Santa Got Run Over By a Pair of Fiskars

Last February when I came home from vacation with this

and book folding fever, my first task was to find a source for books to cut up. I started at antique book shops. Stupid idea because a) antique books are too pretty to cut up and b) people who own antique books know how pretty they are and charge an arm and a leg.

And then I discovered (cue celestial music):

 Until then I didn't know that Dollar Tree sold books and best of all

So about three times a week I would have lunch at Whataburger and then meander across the parking lot to Dollar Tree to see what was available that day. This goes a long way of explaining why my attic looks the way it does.

Anyway, one fine March day I marched in and found that the shelves were full of this:

I instantly fell in love with this book because it had flying reindeer on the cover...

 and on the inside great illustrations

like this

 and this

So I bought one...

ok, maybe two...

Ok, four.

But hey,

My first Santa project was to make a secret book box. By day it is an innocent copy of a holiday classic lying on a shelf.

but at night it becomes...

...a festive M&M holder!
This was one of my first experiences with scrapbook paper. And also balsa wood. I love balsa wood. It's so easy to work with, it makes me feel like a master carpenter.

My next project was to make the bookmobile that was on the front of The Repurposed Library. It was a fight between me and the hot glue gun the entire night, and although the glue gun won several battles, I won the war. 

 For someone without an artistic bone in her body, I found this to be a fun project. I liked choosing where to put the loops and where to add a little fanfare. I decided to make one whole section out of the illustrations which ended up looking really cool.

Now I'm left with these...

 

I've been thinking about using one of them to make a wreath. I'll use regular pages for the outer circle and the illustrated pages for the inner circle. But that leaves me with one more.

It's too little to really fold a word or make a vase. Ideas anyone?