Starting a Book Lovers Book Club
How did I come to need book lover gifts? When I moved to the small hamlet in Texas, just thirty miles south of weird (Austin) I had a hard time making friends as Texans are so darn friendly, I thought everyone I met was going to be my new BFF. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but as it turned out they were just chatting. I did eventually meet people mostly through our local theatre.
As you know I am an avid reader and writer, so when I first moved here, I wanted to join a book club, but the ones that were here were very established and full. So what’s a gal to do who loves book talk? She started her own book club, and it’s been going strong for ten years now! You can check out my other post with our book club guidelines HERE and start your own club.
Book Lover Gift Ideas
Each Christmas we usually meet, discuss, and exchange small tokens of our affection for each other. This year, with Covid vaccines and testing slow to roll out, we didn’t have our Christmas gathering. Instead, we met on a warm sunny day in the new year, answered questions and shared insights on our latest read (which happened to be The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), and exchanged gifts.
Being the crafty creative I am, this year I combined home-made with available ideas for book lover gifts. At any time, there are six to ten ladies in the group, so I made sure to make ten book lover gifts. We often have visitors and one member who lives in another state but visits often enough that I consider her a regular member.
I also usually substitute teach, but have been out of work for quite a long time so money was/is tighter than usual as well. I thought I’d share my easy, pleasing book lover gift ideas with my jitterbug dress readers.
Budget Idea for Book Lover Gifts
I purchased a set of beautiful post cards from Amazon called Bibliophilia: 100 Literary Postcards (POTTER STYLE) that I could divide into ten stacks of ten. There are other sets, like From the Desk of Jane Austen: 100 Postcards or Penguin Group USA: Postcards from Penguin, but the black and white Bibliophilia motif worked well for the second part of my gift.
Getting Crafty for Book Lover Gifts
I make a lot of hair flower clips and love to do new and interesting things with them. I recently made Totoro inspired clips for my daughter who is a big fan. So in my collection of crafts, I already had lovely black and white flowers to work with. The next thing I wanted to do was make it very apparent that these hair accessories were for book lovers.
I searched the internet for book charms and found many cool things, but for my purposes the set Once Upon A Time 3D Book Shape Antique Message Charms from Amazon worked well and would be here before the book club meeting in time to finish assembly.
You will also need on hand metal alligator hair clips. I prefer the ones that hairdressers use at Sally Beauty Supply or you can find a hundred pack on Amazon for $10.
I collect flowers from everywhere: Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, sometimes Dollar Tree, and you can usually snag them for a couple of dollars a bundle which usually has four to six flowers per bundle, making the costs anywhere from .25 to $2 a flower. And of course any crafter has their supply of glue-sticks for their glue gun.
I will let you in on a little secret. I glue every layer of the flower down right in the center so they have more strength last longer, not coming apart over time and wear. For this craft I also snipped off the loop at the top of the charm so it looked more like a button or centerpiece.
Overall Cost of Book Lover Gifts
- Postcards $20
- Charms $7
- Clips $1
- Flower $20
Round up to $50, divide by ten book lover gifts and you have $5 per lovely book lover gift! Quite affordable on a budget.
More Book Lover Gift Pix
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Do you belong to a book club? Are you still meeting in person or online? Do you give your members book lover gifts? Have you made any book lover gifts, please share a link! What is the best book lover gift you have ever received?
Tam Francis is a writer, blogger, swing dance teacher, avid vintage collector, and seamstress. She shares her love of this genre through her novels, blog, and short stories. She enjoys hearing from you, sharing ideas, forging friendships, and exchanging guest blogs. For all the Girl in the Jitterbug Dress news, give-aways, events, and excitement, make sure to join her list and like her FB page! Join my list ~ Facebook page