I’m always trying to think of new projects for the Historical Society of Cheshire County.

I enjoy that I am given the freedom to try to come up with “something different” as part of my volunteer work there.

Valentine’s Day is coming up.  I think of it as a fun holiday not just for your “one and only.”  It’s a good day just to remember people in your life that make a difference.  Plus, it can be a very depressing day if you don’t have a “one and only”, or you are on a budget.

Since the shop is near Keene State College, I decided to do some budget friendly flowers.

I’ve seen several videos on how to make these “book buds”, so I don’t know who to credit with the original pattern.  But they are very easy to make and I hope someone buys them, at a nice easy to afford price.  These are for anyone that loves books.

Just the basics, try the Dollar Store

First you need a BOOK.  Cutting up books is a dreadful thing, but there are enough books in the world you can find a book that is in bad shape or is headed to the trash heap.  My usual place for finding old books is the Salvation Army.

Next, you will need to visit a Dollar Store.  Craft stores are fine also, but this is a project the dollar store should do just as well. Some dollar stores even have books for sale!

I bought floral wire, ribbon, floral tape (the green stuff) and glue.  I had wire cutters, but even an old pair of scissors will do in a pinch.

Fold in half and snip….

Then you cut a long strip of the paper (you can do several pages at a time) and fold it in half.  Then you cut lines all the way down the paper.  I didn’t measure.

folding the opposite way and flattening gives a different look than leaving it with spikes

Next you can fold the paper the other way around and try to flatten out the fold.  If you leave the fold, you will have a flower with a more spiked look.  Both ways look fine.  Then you need to do a small bend in your floral wire.

Glue the long page paper a little off kilter. You don’t want both edges to line up.  If they are a little off, your flower will be fuller.  Then you just glued and turn over and over.  Within a few moments you have a flower.

Glue and turn and glue and turn

Next comes wrapping the floral tape for a nice finish.

I decided since these are “book buds”, they needed a nice book quote on a punched out heart.  Even without a punch, you can easily trace a heart or any other shape.  The internet has lots of wonderful book quotes, so I printed out some of my favorites to attach to each flower.

So many quotes about books!

The nice thing is that if you know someone that loves books, this will be the perfect gift.  It doesn’t cost much to make, but it does show you like people that like books. (who doesn’t?).

Now to just finish a lot of these for the Historical Society and hope people show up before Feb. 14th for the perfect small gift for the book lovers in their lives.