LAURINBURG— Santa’s elves have been busy creating a book-themed Christmas display at the DeTamble Library on the St. Andrews University campus.

“We always put up a Christmas tree, but this year we wanted to do something different,” said Mary McDonald, Library Director. McDonald used Google to find images of library decorations. “The book tree got me first,” McDonald said. “Then I saw ornaments made from cut-up pages.”

Diane Hanke, Library Office and Technology Manager, and Louise Mabry, Library Project Manager, assembled the book tree using red and green bound periodicals. Hanke and Mabry made several trips with book carts to bring the bound periodicals from the second floor to the lobby where the tree is displayed.

“The bound periodicals are in sets, which made it easier,” said Mabry. “We didn’t have to look all over the library for red and green books.”

The tree topper is a discarded book with pages folded into the shape of a tree with a paper star.

Mabry and Hanke spent two weeks making ornaments, including paper chains, orbs, stars, and angels, from discarded book pages. Those ornaments adorn a traditional tree on the first floor. “A hot glue gun is my favorite tool,” Hanke said.

In addition to the ornaments, Hanke, who has “always been crafty,” fashioned a star burst wreath from sheet music pages rolled into cones. The centerpiece of the wreath is a laser-cut wooden St. Andrews ornament Bill Blackwell created. Blackwell’s wife Elise Williams Blackwell graduated from Flora Macdonald College in 1958 and was an active member of the St. Andrews alumni council for many years.

“I like to repurpose things,” McDonald said. “It cost us nothing to make the book tree and ornaments. All we needed was glue and tape.”

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Books offerunique decor

By Beth Copeland

For The Exchange

Beth Copeland works in public communications for St. Andrews University