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A French-Inspired Garden and Home by Judith Stringham

Christmas Eiffel Tower Book Covers

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Have you ever been to France and 
tried to buy Noël (Christmas) themed 
books, cards, or postcards? 

One late September, early October 
I was in Paris and tried to find 
Noël-themed items. 

No luck. 

Sales clerks looked at me quizzically, 
with a puzzled look that said, 
"Don't you know it is not Noël season?" 
They tsked, tsked as they shook their heads 
and said, "No, we do not have any Noël 
__________ (insert children's books, 
postcards, greeting cards)." 

So, what's a French-loving, Christmas-loving, 
girl to do?


Make her own! 


Christmas Eiffel Tower 
Book Covers 

My friend, Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict
showed how she creatively covered some books 
with an Eiffel tower print.
See Debbie's excellent instructions
if you would like to cover books, also. 

Of course, I pinned her covered books to my Pinterest board called Design Ideas,  
thinking one day I'm going to cover some books like that. 
Then I discovered the Noël-themed Eiffel tower print at
the Etsy shop, Graphicals


A Noël-themed print...just what I was looking for in Paris. 



The books I used are all the same height, but vary in thickness. 
The Eiffel Tower print I used is asymmetrical, 
but works just as well as a symmetrical print. 



The white iron Eiffel Tower can either be a bookend for the books or 



the books can elevate the Tower. 



The paper used to cover the books is white craft paper from Michaels 
that has a subtle textured white-on-white striped design. 

The celery-colored twine that binds the books together for stability 
is from the Container Store. 



Instead of adding a wax seal directly to the book cover,
I created a wax seal on a piece of kitchen waxed paper and
carefully lifted it from the waxed paper after the seal was cool.

The fleur-de-lis wax seal is glued to the twine so that the seal will
not break when the twine is moved.


With the white background, the bundle of Noël-themed 
covered books still fits in with my overall decoration plan of a white Christmas. 

Will I ever find Noël-themed items in France? 
Sounds like a reason to visit Paris at Christmas. 
Or to visit Christmas markets in eastern France and 
western Germany... 
Who wants to go with me? 

~~~~~~~~~~ 
For more great handmade Christmas ideas, 
visit the 25 bloggers who are not only 
sharing their ideas, but also sharing 
HOW to make them for yourself. 

The tour is going on right now. 
So, if you missed the first couple of days, 
see the links below to get 

Handmade Christmas Inspiration. 
I am sharing on Dec. 10. 

You don't want to miss any of the fantastic ideas on the tour.