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We are almost done with our PCS to Hawaii and there are just a few boxes left to unpack. There are 7 boxes of books and 2 boxes of decor that all belong on our bookshelves.
Our house in Texas had big built-in shelves that stored our books and displayed some of our favorite decor (mostly flea market finds and plants). The new Hawaii house doesn’t have any built-ins, but we plan to install open shelving in the living room.
Until then, the boxes of books and decor are just hanging out in random corners.
Or they were…until I decided to build a book tree! I mean it’s Christmas and I might as well display the books until we can get the new shelves built…right?
A quick look around the blog will tell you that I am obsessed with bookish Christmas trees. I made an inspiration post with 23 Bookmas Tree Ideas and last year I crafted DIY Bookish Christmas Ornaments out of vintage book paper. So, it only seems natural that I should make my own Bookmas Tree this year!
Here’s how to make a book tree (or a Christmas tree out of books):
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Step 1: Sort Your Books
You’ll need to sort your books according to 2 categories: thickness and length.
To make each layer of your book tree as stable as possible, you’ll first want to sort your books according to their thickness. As I was unpacking each box of books, I stacked the books according to their thickness.
The second thing you have to keep in mind when sorting the books is their length.
In each thickness section, I placed ‘regular-sized’ books in the front stack and the smaller mass-market paperbacks in a stack behind them.
Step 2: Make the Base
After your books are sorted, it’s time to make the base of the book tree.
I started by laying down a blanket. It would probably look better with a tree skirt, but I didn’t have an extra.
Then I put down my first layer of books. This took some trial and error. Originally, I wanted to use the big illustrated Harry Potter books as the base, but the gaps between the books were too big for my regular-sized books to bridge.
Instead, I used 7 of my husband’s Warhammer books to make a nice uniform first layer. I wasn’t sure how wide to make the base and honestly, it depends on how many books you have/want to use and how tall you want your tree to be. (I ended up not using all of our books and I could have made my base wider. So, now I’ll know for next year.)
Also, I chose to face the spines of my books inwards, so that the pages would show. This gives the book tree a more uniform look. Some people choose to face the spines outwards, which would give the tree more color, but it’s up to you.
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Step 3: Add Layers
After your base is ready, start adding layers and building up your book tree. The books in each layer should all come from the same ‘thickness’ stack that you sorted to keep the layers as level as possible.
As the book layers go up, they should also start tapering in to create a cone shape.
You want the base layers to be as solid as possible so that your stack doesn’t wobble and fall as it gets taller. So, I added books to the inside of my base for extra stability.
Every so often, step back from the tree and make sure that it’s not starting to lean to one side. Mine did that and I had to shift things around.
Eventually, you’ll get to the point that there are only 3 books in each layer making a triangle on the top.
This was when I switched from ‘regular-sized’ books to smaller mass-market paperback books.
Step 4: Make the Top of Your Tree
Making the top of the book tree was the trickiest part.
Once I reached a point where I could only fit 2 mass market paperbacks on the top of the stack, I started a stack of single books.
I alternated the direction that I laid each of these books to give the stack of singles some dimension. I also made sure to keep the pages, instead of the spines, facing outwards.
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Step 5: Add a Tree Topper and Lights
After the book tree was complete, I added a strand of Christmas lights and some ornaments.
Since I didn’t put up my bookish Christmas tree this year, I used the angel on this book tree.
I’m so happy with how my book tree turned out! I still had 3 boxes of books left and could have made it even taller, but I didn’t have the energy to take this down and start over.
I’m not sure I would do this every year, but since the books were in boxes anyway it was a good way to get them unpacked.
Stay tuned to see how we build bookshelves in our new house!
