I am going to show you how to flip thrift store books into a really cute Christmas ornament!
I love flipping items from the thrift store (such as how I redecorated my guest room with thrifted or hand me down furniture). Now I have many ideas on how to use thrift store books to make Christmas ornaments! I love using repurposed materials to give an old object new life!
Do thrift stores have books?
The answer to this is a resounding yes! Whether it’s been a Goodwill, Salvation Army, or just a local thrift shop, I have always seen used books on the shelf!
What books do you find at thrift stores?
You can find all kinds of books at thrift stores!
Especially at a Goodwill near my house, they had every genre of book on their shelves. Fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, religious books, coffee table books, and historic novels were all there!
What is the cheapest place to buy books?
In my personal experience, Goodwill prices tend to range between $0.99 – $2.99. I also visit another local thrift store that carries more children’s books – but they have an ongoing fill a bag of books for $1 deal! If I were you, I would visit a local thrift store before you hit larger thrift store chains.
So now let’s see just one way you could take a cheap thrift store book and turn it into a new Christmas ornament that can stay on your tree for years to come!
Materials Needed To Make A Repurposed Thrift Store Book Ornament:
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- Thrift Store Books (in this case it is Mickey’s Christmas Carol – you can buy this used on Amazon.) This isn’t the exact same version as the one I found, but hopefully will work. I personally got mine for 10 cents at a local thrift store.
- Gold Glitter Glue
- Bakers Twine – 240 Yards 4 ply Cotton (Gold Metallic – Gold and Cream)
- Glue Stick
- Small plastic bathroom cup
- Small wooden beads
- Nail polish
- White liquid glue
I got my version of Mickey’s Christmas Carol from a local thrift shop. There was a fill a bag for a $1 deal – so I probably spent less than 10 cents on this book!
To make your ornament, find some text that you can use your small plastic bathroom cup as a round template to draw circles.
You will need 8 circles for each ornament.
When you have them each cut out, fold them in half. Then glue the outer side.
Attach a second folded circle to the glued side. When it stretches out, it should look like the above image.
You will continue to place glue on the outside of each half circle, and attach an additional half circle onto the ornament. You will do this until all 8 of the cut out circles are glued together in this fashion.
I believe I have about 6 of the half circles glued together in the above image.
When all 8 circles have been glued together, it is time to get out your bakers twine and liquid white glue, and glue this in the seam where all 8 circles meet when glued.
Leave enough twine to dangle at least 6″ on one end and a 12″ on the other end.
Then it is time to add some glitter glue to the edges of the pages all around the ornament. You may have to do this in sections while you let other sections dry.
I added glitter glue in three different stages and let it dry before I added more to each of the edges.
For easy bead threading, you’ll want to use some nail polish on the ends of the baker’s twine. That way it will be stiff enough for the bead to be threaded on.
Add just one bead to the 6″ side and tie a knot as close as you can to the bead. Cut off the twine and add some more nail polish to the cut portion of the twine to avoid the ends from coming apart.
*Please note that I had a section of glitter glue that got stuck and came off. I later fixed that and added more glitter glue!
The one bead is now the bottom of the ornament.
For the top of the ornament, add nail polish to the end of the 12″ tail. When that dries, thread on 3 beads.
Then tie a knot as close as you can to the beads to create a loop to hang your ornament.
Now you have an ornament that has the text of a Christmas Classic. It will be fun to show this to friends and see if they can figure out which book this ornament came from!
What do you flip at thrift stores?
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- Distressing Wood On An Old Mirror Using Unicorn Spit!
- How to Re-Decorate a Room on a Budget
- DIY Wood Tray Made From an Old Photo Frame
Other DIY Christmas Ornament Ideas You May Want To Try:
- Free Printable DIY Rustic Christmas Ornaments!
- Homemade Essential Oil Diffuser Christmas Tree Ornament
- Clear Plastic Ornament Balls – 10 Cute Ways to Use Them This Christmas
- Needle Felted DIY Essential Oil Diffuser Ornament
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