Mini Book Ornament

I had been seeing photos of these adorable clear ball ornaments filled with mini books and decided I wanted to make one for myself. I got a couple of people on board with me, and we had so much fun choosing which books to include.  

I've seen people fill an ornament with books read in a specific year. I decided to include some of my all-time favorites.

My husband is a huge fan of all things Stephen King. He owns and has read every book King has written, so he created an ornament filled with King mini books.

I started thinking about how this could also be used as a reader's advisory tool. Could you create an ornament around a certain genre and then have kids shake the ornament (like a Magic 8 ball) and choose a book based on the covers they see in the ornament? It could be fun.

You could also fill the ornament with other things besides book covers. It could be family photos, album covers, movie posters, Playbills or programs from plays and musicals you've seen or performed in--the possibilities are endless!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN
I formatted my book covers to be 1" tall in a Word document and used the instructions provided in this YouTube tutorial.  I purchased the clear plastic ornaments from Michael's and scored a great deal: buy 1, get 3 free!  The foam came from Hobby Lobby at $.99 per sheet, and we already had Mod Podge and brushes. This would be fun to do as a library staff, as a craft for a book club, or for family and friends.