DIY Book Page Paper Feather Garland

How To Make Book Page Paper Feathers: using old book pages, a glue stick and a wire for a centre make beautiful feathers.

I love this time of year, and decking the halls with lots of pretty Christmas touches.  There’s nothing better than a few simple handmade additions each year.  We’ll show you how to make Book Page Paper Feathers with Gold Glitter today.  They’re perfect for Christmas as a decoration, or gift topper, or any time of year.

This month for our #12MonthsofDIY challenge we’re working with paper -check out the other 11 projects from my friends at the end of the post.  I decided to use paper book pages to make these gorgeous feathers.  They’re really simple to make,and use inexpensive, simple supplies you probably have on hand.

Book Pages

I love making paper crafts.  Paper is such a versatile craft supply, it’s inexpensive and easy to access.  We used book page paper for our this project.  I love using the pages of old books in crafting.  Some people really don’t like the idea of using books in crafting.  They don’t like the idea or damaging books, even if they’re old.  Unfortunately lots of old books end up in landfill. Finding ways to upcycle old books that might end up in the garbage is a great way to reduce them.  Obviously we’re not using new books for this purpose.  Look for old books at garage sales, and thrift stores that are perfect to use in crafting, and give a second life to.

As an alternative to the book pages you could also use regular paper in different colors, or scrapbook paper.  I think paper works better here than cardstock, because the feathers will be double thick with two pieces of paper and the cardstock paper would be too thick.  We want a light and feathery effect, which paper will work better to create.

The Glue

We choose to use a glue stick for this simple craft.  This works really well.  It’s nice and sticky, but works great on paper, without the worry of wrinkling the paper  like white glue can sometimes because of its high moisture content.  This isn’t the time to use hot glue.  It’s too thick for this craft. It would add to much bulk, and it would be difficult to cut through when it’s time to cut the fringe.

The Wire

We used a white craft wire, that came in long pieces.  Use wire cutters to trim the wire, so that you don’t damage your scissors.  You want a wire that’s thick enough to hold the shape of the feather easily, but thin enough that it’s easy to work with, bend, and cut through.  I was a big fan of how the white color of wire worked with the book pages, but most colors of wire would be fine.  It’s just a matter of your personal preference.

Materials:

• • • old books
    • glue stick
    • wire
    • scissors
    • glitter

How To Make Book Page Paper Feathers:

Creating The Feather

We started by ripping a few pages out of an old book.  The size of your book will help determine the size of your feather.  We made the top of our feathers about 3-4 inches long.

Next we positioned a wire on the sheet of paper and then glued another piece of paper on top to make a make a wire sandwich.  This wire will be the spine of the feather we’re creating.  Our wire was about 6-7 inches long.

Creating The Feather Shape

Using scissors, cut the paper into the shape of a feather, with the wire as the centre of the feather, and the wire coming out at the bottom of the feather.  Some natural variation between each of the individual feathers is great, because it looks more authentic.  You want to roughly create a long leaf shape.  You may want to look at  some real feathers as inspiration for the shape of the feather your cutting out.

Cutting The Fringe

Next, cut out a few notches in the side of the feather.  Then cut the feather like a fringe with narrow strips, and on a slight angle like real feathers.  The wire ensures that you can’t cut too far, and makes this step much easier than without a wire.

Next, after the glue on the paper feather craft has dried a little, ruffle up the fringe slightly to give the feather some dimension.  Just very slightly crumbling up the sides of the feather really helps make the look of the feathers be a little more realistic, and interesting. 

Glitter

Lastly, an optional step, is to add glitter to the book page feathers.  Add some glitter to just the tips of the feather.  We used gold glitter in two different sizes, first a regular craft glitter and secondly a slightly larger glitter.  The combination of the two adds lots of interest and Christmas sparkle,  You could use any colors of glitter you like, to match your decor.  A brown glitter would work really well with the book pages too.  

If you’re using your feathers for something other than Christmas or want a more natural look, feel free to skip the glitter.

I love the look of these pretty little feathers, all dressed up for the holidays with a little glitter.  I made a pretty little paper feather garland with my book page paper feathers, and also used a few with a little holiday nest.  These would be really cute as a gift topper too, or as ornaments on a Christmas tree in your living room.  You could use them for lots of other occasions other than Christmas.  They’d be a great addition to a woodland or forest themed birthday party, wedding shower, or baby shower.  

More Ideas for Paper Feathers

I love the look of glitter for the holidays.  And you can use different colors of glitter to create different looks.  We used book pages for our feathers and it adds lots of beautiful texture and interest.  Another option would be to use colored paper for your feathers.  Or add a little color to the bookpage feathers by using watercolours to add some color to them.  It would be great on the tip of the feather, just be sure to paint both sides of the feather so that it doesn’t curl as it dries.  This would be great to tie into the color scheme of a birthday party  or baby shower if you were using these as party decor.

These paper feathers take just a few simple steps.  They’re inexpensive and easy to create, and they look so cute.  String them together into a garland or use them individually in your decor.

With Book Page Paper Feathers, life really is a party!

More Paper DiY Project Inspiration

Now it’s time to see the rest of the DIY PAPER project ideas from my Canadian blogging friends.

From the top left, they are:

Free Love Peace Joy Christmas Printable from Sustain My Craft Habit

Silver Leaf Paper Trees for Christmas Tabletop Decor from The DIY Mommy

Rustic Gift Wrap Ideas from Love Create Celebrate

Book Page Feather Garland from Life Is A Party

Deconstructed Plaid Wrapping Paper from PMQ for Two

Make 3D Paper Flower Christmas Wreaths from Time With Thea

How to Make a Paper Garland from Fresh Crush

Quilled Paper Snowflake from Lifeovereasy

Funny Printable Gift Tags from Brooklyn Berry Designs

DIY Linocut Print Kraft Paper Christmas Gift Wrap from Woman In Real Life

Chalkboard Paper Christmas Art from Vin’yet Etc.

Floral & Paper Decoupage Girl Power Mirror from Heather in Heels

 

You might also like our Wood Feather Ornament tutorial here.

Also check out our DIY Macrame Feathers here.

You might also like our Leather And Gold Leaf Feather Necklace here.