And I'm back after a long hiatus!
I'm here to share my latest project, a Christmas book page wreath.
This project came about because my friend Rachel King and I were co-hosting our first ever BYO craft night at The New Leaf in Riverton, New Jersey. Rachel and her mom co-own this adorable tea shop.
Here are the supplies you will need:
- 7 and 3/4 inch foam wreath
- approx 30 book pages (notes on that next)
- tape
-stapler
-hot glue gun and a bunch of glue sticks
I used encyclopedia books that I had from all of my wedding crafts. I used about 30 pages of the book and cut off the blank edges, so I was only left with text. Then I cut the pages in half, so I had enough to make 60 cones, although, you'll probably only need around 45-50 for the wreath. If you don't want to use book pages, you just want to make sure the paper you use isn't too thick. I couldn't find double sided Christmas scrapbook paper in the store, so I tried combining 2 pieces to make the wreath, and let's just say it looked awful.
Now, how to make the paper cones:
Hold down the top left corner and fold over the bottom right corner.
Fold the left hand side over and tape down the flap. The bottom will be narrow, almost pointed, compared to the top.
Next, staple the cone about an inch from the bottom, so the bottom is flat when it is glued down.
When you have about 45 cones, we're ready to glue.
First, start gluing like the face of a clock: 12, 3, 6, 9.
Then, go back and fill in the sections, making sure the points of the cones are somewhat level on the outside (don't worry if they're level on the inside).
Once you've gone all the way around one time, you're ready for the second layer. I try to put the cone of the second layer, in between two cones of the first layer, and continue this method onto the third layer.
The wreaths that were made at the class, and for the sample, used 3 layers of cones, but I also made one with 4 layers.
After you have all the layers completed, you're ready to fill in the middle!
For the sample, I made a paper rosette with a picture of Santa in the middle. For the class, we purchased fake poinsettias and other floral arrangements, and regular and mini ball ornaments, so everyone could design the middle of their own wreath.
Here are a couple different options for the design in the middle:
To attach a ribbon to the wreath, I made a "U" shape with the ribbon and attached either side to the back of the wreath with hot glue.
To give the wreath a finished look in the back, I added an extra book page to cover the hole of the wreath form.
These wreaths were pretty simple to make. Everyone said they had great time and all of the wreaths turned out great!
