and it will send you to an instruction guide or tutorial...cue list!

Toy Animal Bookends

Terrarium Bookends

Rope Knot Bookend

Garden Lion Bookends

Wall Bracket Bookends

Vintage C-Clamp Bookends

Book Bookends