Gifts made with your own hands, with a bit of love and a touch of creativity and thoughtfulness are the best kinds of gifts anyways, right! If you have a printer at home and a bit of creative, DIY energy, you have a last-minute affordable gift. Here are some DIY projects and instant download printable ideas for you to get started!
A thoughtful, affordable, last-minute gift for book lovers? What could be better than a handmade journal? It hits the sweet spot! It’s a book you made yourself, bound with personable care – you don’t have to be an expert book-binder either, there are myriad of ways those sheets can be bound together!
Printables for Book Lovers
Printable Bookish Junk Journals
And instead of looking all over the internet for printables that you can turn into an amazing gift for the book lover in your life, I’ll hand it to you on a plate! My Enchanted Book Lover bundle has over 500 printable sheets from over a dozen printable kits! All with a book loving theme!
And I’m practically giving it away at the fraction of the original price!
Click here for the Enchanted Book Lover bundle.
Pick any of the book lover themes that you think your gift recipient would love, or mix and match, add some cozy heartfelt details that tells them that you know them and you will be sure to please!
Bonus Tips:
But if you are even shorter on time, you do not need to need to print out entire kits, you can pick out the sheets with ephemera, tags and bookmarks, envelopes and cards.
Printable Reading Journal Pages
Print out selected book review or reading log pages. There are so many to choose from! Here are some that you will find in almost every kit in the Enchanted Book Lover bundle!
📝 Include a few book recommendations or inspirational quotes on the journal, reading planner or scrapbook you just made.
✅ Reading Lists such as TBR, library books, recommended books, etc.
✅ Reading Trackers & Activities pages such as book bingos, reading logs and more.
✅ Book Analysis & Reflections such as book reviews, reading reflections and more.
✅ Personal Favorites & Covers such as favorite authors and quotes.
These also work great when included into a customized hand assembled gift basket.
Printable Bookmarks
🔖 Print the bookmarks and tags on cardstock and laminate for a polished finish.
Printable Literary Wall Art
🖼️ Make a collage of selected illustrations, quotes and add your own handwritten quote or inspirational words. Frame it for instant literary decor!
Want to go with something more classic and elegant? There are many brilliant artworks that are a book lover’s dream and totally free! You heard that right, free to obtain the digital file at least, because they are in the public domain.
It won’t cost much to print them at home or in your local print shop or online, either. A great frame might be the costliest item in this project, but you can also go with the standard frames available in stores for cheap. No need to hit the antique frames shop! But if you can find an antique looking frame at a thrift store or yard sale, they do look great!
Read More → Stunning Free Wall Art for Book Lovers
Printable Cards & Gift Tags
🎁There are many journal cards and tags to choose from. Print them on quality cardstock and write a personal note. Great to attach to gift baskets that you may have assembled.
Other DIY Bookish Gift Ideas
You can make a meaningful gift and have creative fun doing it, so they are kind of a gift to yourself too! The gift of fun, of learning a new hobby perhaps. They don’t have to be complicated either. Here are some simple but thoughtful ideas.
These ideas might require a bit more planning and time because you may need to buy supplies. Unlike instant download printables which you can print at home (if you have a printer.)
Blind Date with a Book
For this you only need a book and brown paper (or book themed wrapping paper) and a gift tag! You can also turn this into a cozy gift bundle by pairing it with a candle (a DIY candle perhaps!), a snack and drink sachet. Is your book lover a tea or coffee drinker?
If using brown wrapping paper, you can decorate it yourself with clues about the book such as the genre or tropes used in the book. If you haven’t read the book, you can do some quick research.
DIY Book-Themed Candle
Using a candle-making kit you can create a personal and thoughtful gift by customizing the candle to your giftee’s preferences. Or even to their favorite book or genre! For instance, a blush pink candle with scents of rose and vanilla for the romance genre. If you don’t already have a candle-making kit and would like to start a new hobby, try this premium full set candle making kit:
Pressed Flower Bookmarks
Use the giftee’s favorite flowers or something you have collected over time. Are you the type who likes to press flowers inside books?
The perfect gift for your significant other or anyone you have ever given flowers to and perhaps saved a petal between pages to capture the moment in time. Or for someone who had given you flowers, and you saved that precious moment between the pages of your favorite book.
Imagine gifting them that flower back in the form of a pretty bookmark and reminding them of that moment they had given you flowers.
If you want to take your flower pressing up a notch, try a basic flower pressing kit.
Decoupage
Custom Book Box Kit
You can assemble all these items and more to curate a wonderful book lover’s gift box! Your book box can be a based on a bookish theme or a mish-mash of eclectic bookish items. You can include your handmade items such as the DIY candles, bookmarks and decoupaged items. Or you can buy items separately that you think go well together. Some items to consider:
Blind date with a book.
Handmade reading journal.
Candles or mini-candles.
Snacks and or tea/coffee/cocoa sachets.
Bookmarks, handmade or printable or store-bought.
Personal note on a gift card or tag.
Final Thoughts
Thoughtfulness doesn’t need to be expensive. In fact, the more budget conscious you need to be, the more creative, resourceful you may find yourself becoming. And you might find yourself rediscovering the value of intangible gifts → moments, memories, experiences and emotions!
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