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red book stack with lace and flowers
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Valentine's DIY Decorative Book Stacks (with vintage doilies)

Prep Time20 minutes
Active Time0 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time40 minutes

Materials

  • 3 red hard-covered books
  • 1 red craft paint
  • 1 paint brush
  • 3 vintage doilies
  • 1 hot glue gun / glue sticks
  • 1 roll of chiffon ribbon
  • 1 sprig of faux hydrangea (sprig = small cluster)
  • 1 sprig of greenery (sprig = small cluster)

Instructions

  • Collect 3 red hard-covered books that are similar in size but not exact. You want the 3 books to create a pyramid once they are stacked.
    red hard covered books in a pile
  • With craft paint and a paint brush apply 2 coats of matching red paint to the book spine. Repeat for all the books. This will cover the title of the books and result in a cleaner looking book stack. You may skip this step.
    paint brush with red paint on the spine of the books to cover the name of the book
  • Let the paint on the books dry for 30 minutes or until dry to the touch.
    painted books drying
  • Lay out how you plan to stack the books. The largest will be the base, the smallest on the top.
    3 books stacked to plan sizes for the book stack.
  • With your hot glue gun, glue the vintage doily to the spine of the book. First glue the center of the doily to the center of the spine of the book. You can do this by applying the hot glue to the book then carefully laying the doily in place. Then move to the outside edges of the doily and tack them down with the hot glue.
    glueing the doily on the spine of the book. the doily is a vintage crocheted round doily.
  • Repeat this process for all three books.
    3 books each with a doily glued onto the spine of the book.
  • Stack your books to make sure they sit well. Again largest on the bottom, smallest on the top.
    another view of the book spines with doilies glued in place.
  • Between each layer of books add some glue to secure the books together. You want to match the center of each book and layer right on top. Pyramid style!
    adding glue to the top of the book to glue the 3 books to each other. this keeps the books from sliding.
  • Next take the chiffon ribbon and run a piece under the bottom of the book and wrap the book stack with one layer of ribbon. Then cut the ends where they meet.
    wrapping the book stack with chiffon ribbon and using scissors to cut the ribbon once its wrapped.
  • With your hot glue gun add a dab of glue to secure the two ends of the ribbon. Do not be concerned that you can see the glue, it will be covered with flowers.
    using the gluegun, drop some glue to connect the ends of the ribbon.
  • To create ribbon tails cut strips of ribbon the size of the top book and lay diagonally. Adhere with a dab of glue.
    placing a cut strip of chiffon ribbon and laying it diagonally across the top of the book.
  • Repeat the step above by laying a same size strip of ribbon in the opposite direction. Then begin gluing some sprigs of greenery stemming from the center of the ribbon.
    adding a second piece of ribbon diagonally across the top and adding some greens.
  • Add a few more sprigs of greenery starting from the center but heading in various directions. You want the greenery to extend beyond the hydrangea blooms. Then take a cluster of hydrangea and add glue to the stems and press the cluster into the center of the book. Hold in place until glue adheres.
    red book stack with lace and flowers
  • If needed cut individual hydrangea blooms and glue around the cluster to fill in.
    filling in with individual hydrangea blooms.
  • Next to create the illusion of a bow, cut 3 pieces of the chiffon ribbon in 4" strips.
    3 small strips laid on the counter. these will be folded in 1/2 and glued to make faux ribbon loops.
  • Add a dab of glue to the end of each strip.
    glueing the small ribbon strips together.
  • Pinch the end where the glue is (carefully!) so the loop will "puff".
    pinching the base of the loop.
  • With your glue gun, add another dab to the pinched end and place the loop in with the hydrangeas. Repeat for all 3 loops.
    a photo of the the faux loops in with the hydrangea
  • For the final step, with scissors cut the ribbon tails at an angle to complete the project.
    scissors cutting the tails of the ribbon at an angle.

Notes

This blog post shows 3 different book stack styles. To make the lace only stacks you simply omit the doilies and follow the rest of the directions.