{create} book *snowflakes*

A couple weekends ago, Chris and I fled to the coast to relax before the upcoming holiday craziness began. We don't have cable at home, but our beach house does have cable. So while we're there, we catch up on as much HGTV as possible. That weekend, Emily Henderson's holiday special was airing. And friends, it was amazing. So, so, so inspiring. I think it's coming on again soon, so make sure to catch it if you can.

One of the crafts she made for the episode was flowers/snowflakes out of old books. I LOVE them. They're so very Anthropologie-ish. I went online to see how she did it, but I couldn't find a tutorial - or even photos - anywhere. I wanted to incorporate them into our holiday/winter decor, so I set about recreating them this weekend. And took pictures, just in case you all are interested in creating a few. :)

Gather up a few old books. I actually went to Goodwill and bought a few random, super cheap books. I apologize to any Koontz fans out there ... I'm sure his books are amazing. But, I prefer them in flower form :).

Then you do the unthinkable ... you break the spine. Gasp! In a couple different places. You need the spine to easily form a circle.

Sorry about the totally creepy finger photo! Ugh!

Then gather up a bunch of pages to form the first *petal*, and fold them into the book. Play around with the amount ... it will totally depend on how thick you want your petals. If you gather too many, it'll be harder to glue. Add a couple spots of hot glue to the page where you're folding into.

Keep moving through the book, folding pages inward and gluing until you have a flower!

The one part that tripped me up with the cover. I recommend removing it before you get started. Or, when you get to having only the cover left, cut the pages way down and glue together.

Which will look like this.

Once you have a bunch made, they look really beautiful in a grouping. Clearly, they look more like flowers, but Chris keeps calling them snowflakes, which is adorable. And fitting for this time of year! So, that is how you make holiday snowflakes.

And, here is how they look in our decor. See more of them here.

Did you make any holiday crafts this weekend? Have you ever destroyed a book in the name of crafting and decor? I felt a little weird doing it, but I love how they turned out :).

Update 12/12: I'm linking this post up at Centsational Girl's holiday craft party. Pop over to check out all the amazing crafts!