Vintage Book Tree

In today’s post: Learn how to turn thrifted hardback books into a gorgeous vintage book tree for Christmas! This is an easy Christmas craft for adults you can complete in under an hour.

Easy Christmas Decor Idea

I saw this idea from designed.to.love and I knew it needed to be my next Christmas DIY! It’s the perfect addition to my holiday decor. It took a little trial and error to figure out the easiest way to put the book Christmas tree together – including figuring out what the trunk of the tree should be. I wasn’t sure if it would be stable enough just stacked or if I’d have to somehow glue the books together…luckily I figured out how to make it without damaging the books in any way!

Thrifted Book Christmas Craft

I’m calling this a “vintage book tree” but many of the books I used are not actually vintage, because old books can be very expensive. So instead I headed to my local thrift store looking for hardback books that would work – and I couldn’t believe how many people stopped me in the store to comment once they saw what I was doing. The books you see in my finished tree were each around $2 or $3. Here’s what you want to look for at the thrift store:

• Look for hardback books with green covers. I kept my eye out for books that looked old, but mixing in newer books works too. I also grabbed a few books in red and one each in gold and white because I liked the color variation, but you can stick with all green if you prefer.
• It’s nice if you can find some books that look darker on the top edge of the pages to add variety. I ruled out books that had super bright white pages because they looked too new.
• I originally thought I’d need books that get gradually smaller in size, but it actually looks best with books that are similar in size, although it’s ok if they vary a bit (first photo below).
• Try to find 11 or 12 hardback books for your tree. Tip them sideways with the spines facing up and line them up according to height (second photo below).

Supplies

Here’s everything you’ll need to make a vintage book Christmas tree:

• About a dozen hardback books: check thrift stores, garage sales, and library book sales for vintage books or vintage looking books.
• Two sturdy candle holders with square tops or bottoms: I used these stoneware candle pedestals from Dollar Tree. They are perfect because the bottoms of them are square, not round. I flipped them over so the books can stack on the square edges, making the tree MUCH more stable. I used black ones.
• Metallic Paint: this is optional but makes the candle holders look a little fancier. I used an acrylic paint because it’s so much cheaper than spray paint. You can use a cheap foam paintbrush.
• Various Ribbons and Trims: You can use whatever ribbons and trims you like to decorate your tree. I used a copper color ribbon, a tan ribbon, a cream crochet look ribbon, a narrow gold trim, some berry trim, and a few small pieces of faux evergreen. You’ll want about a yard and a half each of the ribbons that will be tied into a bow and a yard each of other trims. You could even add different toppers, like a small star, if desired.
• Glue Dots: you’ll also need some sort of adhesive for the decorations. I found glue dots to be the easiest thing here, although you can use hot glue if you’d like (just realize that decorations will be permanently adhered if you do).

How to Make a Vintage Book Tree

Paint the Candle Holders

I started with black stoneware candle pedestals, but painted them so they’d look fancier. I used a bronze metallic acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby and applied light coats with a foam paintbrush. The first candle holder below has two coats of paint, while the second one has three coats. It looks nice if a little of the black shows through the metallic paint so don’t worry about getting complete coverage. You can also sand the candle holders once painted to let more of the black show through. A hair dryer can be used to speed the dry time in between each coat. *This step is optional.*

Make a Ribbon Bow

While the candle holders are drying, you can work on your ribbon bow that will decorate the tree. I placed two ribbons together and tied them in a bow with long tails. Then I took the other trims I was using and slid them through the knot, some in front of the bow and some behind.

Stack the Books

Once the candle holders are completely dry, you can begin assembling the tree. Place the candle holders on a table, one in front of the other, with the square side up. Take your first book and open it halfway through, then lay it on top of the candle holders making an inverted V, as shown below.

Decorate

Now it’s time to decorate. I used a glue dot to attach the ribbon bow at the top of the tree. I also attached a few faux greenery branches behind the ribbon with glue dots. Then you can trim the ribbons to different lengths. Once you like how it looks, your vintage book tree is complete! If you need to move it, pick it up holding one candle pedestal in each hand and move it to a new location, then adjust if needed to make sure it’s still centered.