DIY Keepsake Ornament

Making holiday ornaments is a tradition in many households. Not only are they fun to make with your children, but when you go to take out your ornaments every year, a flood of fond crafting memories will come back to you. Our Founder and Head Designer, DeNai Jones, recently made these keepsake book ornaments with her two boys. They enjoyed the project so much, that we decided to host a crafting event at our seaside Boutique, where moms and their little ones could make similar ornaments to adorn their own Christmas tree.

Click through for images and a step-by-step explanation of how make your own. The end result is sure to be a treasure on your tree for a lifetime.

What you’ll need:

– an old paper back book
– small circle cut from a page of the book
– glue
– small paint brush
– paper plate or cup to put the glue in
– glitter
– ruler
– pencil
– piece of string or ribbon cut to roughly 6 inches long

Prep work:

1. Take the paper back book and pull off the cover.

2. Measure out equal width strips on the book with a pencil and a ruler, drawing lines from the binding to the edge of the pages.

3. If you’re handy in the tool shed, use a skill saw to cut along the lines you made. If you’re not the wood-working, skill-sawing type, find someone who is, or try taking the book to your local hardware store. The strips don’t have to be cut perfectly.

This is where your kids will come in:

4. Pull back a group of about 3-5 pages.

5. Have your child place glue in the crease of the book.

6. Roll the pages inwards and glue the edge of the page to the crease of the book.

7. Continue to do this until you’ve finished folding all the pages inwards.

8. Paint glue to the edges of your book ornament and add glitter. Decorate your paper circle with glue and glitter as well.

9. Glue the paper circle to the center of the paper ornament. Let the glue dry.

10. Thread a piece of string through one of the paper loops and tie a knot. This is how you’ll hang your ornament!