A Beautiful Fundraiser for the Future

A Unique Gift That Gives Back to the Community

The upcycled book ornaments have returned! These handmade book ornaments have been a fundraiser tradition at GPL for over a decade, and are the perfect gift for booklovers, teachers, and anyone who treasures unique art.

The entire $20 suggested donation goes towards the Gretna Public Library Foundation. This volunteer group is focused on building a modern, state-of-the-art library for the Gretna Community.

This time around, we wanted to share more about these lovely art pieces that can be displayed throughout the year, and not just during the holidays.

The Ornaments

These type of ornaments are called kusudama flower balls. The Japanese word kusudama literally translates to “medicine ball.” This form of modular origami differs from traditional origami, in that the components are either glued or sewn together.

There are current origami masters who have figured out how to build kusudama without the use of glue or thread. Which, once you learn to create your own kusudama, these masters’ skills will astound you. After all, each ball (at least the ones that GPL has) are made by hand-folding 60 paper squares, each folded 11 times, with each flower needing 5 petals. This comes out to 660 folds!

How The Ornaments Became a GPL Tradition

In 2010, Technical Services Librarian Rebecca was looking for a thrifty way to create presents for friends and family. That’s when she stumbled upon a book in the Friends of Gretna Public Library‘s book sale. This was back when the sales only happened a few times per year, and took place in the library’s lobby.

The book was a 1968 copy of Audubon’s Birds of America that was falling apart. “It looked so sad, but the images were so lovely. I just knew that I could give it new life one way or another,” said Rebecca. “And that’s when I began looking into various papercrafts that would respect the book’s history.” That craft turned out to be kusudama flower balls.

Rebecca had so much fun making the ornaments that she decided in 2011 to both open an Etsy shop to sell them, and bring them to the library as a fundraiser.

Each ornament comes with an informational tag about the book it was made out of, and sometimes general kusudama information.

Eventually Rebecca closed her Etsy shop to concentrate on other things, but she has continued making these ornaments for friends as well as the fundraiser. She also remained at GPL and became the Assistant Library Director.

How to Doubly-Give

Now that you know more about these special ornaments, you have about a month to get your own. When you purchase one as a gift (for others and/or yourself), not only are you giving a unique present, but giving a bonus gift to the Gretna community.

Stop by the Children’s Library building during its business hours, to browse the baskets with a variety of book ornaments. The ornaments are made out of a wide variety of books. Some of the most popular are from a 1974 edition of Childcraft – the How and Why Library (which feature gilded edging).

You can purchase one through cash, check, or PayPal.

After you’ve browsed and selected your favorite ornaments, then bring them to the circulation desk where a librarian will assist you.

Also, if Rebecca is around, then know that she is more than happy to share with you how the paper is folded – or will even give you a printout of a tutorial she put together for when she’s taught other librarians how to make these special pieces of art. Just ask at the circulation desk.

Or you can learn how to make your own ornaments at The Kids Should See This.