Valentine's Day: Crafts with Book Pages

I love collecting books.  The idea of getting lost in the pages of a wonderful story and living alongside the characters is an enchantment and a favorite pasttime of mine. 

Another way to 'bring the pages of a book to life' is to turn them into visual masterpieces to be shared with all, as they grace an entry way or the library wall.  Valentine's Day is a beautiful, sentimental holiday to make crafts from book pages.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Heart Punch Art by Cozy.Cottage.Cute.   Simple. Sweet. Spectacular.  Use a heart shaped punch, pop dots and a matted frame to create this one of a kind book page artwork.

Valentine Book Wreath by Flower Patch Farmgirl.  With a 3d aspect, the book page hearts leap off the wreath with a flutter. 

Heart Mobile by MaisyandAlice.  Beautiful draping for a book shelf or mantel.


You may also be interested in Februray Read alouds for families:

12 Months of Books Series: January Read-Alouds

Book ideas for the month of January. 
What a wonderful month to snuggle under a blanket with your family to enjoy these 10 read-alouds.

Short and Sweet Books


The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats - A young one's snow adventure.

The Hat by Jan Brett -  Silly animals wearing magnificent hats.

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs - Wordless book for all ages.  "Wonderful winter adventure shared by a little boy and a snowman".

White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt - How folks in a small town go about their day in a snow storm.  Delightful picture of a time gone by.

Caps, Hats, Socks and Mittens A Book about the Four Seasons by Lousie Borden - Short reminders about the best things of every season. 

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen - Father child night time adventure.


Short and Sweet Books with Activities



Big Tracks, Little Tracks Following Animal Prints by Millicent E. Selsam - Let's Read and Find Out Science book.

Winter, Exploring Nature Around the Year by David Webster - Winter experiments around the sun, snow, birds, trees/cones/leaves and  creating a nature museum.


Little bit longer Books



Bertam's Trip to the North Pole by Paul T. Gilbert - Adventure story.  This book is out of print - but may be available at a living books library near you.

The Winter at Valley Forge by F. Van Wyck Mason - An incredible look at the ugly, frozen reality the soldiers faced that long winter.  As a family read aloud, in the comforts of your own home, discussion may lean towards sacrifice, honor and human nature.

Do you have any favorite winter read-alouds?

Other posts in this series:

February

Why read 'old' books?

Recently a few librarian friends were discussing the 'language' in some of our older books.  Permeating the discussion was the "political correctness" of some terms and the comfort level of using these books much less recommending them.  As a post note to the conversation, one librarian passed on this excerpt from the C. S. Lewis essay: "On the Reading of Old Books".

"Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. All contemporary writers share to some extent and contemporary outlook- even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it... We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century- the blindness about which posterity will ask, "But how could they have thought that?" - lies where we have never suspected it, and concerns something about which there is untroubled agreement between Hitler and President Roosevelt or between Mr. H. G. Wells and Karl Barth. None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books."