Book Page Christmas Tree Decorations

For the first time ever (well, for my kids), we actually have a real Christmas tree to decorate!  We went to Grandma and Grandpa's favorite place, and picked out a gorgeous, fragrant tree (and got to pretend we were reindeer with the branches...)

Then, I got to Youtube how to wrap a tree in Christmas lights ;)

Since all of our Christmas decorations are in storage, we had to get creative with the ornaments, and it's still a work in progress.  But I wanted to show you some of the cute things the girls and I have done so far...

One thing we have plenty of (and is easy to get for cheap at the thrift store) is book pages.  I have a big old thesaurus that I've used for many a book page project.  These ornaments, above, were really easy to make, and I love how big and elaborate they look.  I found a tutorial here, and simplified it a little bit.  

I used my circle punch to create 2" circles, which we formed into a cone and hot glued shut.  When placed side by side and hot glued they make a great flower shape!  Instead of making a double layer, my daughter made accordion fans that I put in the middle, along with a button.  Then, some red rick-rac glued to the back for hanging was all I needed to complete it.  I'm loving the red against the book page pattern!

Another book page project was inspired by this adorable Little Golden Book I found at the thrift store. This thing must be from the 60s, and the pictures are so classic, and the colors are amazing...I love it!  I was thinking of making gift tags from the pages, which I may still do, but for the tree, I decided to make a garland.  I made some color copies onto cardstock, and then used a 3" triangle pattern to trace sections of each page and cut them out.

I hot glued the triangles onto green ribbon (which would have been red if I'd had any on hand ;) ) and strung it across the tree a couple times.  It makes me so happy!  I don't know if you can see some of the little details, but the children's faces, the little cat, the darling stockings and little elves...every picture is so fun!

Not to mention some great drawings of Santa and Mrs. Claus...

I interspersed a few red vintage glass ornaments that I found at the thrift store - sticking with the red theme.  I'm thinking I'll grab some cranberries at the store tomorrow and make a cranberry garland with the girls to add in.  Even a popcorn garland would be fun!  We're being all old fashioned with this tree :)  <3 p="">

Mostly, I love the smell that wafts through the house, and because the tree is near all these big windows, at night the twinkle lights reflect 5 trees back at us, and it is so beautiful!  

Hope you are enjoying decorating your home for the holidays!

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