Book Page Paper Rosette Christmas Tree

Book pages from non-precious books are such a great crafting item! I always have a ton lying around and I hate to just Book Page Paper Rosette Christmas Tree recycle them. This book page paper rosette Christmas tree is a fun way to use those book pages and create some fun holiday decor! While we glued these together, this could be kept unglued at the top to take a part for year to year storage. We give a little tip on that at the end of the post.

Two DIY Christmas trees made from folded book pages, stacked wooden beads, and glittery toppers on a wooden tray.

Supplies for This Project

-Old book pages or scrapbook paper

-Dowel rod 6″-12″ inches tall depending in how tall you would like your tree. We used a 1/8″ diameter dowel rod

-Large beads with a large opening that fit over the towel rod . Macrame beads work well for this.

-Craft wood base 3″ across

-glitter

-White craft glue

-Scissors

-Open top ornament or top embellishment

-Optional 2 inch paper punch and small notebook-size paper punch

Hands assembling a small wooden craft piece consisting of a circular disc, a wooden bead, and a dowel.

Create the Base for The Rosette Tree

To create the base of the rosette Christmas tree, glue one of the beads to the center with glue. Once the glue is dry, add glue inside of the bead and stick the dowel rod inside. It should stand upright. If it doesn’t stand completely upright, use a piece of craft tape to hold it in place. Let it dry.

Hands using a circular craft punch to cut a shape out of a page of printed book text.

Cut Top and Bottom Circles

Cut out the circles for the top and bottom of the rosettes start by cutting out the circles 2″ in diameter. The paper punch can be used, or just cut with scissors. These will hold the rosettes together. After cutting out, fold in half, and punch a circle in the center by folding it in half and punching in the middle or snipping a small circle in the center.

Hands using a hole punch on a circular cutout of printed book page.

This will be the place they are threaded onto the dowel rod. Once punched and the hole cut, add some tacky glue to the top of these and set them aside so the tacky glue gets tackier as it sits.

A person applies glue from a stick onto the corner of a piece of paper printed with text.

Accordion Fold the Book Pages

Create the accordion and fold the paper for the rosettes. For the largest rosette take 3 book pages approximately 5 inches across and glue the ends together to make a strip of paper approximately 18 inches long.. Once these are glued together, start a full accordion folding by folding over the bottom edge and then continuing to folding back-and-forth until the paper is completely folded top to bottom. At that point, glue the two ends of the folded paper together, so it creates a circle of accordion folds.

A hand fans out the accordion-folded pages of a book to create a circular ornament.

Create the Rosette

Rosettes are fun to make and can be used for so many projects! You can see how we made a Halloween rosette garland here. Before moving onto this part, pull one of the circles with the hols punched in the center that have glue on them , they’ll be needed in a minute. To create the rosette, stand the accordion folded circle upright and push down gently in the center.

Hands shaping a pleated paper ring made from book pages on a wooden work surface.

They should bring all of the folds together to create a base for your rosette. You might have to push a few of the folds into place. When all of the folds are pushed together and it is in a circle, there should be a hole in the middle.

Hands folding pages of an old book into a circular fan shape on a wooden table.

Lift it gently and place it on one of these small circles with the whole punched in the center and line up the holes. Press down on the glue. You may need to hold it a few minutes to get it to stay in place. Add more glue if needed. Grab a second circle with glue and press it on the top, sandwiching the rosette between the two glue circles. This will help it keep it’s shape. Set aside to dry.

A hand holding a circular fan crafted from folded book pages, with a smaller paper rosette resting on a wooden surface below.

Create More Rosettes of Different Sizes.

To create roses different sizes will depend on the width of your paper. Reduce the width by cutting paper pages down on the side by an 1/8th of an inch each time, but keeping it the same length. The rosettes will be come tighter the smaller they get. if they are too right, the length can be reduced by trimming off some paper. Repeat this until you reach the amount of rosettes you desire for your tree.

Hand holding a folded paper rosette made from recycled book pages.

Glitter the Edge of the Rosettes

Brush the edges of each rosette with white tacky glue, and then glitter the edge. While you can sprinkle the glitter over the edges over a piece of paper, we found it was easier to sprinkle a little bit of the glitter on a paper and then roll each rosette through the glitter. Let dry.

A craft ornament made of folded book pages sits next to a trail of gold glitter on a white surface.

Assemble the Rosette Tree

Once all of your rosettes are created, add glue to the base of your form and then add glue in the first beads. Once the first bead is glued down, add glue to the top of that and then carefully place the first rosette over the top of the dowel rod and gently move it down until it reaches the top of the bead with glue.

Hands assembling a tiered craft tree made from pleated, circular sheets of printed book pages on a wooden spindle.

Add the next bead on top and repeat with each layer until you get to the very top of the rosette tree. Always be mindful of where the top of the dowel rod is to avoid poking yourself as you push down each section.

A hand using a glue bottle to attach a wooden bead to a tiered tree made of folded book pages.

Top off the Tree

Once the very top bead is placed at the top of the down rod add either an open and an ornament a bow or some kind of decoration to finish off the top of the tree. Let the glue completely dry.

Hands assembling a tabletop Christmas tree ornament made of stacked wooden beads and folded paper pages.

A hand pours gold glitter onto a small, round green ornament held on a metal rod.

To Make the Tree Collapsible for Storage

Instead of using glue to assemble the tree, put the tree together and once it’s assembled wrap a rubber band multiple times around the top to hold everything in place.

Two decorative Christmas trees handmade from folded book pages, featuring wood and glittery gold ball accents.

These are so darn cute and fun to make and display! Rosette trees can be made with colorful scrapbook paper for a fun whimsical look as well or as tall or short as desired to create a paper tree forest! Just make sure to keep away from direct flame, heat, small kids and pets as they could be a choking hazard.