This blog post is sponsored by Cricut and the text contains affiliate links. All opinions, content, and ideas are my own.
Make some adorable book-themed baby shower decorations with card stock, string, and your Cricut machine! This is a very easy and inexpensive Cricut project to make.
I recently had the chance to plan a baby shower for a friend of mine, and it was fun to bust out my Cricut and make the baby shower decorations. I love any excuse to celebrate, but especially baby showers. The Cricut Maker is my favorite craft tool because it's really easy to use and the possibilities for what you can create are truly endless.
Something I didn't know before I actually started using my Cricut machine is that the Design Space software that you use to create Cricut projects has TONS of designs to choose from. So, you don't have to go searching all over the internet to find a specific kind of file or be a graphic designer. Just browse the projects gallery in Design Space and choose a ready-to-make project and then follow directions. There are easy ways to search too, so you can simply search 'baby shower decorations' and lots of beautiful ideas will come up. It's glorious!
Side note: Don't have a Cricut yet? Need some Cricut materials? Get 10% off with discount code PRETTYPROVIDENCE10 on Cricut.com
Book Baby Shower Decorations
One of my favorite baby shower themes is BOOKS. I think book baby showers are awesome because
- A lot of young families appreciate their little libraries started.
- It's so fun to hear what children's books other people love and why they mean a lot to them.
I think that talking about books can be an awesome icebreaker because almost everyone has at least *one* book that they love! So, when I saw that Cricut had a mini book banner design as one of their ready-to-make projects, I knew it was meant to be.
In the past, we have shared some other really fun baby shower ideas like this Hot Air Balloon Baby Shower, our 'Ready to Pop' Baby Shower, and an especially fitting one to go along with this post: Where the Wild Things Are Baby Shower. Browse ALL of the ideas on our baby shower ideas page.
How to Make the Mini Book Banner with Cricut
Equipment
- Cricut Maker 3 (or any Cricut machine)
- LightGrip Mat
- Single Scoring Wheel
- Cricut TrueControl Knife (optional)
- Hole Punch
- Glue Gun
Materials
Instructions for Mini Book Banner Baby Shower Decorations
First, you are going to open up Cricut Design Space and find the mini book banner design. Click here to find the design. You can customize the design if you want to make the books different sizes, or cut more than one book at a time. I made a version of the design that allowed me to cut 4 book covers at once to make the most of my time and materials. Here is that design in Design Space.
Once the design is opened and you are ready to cut, you will put a piece of colored card stock on one light grip mat, and a piece of cream card stock on another light grip mat.
Cut Paper with Cricut Machine
- Follow the prompts in Design Space to cut a mini book cover from the colored cardstock.
- Follow the prompts in Design Space to cut the book pages from the ivory cardstock.
- Remove the cardstock pieces from the mats and repeat the process until you have cut the number of books you want for your banner.
- Fold the pages along the scoring lines, accordion style.
Assemble Book Banner
5. Get three of the accordion-folded cream book pages together. Use hot glue to glue the folds of the pages together to look like book pages, using all three folded page pieces.
6. Use hot glue to stick the endpapers of the folded book interior onto the inside covers made from cardstock.
7. Make a hole in the corner of each book and string the books onto the twine.
8. Make as many books as you want in the colors you choose.
I just used a regular hole punch to make the holes for these books.
After I assembled the books, I couldn't wait to hang up the banner! I'm not sure there's ever been cuter baby shower decorations than this mini-book banner.
I made a total of 16 books and strung 8 on each banner. Check back next week for the tutorial to make this super easy 'Your Story is Just Beginning' sign I made. I used another Ready-to-Make Cricut Design, I just did it a different way than they did.
If you make this mini book banner for your book baby shower (or another book-themed party) please leave us a comment and a positive review! They mean a lot to us!
Mini Book Banner
Video
Equipment
- Cricut TrueControl Knife
- Yarn or String (10' (3 m))
- Hole Punch
Materials
Instructions
- Open up Cricut Design Space and open the mini book banner design. See notes section for a link to the designs.
- Put a piece of colored card stock on one light grip mat, and a piece of cream card stock on another light grip mat. Have a scoring wheel and a fine-point blade ready.
Cut Paper with Cricut Machine
- If you want to edit the project or make the books a different size, select Customize, then use the tools in the Edit panel to make changes before you cut.
- Follow the prompts in Design Space to cut and score the book pieces from the cardstock.
- Insert the single scoring wheel when prompted.
- Remove the cardstock pieces from the mats and repeat the process until you have cut the number of books you want for your banner.
- Fold the pages along the scoring lines, accordion style.
Assemble Book Banner
- Use hot glue to stick the folds of the pages together to look like book pages, using all three folded page pieces.
- Use hot glue to glue the end papers of the folded book interior onto the inside covers made from cardstock.
- Using a hole punch make a hole in the corner of each book, then string books onto the twine.
- Make as many books as you like for your banner, in assorted colors!
Notes
Sharina
I had so much fun decorating my Sister's baby shower with this guide! It turned out soooo stunning, everyone was amazed!
Jessica
So glad you liked it! Thanks Sharina.
April
This is super cute! I absolutely adore this idea, I almost want another baby just so I can do this for myself, lol
Olivia
Thank you for sharing this fun and cute banner! I made it for my sister's baby shower and she absolutely loved it!!
Jessica
You have outdone yourself Sarah!!! It looks amazing.