How To Make A Paper Garland From An Old Book

Need a fun project to do while sitting at the TV? I have made these garlands before – only in a smaller version – and draped them on a Christmas tree and used them as a center piece down a table. They are a lot of fun to make and add an unexpected flair to any room, bridal shower, wedding or fun event.

For the project you will need:

An old book – about an 8” x 11” – that you don’t mind cutting up and has about 350 pages.

Jute twine

Scissors

Hole punch

To make your paper garland, choose an old book that you won’t mind cutting up. The book I used was the size of a dictionary (about 8” x 11”) -

and had interesting graphics, old fact charts and nicely aged paper.

To make it easy to remove the pages from the book, tear away the outer spine of the book as well as the hard cover.

Next, cut the pages in half.

Fold the cut pages in half again.

To make the garland less balanced and perfectly square, I fold the pages in an imperfect half – kind of caddywhompus, if you will - as shown below. Using a hole punch, punch a hole a bit off center, about an inch up from the fold. Give the pages a little crumble along the edges for a rumpled look. Cut a piece of twine the length that you would like the garland to be. String the pages on the twine. Once the pages are on the twine, give them a little turn here and there so that they are not perfectly lined up.

When done, tie a large knot in the twine at both ends, leaving about 12” of twine at each end to use to hang the garland by. Depending on the look you like, the garland can be made with the pages tight together, as my garland is, or stretched out at bit with more spacing in between the pages. Drape it… ..or let it hang straight down. Just have fun with it! Don’t be discouraged if the pages tear a bit as you are making it. Nobody will know but you when it is all done.


The garland would be really cute made out of a colorful illustrated children’s book with some pretty scrapbooking papers added here and there. too.

Today's post is linked to Faded Charm's White Wednesday and

Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesday.