Literary Origami – Book Fold Trees

Some people won’t dog-ear the pages… Favorite books should be naked, faded, torn, their pages spilling out. Love them like a friend, or at least a favorite toy. Let them wrinkle and age along with you.
– Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin –

Book Folding – ‘dog-earing’ taken to the extreme…

This folded book tree is a full circle. To prepare this book for folding, the two covers and spine cover are torn off.  Break the spine (ouch!) in numerous places to make it easier to form the folded book into a circle. Use a glue gun to join the spine edges together when the folding is complete. Glue on a ‘trunk’ – or not. It will stand by itself either way.

This book tree is a half circle. Leave the covers on. Break the spine in lots of places to make folding easier. If you want this book to stand on its own, then don’t glue on a ‘trunk’. I glued on a trunk and some buttons – I’ve hung it on a wall using a plate hanger.

Step by Step Instructions: (these show a book without a cover.)

Step 1 – Fold 1: Top right corner of the page folded to the middle of the book. Use a bone folder or back of a spoon to make the folds crisp.

Step 2 – Fold 2: Right side of the page folded to the middle.

Step 3 – Crease 1: this is a crease at the bottom of the page to mark where the folded page hangs down below the bottom edge of the book.

Step 4 – Fold 3: Unfold Fold 2 and fold the crease up that you made in Step 3

Step 5 – Refold Fold 2 with Fold 3 tucked under. Use clothes pegs or some other large clip to hold the folded pages out of the way.

This is what your tree looks like after the first few pages are folded. As you fold more pages, keep pressing the book open along the spine so that all folds align the same with the spine.

Decorating

Go Wild! The Full Circle Tree: I glued a bow onto the top and a ‘trunk’ cut from a small branch of a tree to the bottom. The Half Circle Tree – I glued a heavy Christmas paper to the inside of the covers. I added a bow to the top and a trunk to the bottom. I tied some crochet cotton onto buttons to make the bows, then glued them onto the tree.

All my other Literary Origami Posts are at Book Fold.

My other Book Fold Projects

Skull

Goth Girl

Decorated ‘M’

Angles

Paw Print

Angel

Cat Paw Print